Japanese food looks complicated but can be very easy. Try this sushi squares recipe next time you throw a party
Ingredients
- 500g sushi rice
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (look for the Yukata brand at Waitrose)
- 1/2 small cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and finely chopped
- 40g pickled Japanese ginger (look for the Yukata brand at Waitrose)
- 4 sheets nori seaweed (the type used to wrap sushi, from Waitrose)
- Wasabi, to serve
Method
- 1. Put the rice in a medium saucepan, cover with 660ml cold water and place over a medium heat. Cover, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside, covered, for 15 minutes.
- 2. Uncover the sticky rice and add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Stir it all together for a few minutes to cool slightly. Mix in the cucumber and ginger, season to taste and set aside.
- 3. Lay 2 seaweed sheets, slightly overlapping, in a small baking tray with sides, about 37cm x 19cm. Using damp hands, spread the rice onto the seaweed, pressing down into a flat layer – keep your hands damp so the rice doesn’t stick to them. Top with the remaining seaweed, cover with cling film and weigh down with a book. Chill for 1 hour or overnight.
- 4. Upturn the sushi onto a chopping board. Trim off and discard the edges. Cut into 64 squares. Put on serving plates and top each with a small blob of wasabi. Garnish the plates with spring onion flowers, if you like.
Nutritional info
Per square: 31kcals, 0.3g fat (0.1g saturated), 0.7g protein, 6.9g carbs, 0.1g sugar, 0.1g salt
Chef's tip
If you don’t have an oriental food store nearby, try Waitrose. You could make the sushi the day before, chill overnight then cut into squares (allow the squares to sit out of the fridge for 15 minutes to take the chill off). To make spring onion flowers, make thin slits along both ends of a spring onion, then put in ice-cold water for 30 minutes.