Japanese Food Tips

Chirashizushi (ingredients sprinkled over sushi rice), inarizushi (deep-fried tofu pouches sushi) and makizushi (rolled sushi) are often made at home. Nigirizushi (hand-pressed sushi) is the most common sushi. However, it is rarely cooked at home because it takes time and effort. Here, chirashizushi is described in detail. "Chirashi" means "sprinkle," and "zushi" means "sushi" ("s" becomes “z” when used after another word in Japanese). In other words, chirashizushi is sushi rice (steamed rice mixed with rice vinegar and sugar) with ingredients sprinkled on top. The ingredients are usually seafood used in nigirizushi, eggs, shiitake mushrooms and vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, kanpyo (dried gourd strips) and renkon (lotus root). Depending on the color of the ingredients used, the colorful chirashizushi becomes beautiful. Chirashizushi mixes are also sold at stores, and are an easy way to cook the dish. You simply mix the ingredients with steamed rice. However, there is no seafood included and there are only a few ingredients. Chirashizushi sold at sushi restaurants and department stores is mainly composed of fresh seafood. More reasonably priced chirashizushi can be found at supermarkets. Our chirashizushi recipes, which are traditional chirashizushi and are cooked with easily obtained ingredients, are made from scratch, so if you are interested, please try them.