March 17, 2014

Gomoku (Five-Item) Chirashi Zushi/五目ちらし寿司

As part of supper tonight, I made gomoku chirashi zushi (< sushi). I used a store-bought ready-made pack, like I usually do.
今日の夕飯には、五目ちらし寿司(ずし)を作りました。市販の出来あいのパックを使いました。
I almost always use leftover rice to make gomoku chirashi. In fact, the main reason why I made gomoku chirashi for this particular night is that I wanted to use up the leftover rice. Other dishes I make to use up leftover rice include inari zushi and chahan (fried rice).
五目ちらしを作る時は殆どと言っていいほど、残りごはんを使います。実際のところ、なぜ今晩、ちらし寿司を作ったかと言うと、残りごはんを使い切りたかったからです。他にも、稲荷寿司やチャーハンなども、残りごはんを使い切りたい時に作ることがあります。

The leftover rice shown above was not enough, so I also used the rice I cooked this morning.
The most important thing to remember when making sushi with leftover rice is to reheat the rice sufficiently, just like just cooked rice.
この残りごはんだけでは足りなかったので、今朝炊いたご飯も使いました。
残りごはんで寿司を作る時に一番大事なことは、ご飯を炊きたてご飯のように十分に温めることです。

Mix the contents of the pack with the rice thoroughly. The rice must be hot for the vinegar to seep through each grain of rice.
パックの中身とご飯をよく混ぜます。お酢がご飯一粒、一粒に染み込むには、ご飯が温かくないといけません。
Only after mixing thoroughly, can you use a fan to cool them.
よく混ぜてから、うちわで冷まします。
This is the fan I used.
使ったうちわはこれです。
I made kinshi tamago in a large frying pan.
大きなフライパンで錦糸卵を作りました。
When one side is done, you need to flip over with a pair of chopsticks.
片面が焼けたら、箸でひっくり返します。
As I said previously, I don't add anything (salt, potato starch, etc.). I think that potato starch affects the flavor of the eggs. Maybe it's only me....
前に言ったように、何も(塩や片栗粉など)混ぜません。片栗粉を入れると味が悪くなると思います。そう思うのは私だけかも。

I made four sheet from six S/M eggs.
S/Mサイズの卵6個で、4枚作りました。
I like to cut them in half first, using my 18-cm Shigefusa kitaeji petty (paring) knife,
私は、18 cmの重房鍛地ペティナイフで、半分に切り、
and then, slice them as thinly as possible.
できるだけ細く切るのが好きです。
My portion:
私の分:
I must say that mine is a very humble example. You must see gorgeous examples by clicking the link below.
私のはとても質素な例です。下記のリンクをクリックして、豪華な例を見て下さい。
Images of Gomoku Chirashi/五目ちらしの画像

3 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

If you don't get the spice-mix what would you add to the rice: Mirin, sugar, salt, vinegar and maybe finely shredded seaweed? I am planning another evening with japanese home cooking and this could be a nice dish.

Katrin said...

Yes, I am wondering too what the five items may be.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki and Katrin: Common five ingredients are carrot, lotus root, shiitake, bamboo shoot, and kanpyo (dried gourd shavings). Other ingredients are also common, such as chikuwa, kamaboko, abura age, koya dofu (freeze-dried tofu), boiled octopus, prawn, grilled conger eel, and simmered squid, according to Wikipedia (laugh).
Common toppings include boiled snow peas (for their green color), kinshi tamago (yellow), prawn (red), and ikura (red).

As for me, kinshi tamago and beni shoga are enough as toppings, but I sometimes wish I could add something green (such as boiled broccoli or asparagus).

Of course, be creative and add whatever you want to your chirashi zushi. I'd like to see your versions! (laugh)