Sushi doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, but I wanted it to be. A5 Wagyu, real wasabi, the works.
INGREDIENTS:
Sushi Zu:
1 cup (237ml) rice vinegar
Kombu
3 tablespoons (38g) sugar
1 tablespoon (18g) salt
Sushi Rice:
2 cups (496g) sushi rice
2 cups (473ml) of water
1/4 cup (59ml) Sushi Zu
Cheap Version:
1lb (454g) fresh shiitake mushrooms, remove stems, ½” slices
1 quart (946ml) vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/2 cup (118ml) mirin
3/4 cup (180ml) white vinegar
1 cup (237ml) soy sauce
1 shallot, halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Seared Spam, cut in1” batons
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter
1 cucumber, cut into batons
1 avocado, ⅓” slices
1/2 bunch of fresh chives
Expensive Version:
5 king crab legs
1/2 cup (100g) kewpie mayo
1/4 cup (48g) sriracha
Juice from half a lemon
1 A5 wagyu steak, 2.5” batons, 1” thick
2 cups (300g) AP Flour
2 eggs
2 cups (168g) Panko
Thai basil leaves
Limequats, very thinly sliced
1 Cucumber, julienned
1 Carrot, julienned
Fresh Wasabi Serrano Mayo:
2 cups (420g) kewpie mayo
2 tablespoons (15g) fresh wasabi, oroshi grated
3 Serranos, sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2-inch knob ginger, thinly sliced
2.5 tablespoons (38g) yuzu juice
2 tablespoons (28g) shirodashi
1 tablespoon (14g) rice vinegar
Togarashi for topping
INSTRUCTIONS:
Sushi Zu:
In a small saucepan, combine rice vinegar with kombu, sugar, and salt. Heat until steaming and the sugar’s dissolved.
Take off the heat and steep for 10 minutes. Then, drain into a separate container.
Sushi Rice:
Start by rinsing and washing the rice three times. Then, place equal parts of rice to water into the rice cooker. Let sit in the water for 15 minutes before cooking—press start and cook.
Once cooked, dump the rice into the hangiri and pour the sushi Zu over the rice paddle across the rice.
Using the paddle, lift and spread the rice towards the outside. Then using a damp towel, grab the edge of the hangiri and spin while paddling rice into one spot.
Using the damp towel, gather the rice and place it into a rice cooker to keep warm.
Cheap Version:
Fill a heavy bottom pot with vegetable oil and heat to 350F.
In a medium-size saucepot, add sugar, mirin, white vinegar, soy sauce, shallot halved, and garlic; heat that, swirling around occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.
Fry your mushrooms, tossing occasionally in the oil until a deep golden brown. Remove with a spider, let it drain slightly, add it to your hot liquid, and repeat with all of your mushrooms; keep them submerged and let it sit until room temperature.
Heat a medium-size skillet over medium-high with a touch of oil; sear your spam on all sides, about one to two minutes each, then finish with butter, swirling occasionally until the butter starts to melt and lightly brown.
Take on ½ sheet, and using dampened hands, spread ½ cup of your sushi rice to cover your nori sheet, leaving a ½ “ strip of uncovered nori at the top. Next, add on 2 pieces of your seared spam, 2 pieces of cucumber, a handful of your soy mushrooms pickled, 3 avocado slices, and 5 whole chives. Then carefully transfer that to a sushi mat, roll it up until both ends meet, gently press along the whole log, roll your log so the different side is facing down, press it once more, then cut in half and then into 1” pieces.
Expensive Version:
In a bowl, place your king crab meat, mix mayo and sriracha in a separate bowl, then add it to your king crab meat, along with the zest of one lemon, and mix to combine.
Breading station.- place flour, beaten eggs, and panko in different bowls; first place your A5 baton in the flour, coat them thoroughly, shake up the excess, then coat in the egg, and finally in your panko, repeat with the rest.
Fill a heavy bottom pot with vegetable oil and heat to 350F. Add in your A5 batons in batches and fry them for about 45 seconds or until golden brown.
Take on ½ sheet, and using dampened hands, spread ½ cup of your sushi rice to cover your nori sheet, leaving a ½ “ strip of uncovered nori at the top.
Place a few Thai basil leaves shingled in a line on the lower end of your nori. Limequats also shingled in the same way, a ½ cup of your crab salad, then cucumber, carrots, and finally 2 pieces of your A5 katsu fingers.
Then carefully transfer that to a sushi mat, roll it up until both ends meet, gently press along the whole log, roll your log so the different side is facing down, press it once more, then cut in half and then into 1” pieces.
Serve and enjoy with your wasabi mayo.
Fresh Wasabi Serrano Mayo:
In a bowl, add mayo and wasabi, then in a medium saucepan, add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then add serrano, shallot, and ginger.
Stir that to coat with the oil, and sweat that, stirring occasionally until all the vegetables have softened. Then add that to a blender with yuzu juice and shirodashi and blend it on high until smooth and mix with your mayo, season with salt and whisk to combine—season with more yuzu juice or rice vinegar.
Place in a small bowl or ramekin and top it with togarashi.
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