Tossed Sushi (Chirashi-Zushi)
Ingredients
1 quantity sushi rice
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
125 g/4 oz crab meat or cooked, shelled prawns
2 eggs, beaten
salt to taste
6 tablespoons finely shredded bamboo shoot
6 tablespoons cooked green peas
12 thin slices lotus root
1 tablespoon pickled kombu (kelp), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon pickled radish, thinly sliced
slices of gari or beni shoga (pickled ginger) to garnish
Directions
Prepare and cool sushi rice. Soak mushrooms in very hot water. Squeeze out and reserve water, discard stems and slice caps thinly. Simmer for 10-15 minutes in some of the soaking water with soy sauce and sugar. Flake crab meat or slice prawns lengthways in halves. Beat eggs slightly, season with salt and cook in a non-stick or lightly oiled frying pan to make a thin omelette, taking care not to let it brown. Cool, then cut in thin strips. Toss rice gently with all the ingredients, reserving some for garnish. Serve cold.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)