Inari

Everybody loves Inari Sushi

It’s true! I have never, ever met people who don’t like this Japanese ultimate comfort food – vinegar rice stuffed in seasoned fried bean curd. With few ingredients – no fish is involved here - the recipe is also a simple affair and seems like there is no room for improvement, it’s perfect!

NHK’s Tameshite Gatten (試してガッテン) Tested and Assent (roughly translated) science team thought otherwise however… a nation wide taste test show they got 90% inari approval rating..What is their secret? Lose the sugar in the sushi rice. Adding sugar in both pouches and rice muddle the flavor. Really? I have to try their method. I have a inari expert who lives right under my roof and he is very honest.

Ingredients and Instruction for 12 inari sushi (Print recipe here)

• 6 thin deep fried bean curd (油揚げ) 
• 5 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce (I used gluten free soy sauce)
• 300ml (1 and 1/2 cup) water
• Just cooked warm rice (cook 2 rice cooker cups with 360ml of water in rice cooker). See step #3
• 75 ml rice vinegar Note: not sushi vinegar
• 4g of salt
• 2 Tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds (optional)

1. Remove some of the oil from fried bean curd by immersing in hot water for 3 minutes. Drain water and gently squeeze the water out. Cut in half then open the pouch. Watch Japanese YouTube on how to open easily here. Lay the un-cut bean curd in a single layer on the plate and microwave for 1 minute on 60% power, cut in half and voila!
   
2. Boil sugar, soy sauce and water in a medium sauce pan. Put fried bean curd in and cook until almost all the liquid is evaporated at medium high heat. About 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely in the pan. Set aside.
3. While the bean curds are cooking and cooling, cook rice if you have not done so already. You want a slightly firmer rice for this recipe.
4. Mix vinegar and salt well in a small glass measuring cup. Set it aside.
5. When the rice is done. divide rice into 6ths or 8ths in the rice cooker. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture from perimeter of rice cooker, then turn out to a large bowl. Fold over the rice with rice paddle while cooling down with a fan or magazine. Mix in the toasted sesame seeds at this point if using. Cover with moist towel until needed.
   
6. Stuff rice into the pouch –do not over stuff, you will probably have some left over rice. Have a small bowl of water nearby to moisten your hands to prevent rice from sticking to your hand. I turned the pouch inside out on some for fun looks. Serve with pickled ginger.
   We tested and we assent! This is a winner!

There are many wild chickens roaming around my daughter’s house in Hawaii. They are early risers and I can hear them through the open window…good for you but please let me sleep in…wait… that’s my grandchildren, “Go back to bed!”!

I heard my 3 years old grandson screaming one afternoon as he was being chased by one of the mean chickens.  I wish he could eat this chicken inari up as revenge.

Oink! A pig inari for my lunch.Fellow food blogger Cooking Gallery published a cook book ‘Bento Delight’ recently. I planned on purchasing it but life got in the way….you know. I have two problematic issues - that my fingers are too fat to make delicate character bento and the second, I don’t have patience. It’s going to be a fine read nonetheless.

Abundant! While I was in Hawaii, beside the strawberries, our gumi plant and raspberry shortcake are also waiting for me to devour them!Which I made trifle for Father’s Day. I spread the gumi jam my husband made on the pound cake I baked…team effort.

Father’s Day Sunday was hectic. Came home from church service, I hustled to fixed cream cheese center kimkatsu roll for dinner. Delish!

My children have a terrific dad. He scores high with the grandchildren also. This was taken in 1977 in Nagasaki, Japan. Nice hair!

A FANtastic!

Tempura Inari Sushi/天ぷらいなり

Enormously popular in Japan, singer/actor Takuya Kimura’s 40th birthday is today (11/13). I had a huge crush on him and the group ‘Smap’  that he belongs to for a long time. He goes by the nickname ‘Kimutaku’ which almost belongs in the Japanese dictionary, he has that caliber of famousness. Sometime ago, I couldn’t wait to listen to the newly purchased female artist’s CD while my husband was driving, one of her song phrase went like-  I will find a new boyfriend better than Kiumutaku (what the heck???) - then he whispers “I love you”  it was so unexpected to hear his voice, I freaked-out and released a small scream. That was not a small scream my husband says now-What? What’s wrong? was my husband’s reaction. Oh! it’s nothing , I thought you were gonna hit that squirrel back there.  I got information that Smap was on tour at the same time that I was in Japan in 2002. I asked my cousin in Fukuoka to obtain a precious Fukuoka Dome ticket. With neither of us belonging to their fan club, it was hard to come by. My cousin called the ticket center for three straight days and no luck. It was a huge let down but the tour was traveling upward and so was I. Determined, I called my friend in Tokyo for help. Hallelujah! Her husband found it on line - someone selling just one ticket for regular price. Usually, tickets were sold as pair and more than the list price so I was really lucky. My proper, well educated friend was not interested in that sort of silly thing, so she just lent me her coat and wished me luck. I managed to ignore her sigh behind my back. She was a bit worried that I would get lost but the special concert train was scheduled and I followed a sea of people walking toward the magical kingdom, I mean stadium.

What in the world! I love deep fried foods but this is over the top. Inari sushi is near perfect as is and frying it sounds so wrong, right? Talk about extra gazillion calories added to it. However, I’ll hold my opinion until I taste it.

Ingredients and direction for 10 Tempura Inari Sushi

Preparing sushi rice

Special equipment : Kimutaku fan (just kidding) – something to blow the air.

• Just cooked warm rice about 2-1/2 cups
• Sushi vinegar 2-3 Tablespoons or you can make your own by mixing well 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt
• White roasted sesame seeds 1/4 cup or less

1. Put warm rice in a wooden pail or large bowl, sprinkle vinegar over the rice paddle. In a cutting motion, quickly move the rice around - do not press the rice with rice paddle - and cool by fanning at the same time -this step works better if you have assistance. Add more sushi vinegar if you like stronger flavor. Sprinkle in sesame seeds and combine. Cover the rice with a moist towel. Set it aside.

   This fan I bought at the concert. Others are a gift from a friend in Nagasaki. She is hard core fan, went to Smap concert three years in a row with her husband. Are you try to make me envious?

Seasoning the bean curd

• 5 Fried bean curds/油揚げ
• 1/4 cup Mirin
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-1/2cup water

1. Boil about 3 cups of water in medium pan.
2. Lay the bean curd on a flat surface then using chopstick or small rolling pin go back and forth for 2-3 times-this will open the inside. Cut in half.
3. Submerge bean curds in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to remove oily residue. Drain the water and let the curds cool until safe to handle.
   
4. Arrange bean curd in a spiral fashion on the bottom of pan, with the bean curds overlapping.
5. Add mirin, sugar and 1-1/2 cup of water to the pan and put a drop lid/落としブタ (see picture below) on it, cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes.
6. Add soy sauce and put drop lid back on. Simmer for 6-7 minutes more at the lower heat. If you do not have a drop lid then make one with heavy aluminum foil to fit inside of pan. Leave the folded side up for easy removal.
7. Turn off heat and cool bean curds in the pan. Do not skip this process.
8. Make 10 small cylinders with sushi rice about 2-1/2 x1 shapes there might be some left over, it does not have to be neat, this makes easier to stuff into bean curds. Sandwich cooled bean curds with both hands and gently press out some of the juice over the pan.
9. Stuff each cylinder of rice into the bean curd and gently press into the corners, close by folding over the opening flaps. Repeat for remaining bean curds. Now that’s Inari Sushi!

Frying Inari Sushi 

• 10 Inari Sushi
• Flour or corn starch for coating 1-2 Tablespoons
• 1 Egg
• Nori powder (ao nori)/青海苔 about 1teaspoon (optional)
• 1 cup Weak power flour or cake flour
• 1/2 cup cold water
• Oil for frying

1. Heat oil in heavy skillet or pan to 338F
2. Beat egg in a large bowl then pour cold water in, mix well.
3. Add nori powder and flour. Mix just until blended. Set it aside.
4. Coat Inari Sushi with flour. Dust off excess.
5. Dip dusted Inari Sushi in egg mixture.
6. Fry in oil until crisp. Place on the paper towel to remove excess oil.
7. Serve with sliced lime or tempura sauce.Verdict-So so. It’s not worth  the extra effort nor the calories. Shoot! I should not fry all the inari sushi. Took too much time for above. I simply steamed Costco crab legs as a main dish.

Sushi from the past
kinpira gobo (burdock) inari sushiSeasoned tuna cucumber cupsSkinny Inari rolls From top- sesame seed, shibazuke and edamameAlthough I haven’t lost my ‘young at heart’ attitude, I try acting my age. I’m still his fan but in a not so exciting (crazy) way. After all, I’m married and want to be cool and not to be screaming. That’s called maturing.We’re having gray days lately but splash of color from nature is welcoming.There is moss growing on our Japanese maple tree. I discovered a seed poking through it. It will be interesting to see what kind of plant it is. I hope it’s a magic bean.Conversation on Saturday: I think we should clean up leaves, I suggested. What for? Not every leaf has fallen yet, said my husband. Right, you would think that. But you’re going to clean up this year, yah? Probably…it depends he replied. So...not gonna happen today? You got that right.