Kakinoha-zushi (柿の葉寿司, Nara persimmon-leaf sushi)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Hangiri (wooden sushi rice tub), or a wide shallow nonreactive bowl
• •Shamoji (rice paddle)
• •Wooden sushi pressing box, or a shallow food container with a flat board
• •Small 1 to 2kg weight for pressing
• •Kitchen scale for portioning rice

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover it with cold water, stir with your fingertips, and pour off the cloudy water. Repeat until the water runs almost clear. Wash it twice, wash it thrice, then stop before you start breaking the grains. Soak the rice in fresh water for 30 minutes, then drain for 10 minutes. Washing removes loose starch so the finished rice is glossy, not pasty; soaking hydrates the center of each grain so it cooks evenly.

2. 2

   Cook the rice

   Cook the drained rice with 360ml cold water, or just under the 2-cup line of a rice cooker. If using a pot, bring it to a boil, cover tightly, lower the heat, cook 12 minutes, then rest off the heat for 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Use a little less water than plain rice because the vinegar seasoning will add moisture later. The covered rest finishes the grain gently, which keeps the surface tender and the center cooked through.

3. 3

   Make sushi-zu

   Warm the 4 tablespoons rice vinegar with the sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt just until the sugar dissolves. Don't boil it. A hard boil drives off the clean vinegar fragrance, and that fragrance is part of what makes the rice taste alive.

4. 4

   Season the rice

   Turn the hot rice into a hangiri, the wooden sushi rice tub, or a wide nonreactive bowl. Sprinkle the sushi-zu over the rice and fold with a rice paddle using cutting motions, fanning as you go until the grains look glossy and separate. Season while the rice is hot because hot grains drink the vinegar evenly. Let it cool to just warm before shaping; rice that is too hot softens the fish and wilts the leaf.

   Fold, don't mash. The rice should hold together because the grains cling, not because you've crushed them into paste.
5. 5

   Ready the leaves

   If using salted persimmon leaves, rinse them and soak 5 to 10 minutes if they taste very salty, then pat them completely dry. If using fresh leaves, use only clean unsprayed leaves, blanch them 20 seconds, cool them in cold water, drain, and dry them well. Trim any stiff stem. The leaf must be pliable enough to fold and dry enough to grip the rice; a wet leaf dilutes the seasoning and makes the parcel slip. The leaves are wrappers, not food to chew.

6. 6

   Prepare the fish

   If using prepared shime saba, pat it dry and slice it on a low angle into 20 pieces, each large enough to cover the top of a rice pad. If using salmon, sprinkle the slab with 1 teaspoon salt and refrigerate 20 minutes. Wipe or briefly rinse it, pat dry, then lay it with 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, and the optional strip of konbu for 15 minutes. Pat dry again and slice thinly. Keep the fish cold throughout.

   The cure firms and seasons the fish; it does not rescue questionable fish. Buy fish meant to be eaten raw, and for mackerel at home, prepared shime saba is the sensible road.
7. 7

   Shape rice pads

   Dampen your hands with water and portion the rice into 20 small pads, about 24 to 26g each. Shape each one into a short oval, a little smaller than the fish slice. Don't pack it hard. The pressing step will finish the shape, and light rice eats better than rice squeezed into obedience.

8. 8

   Wrap each piece

   Lay a persimmon leaf vein-side up with the stem end toward you. Set one slice of fish in the center with its good face against the leaf, then place a rice pad on top. Fold the stem end over the rice, fold in the sides, then fold the tip over last. Set the parcel seam-side down. The fish touches the leaf so it takes on the leaf's clean scent, and the seam goes down so the weight will close it neatly.

9. 9

   Press and rest

   Pack the wrapped pieces seam-side down in a wooden sushi pressing box, or in a shallow food container lined with a clean cloth. Lay a flat board or small tray on top and add a 1 to 2kg weight. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. Gentle pressure brings fish, rice, and leaf into one piece; time lets the salt and vinegar move into the rice. Too much weight crushes the grains, so ask for contact, not punishment.

   This is the detail that decides the dish: enough pressure to seal, enough time to settle, never enough force to flatten the rice.
10. 10

    Serve cool

    Take the kakinoha-zushi from the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before serving if the room is cool, then unwrap each piece just before eating. Do not eat the leaf. The sushi should already taste seasoned from the rice and cured fish; if you use soy sauce, use only a small touch. Keep the rest chilled and eat within 24 hours.

Chef Tips

• •For mackerel, buy prepared shime saba unless you control the sourcing and freezing yourself. Vinegar is seasoning, not a charm. A good fishmonger who will tell you no is more useful than a cheerful label.
• •Use food-safe persimmon leaves only. Salted leaves sold for kakinoha-zushi are easiest, and fresh leaves must be unsprayed. The leaf is part of the dish's method, so a random decorative leaf is not a stand-in.
• •A kitchen scale is not fussy here. Portioning the rice once teaches your hands what the right size feels like, and then you can work by touch.
• •Don't add dashi to the sushi rice. It sounds helpful and makes the rice soft. For this dish, vinegar, salt, sugar, cured fish, and the leaf are enough.
• •Serve the pieces in odd numbers, some still wrapped and one or two opened. A crowded plate makes this mountain sushi look heavy. Leave it room.

Advance Preparation

• •Salted persimmon leaves can be rinsed, soaked, dried, and stacked a day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator so they stay pliable.
• •Prepared shime saba can be sliced a few hours ahead and kept covered and cold. Slice salmon after curing and assemble promptly.
• •Kakinoha-zushi needs its rest. Make it at least 4 hours before serving, and overnight is often better.
• •The finished sushi is best within 24 hours. Keep it refrigerated, then let it sit briefly at cool room temperature before serving so the rice softens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)