Temarizushi (手まり寿司, ball-shaped sushi)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Hangiri (wooden sushi tub), or a wide shallow nonreactive bowl
• •Shamoji (rice paddle)
• •Sarashi cotton cloth squares, or plastic wrap
• •Yanagiba sashimi knife, or the sharpest long thin knife you own
• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover it with cold water, swish gently with your fingertips, and pour off the cloudy water. Repeat four or five times, until the water is almost clear. Don't grind the grains against each other. Drain the rice in a sieve for 20 minutes so the surface dries a little and the water can enter the grain evenly when it cooks.

   The washing removes loose surface starch. Skip it and the cooked rice turns muddy, which is exactly what a small sushi ball cannot hide.
2. 2

   Cook the rice

   Put the drained rice and 360ml water in a rice cooker, or use the sushi-rice line if your cooker has one. Lay the small piece of konbu on top and cook. For a pot, bring the rice and water to a boil, cover tightly, lower the heat, cook 12 minutes, then rest off the heat 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Discard the konbu before seasoning. The rice should be a little firmer than plain table rice, because vinegar will loosen it later.

3. 3

   Make the sushi-zu

   Warm the 4 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt over low heat just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Do not boil it. You are making sushi-zu, the seasoning vinegar, and boiling would dull the clean edge you want in the rice. Mix the tezu in a small bowl: 2 tablespoons water with 1 teaspoon rice vinegar.

4. 4

   Cook the omelet

   Beat the egg with 1/2 teaspoon sugar and a pinch of salt. Wipe a small pan with the oil, pour in the egg, and cook it over low heat as a thin sheet. Let it cool, then cut it into narrow ribbons. Low heat keeps the color clear and yellow; browning tastes pleasant enough, but here it makes the temari look heavy.

5. 5

   Season the rice

   Turn the hot rice into a hangiri, the wooden sushi tub, or a wide shallow nonreactive bowl. Sprinkle the sushi-zu over the rice, then cut and fold with a shamoji, a rice paddle, while fanning for several minutes. Cut, lift, turn. Don't stir in circles. Stirring crushes the grains, while cutting coats them and leaves them separate. Stop when the rice is glossy and just warm, then cover it with a damp cloth.

6. 6

   Prepare the toppings

   Keep the fish cold until you slice it. With a long sharp knife, cut across the grain in one clean pull, making 8 thin slices large enough to drape over a small rice ball. Pat the shrimp, cucumber, shiso, and fish dry. A wet topping slides around inside the cloth; a dry surface holds its place and gives you a cleaner shape.

   If the fish smells strongly of the sea or looks dull, don't use it raw. Change the topping to shrimp, egg, cucumber, or simmered shiitake. Nothing hidden.
7. 7

   Portion the rice

   Dampen your hands with tezu and divide the rice into 20 loose mounds, about 22 to 25g each. Keep them covered with the damp cloth. The size matters: too much rice swallows the topping, too little collapses when you lift it. Small and steady is the whole charm.

8. 8

   Shape the temari

   Lay a square of plastic wrap, or a damp square of sarashi cotton, in your palm. Place one topping presentation-side down: a fish slice with a tiny touch of wasabi beneath it, a butterflied shrimp, three overlapping cucumber rounds on shiso, or a few omelet ribbons crossed neatly. Set one mound of rice on top, gather the wrap, and twist gently until the topping hugs the rice. Hold for a breath, then unwrap. The cloth gives even pressure; your job is only to round the rice, not squeeze it into obedience.

   If the rice sticks, use a little more tezu on your fingers or cloth. If the ball feels dense, you pressed too hard. It should hold together and still yield when bitten.
9. 9

   Finish and serve

   Set a few grains of ikura on the fish pieces and a little sesame on the cucumber if you like. Arrange the temarizushi in odd-number groupings on a plate, with at least a third of the vessel empty. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger. Dip the topping side, not the rice side, so the rice doesn't drink too much soy and fall apart. With raw fish, serve within an hour of assembly.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger one plain question: what came in today that you would eat raw? The label sushi grade is not a law. A good answer, and a clean smell, matter more.
• •Use 22 to 25g rice per piece. Larger balls look generous for about three seconds, then they become clumsy. Temarizushi should disappear in one or two bites.
• •A damp sarashi cloth is the old, neat tool. Plastic wrap is the sensible stand-in, especially for a first attempt, because you can see the topping settle around the rice.
• •For a meatless table, use cucumber, shiso, thin omelet, and shiitake simmered in konbu and dried shiitake stock. That is honmono, not an apology, but say plainly that it is a different topping set.
• •Don't refrigerate seasoned sushi rice for hours. Cold storage hardens the grains. If you must hold the finished sushi briefly, cover it and chill it for no more than 30 minutes, then serve at once.

Advance Preparation

• •The sushi-zu can be made up to one week ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature before seasoning the rice.
• •The omelet can be cooked and cut up to half a day ahead. Keep it covered and chilled, then let it lose its refrigerator chill before shaping.
• •Cucumber and shiso can be prepared a few hours ahead and kept between damp paper towels. Slice raw fish close to serving, no more than an hour ahead, and keep it cold.
• •Season the rice the day you serve it. It can rest at room temperature under a damp cloth for up to two hours before shaping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)