Chirashizushi - Scattered Sushi

Chirashizushi is known as scattered sushi and is served on plates or bowls with colorful toppings. It's often cooked for celebrating special occations, such as festivals, birthdays, and so on. You can use your favorite sushi toppings. For example, boiled shrimp, salmon roe, squid, and sea urchin are popular ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Japanese rice
(1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt)
3 eggs and 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 cucumber, julienned
1/2 lb sashimi/sushi-grade tuna slices, marinated in 2 Tbsp of soy sauce and a little bit of wasabi (if you would like)
8 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups of warm water *keep the water for cooking
( 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp mirin)
2 oz imitation crab, shredded
2 Tbsp white sesame seeds

How To Make:

Prepare sushi rice. Remove stems from shiitake and slice thinly. Heat 2/3 cup of the water used for rehydrating shiitake in a medium pan. Add shiitake and soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Simmer shiitake on low heat until the liquid is almost gone. Set aside. Beat eggs in a bowl and add 1/2 Tbsp of sugar. Oil a medium skillet and pour a scoop of egg mixture and make a thin omelette like a crape. Make a few sheets. Cut the omelettes into thin strips. Serve sushi rice on a large plate or individual bowls. Spread simmered shiitake, cucumber, imitation crab meat, and omelettes strips over rice. Place tuna sashimi on top. Sprinkle sesame seeds. Serve pickled ginger on the side.
*Makes 4-6 servings