Name: Assorted Toppings for Rice Ovals (Gomoku Nigiri-zushi )
Yield: Serves 6–8 as appetizers, 3–4 as a main course.
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: ½ sheet Asakusa nori (dark dried laver); ¼ pound each of 2 or 3 varieties of fresh fish or seafood fillets: tuna, sole, flounder, squid, cuttlefish; 1 tablespoon wasabi (fiery green horseradish) paste or reconstituted powder; ¼ cup amazu shōga (pink pickled ginger); 1½ cups raw rice, freshly cooked according to the master recipe; 2–2½ tablespoons sushi su (seasoned vinegar)

Preparation info

Serves
6–8
as appetizers .

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

At Home with Japanese Cooking

By Elizabeth Andoh

Published 1986

About

If you have a source of absolutely fresh fish, a wide variety of toppings is possible. Lean red tuna, translucent sole or flounder, and silky squid or cuttlefish are particularly pretty and flavorful. Thin slices of bright yellow omelet make attractive toppings, too.

Ingredients

1½ cups raw rice, freshly cooked according to the master recipe
2–2½ tablespoons sushi su (seasoned vinegar)

Method

Within an hour or two of serving time, prepare the rice, then season and shape it as described in the preceding recipe. Cover the ovals loosely with a damp cloth, then enclose in clear wrap. Do not refrigerate.

With the exception of the omelet, prepare your toppings as close to serving time as possible. Slice a small slab of tuna into ¼-