Accidentally stumbled on a package of salmon and tuna scraps at H Mart. My first thought was to greedily scoop them up with an avocado. As I was driving home, a thought came up to stretch the scraps for dinner and maybe even lunch.
Here we go!
In a nutshell, 3 cups of short grain rice cooked in a rice cooker and doctored as for sushi are divided in four equal parts. They are layered with mashed avocado, fish, and macerated drained vegetables. Mayo-based hot sauce adds flavor and holds everything together.
To shape it up, I used a 7” springform cake pan.
WHAT WENT IN
— 3 cups short grain rice
— 1 Tbsp sake
— a small piece of kelp (optional0
— 7 Tbsp rice vinegar
— 3 Tbsp sugar
— 2 tsp salt
— 1 Tbsp mirin
— 1 Tbsp sake
— 3/4 cup mayo
— 2 tsp sriracha
— 1 tsp sesame oil
— 2 tsp soy sauce
— 3 small ripe avocados
— salt to taste (optional)
— a handful of sushi-grade fish scraps
— 3 small plum tomatoes, skinned, seeded, chopped
— 3 small cucumbers, peeled, chopped
— 1/2 tsp salt
— furikake (optional)
— caviar (optional)
— radish sprouts (optional)
THE PROCESS
1. Cook rice as you would for sushi. I used my rice cooker. If you don’t have one, rinse the rice a few times until the water runs clear and soak it for 20-30 minutes in cold water. Drain.
2. Add 3 cups of water to the rice, a tablespoon of sake, and kelp if you’re have it. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Turn the heat off, do not open the lid, and keep the rice covered for another 20 minutes to steam in a residual heat.
3. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin, and sake. Bring to a low simmer and stir until salt and sugar dissolve. Take it off heat and cool slightly. Gently work this mixture into the cooked rice.
4. In a small bowl, combine mayo, sriracha, sesame oil, and soy sauce.
5. Roughly mash avocados with salt if using.
6. Mix tomatoes and cucumbers with salt and let them drain in a colander for about 15-20 minutes. Squeeze whatever moisture is left with your hands.
7. Divide the rice in four equal parts.
8. Divide the mayo sauce in four equal parts.
9. Line the sides and bottom of a 7” springform pan with a plastic wrap pressing it tightly.
10. Cover the bottom of the lined pan with one quarter of rice and spread one quarter of the mayo sauce over it. Top it with mashed avocado.
11. Cover the avocado with another quarter of rice and another quarter of mayo sauce. Top it with fish.
12. Cover the fish with another quarter of rice, another quarter of mayo sauce. Top it with the vegetable mix.
13. Finish with the last quarter of rice. Stop here.
14. Put a plate over the last layer of rice and invert the filled up pan onto the plate. Take the sides and the bottom of the pan off. Peel off the plastic wrap.
15. Put a serving platter over the now exposed bottom of the rice cake and flip it right side up.
16. Spread the last bit of the may sauce on top. Sprinkle with furikake, spears caviar, add sprouts or whatever there’s on hand to decorate the top.