Since the last few weeks have been filled with semester-end stress, I haven't been as busy in the kitchen as usual. I've been eating simple foods like whole fruits and nuts, which, by any standard, are healthy and worthy of the celebration that is springtime after nearly 6 months of winter. Nevertheless, I've been feeling a bit antsy, and I've convinced myself that it's due to the lack of not creating things and taking pictures of them. Yes, this is the problem.
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| Furuutsu Nigirizushi Platter |
Thus, I took it upon myself to make yesterday a day of creation, in any right. The problem is, before creating things in the kitchen, I have to clean the entire house. You know you suffer from the same or a similar malady--don't deny it. Being that I love the kitchen more than I love hip-hop (which is a lot), I usually start there, but I wanted it to be my reward. After moaning and groaning over laundry and bathroom details, I ended in my tiled solace, the last step being the preening of the fridge. Throwing out a cup of buttermilk, some sad, forgotten tarragon, and hardened cream cheese, I came across way too much leftover rice with 48 hours to go, a few pineapple logs that had a day left, and half a grapefruit.
Racking my brain for what to do with the survivors, I remembered the place where I fell in love with rice for the second time in my life--Tokyo. I've been thinking about Japan so often lately, especially considering all that's happening now. Just yesterday, I talked to M-chan, who is staying strong there through it all. I remembered our nights walking home from the office, wondering what to pick up for dinner on the way, me always wanting sidewalk sushi, M-chan more often opting for French or Italian with a nice and beautifully-constructed dessert. Then, it dawned on me--why not make sushi the dessert?! M-chan would adore it, so long as I made it into something incredibly cute (with a little bit of pink involved). I imaged-searched "fruit sushi" for inspiration, got ideas from here and here, and went to work. This one is for you, Japan, with a little extra for my home-slice M-chan in Tokyo.
To have:
For nigirizushi rice pudding:
6 cups cooked rice
1 can coconut milk
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (+ extra for sprinkling)
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3-5 tbsp maple syrup
2-4 tbsp corn starch (or other thickener)
For nigirizushi "meats" and garnishes*:
1/4 cucumber, unpeeled
1/2 grapefruit
1/2 a log of pineapple (about 1/16 a pineapple)
3-4 large, fresh strawberries
1/4 tsp sesame seeds (white or black)
*You will have more rice than "meats," so bring more fruit home!
To do:
Place your rice into a saucepan, breaking up any clumps. Add in the coconut milk and stir. Once the mixture combines, turn up the heat to medium-low. Stir and let warm for a few minutes, but try not to let the mixture boil if you can help it--if so, you might get some crispy rice.
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| Rice mixture at desired consistency |
Lowering the heat a bit, add in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir well, being sure to get all the clumps of sugar broken up.
Add in maple syrup, 1 tbsp at a time, being sure not to add too much--you want a smooth, but sticky texture in the rice. I used 4 tbsp, but it all depends on the type of rice you're using and how long it's been sitting in the fridge; mine was a tad dried out.
Once mixture is fully combined, let sit on low heat for a few minutes, stirring often. Add in lemon juice and stir well.
Finally, add in cornstarch, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring and waiting for 30 seconds before adding in an additional tbsp. I used 3 tbsp in my mixture, but again, it depends on how much water you have to work with in the rice. You should achieve a gooey mixture that can be shaped (messily) into nigirizushi rice "fingers" by hand.
Take the rice mixture off the heat and set it aside to cool. Be sure to stir once, just to keep excess rice from sticking to the bottom too much. Yeah, that's me, saving you some clean-up time.
To further utilize time efficiently, head to your fruits & cucumber. Using a cutting board and a small knife with a serrated edge (for safety's sake while working with these slippery fruits), make your fruit cuts and garnishes.
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| Cutting the grapefruit |
Start with grapefruit--use the knife to cut out those 3-D triangles, and then slice the triangles in half width-wise. Depending on the size of your grapefruit, the pieces will be around 1-1/2" x 3/4". These are the grapefruit "meats." With a few leftover triangles, cut small rectangles for a garnish on the pineapple "meat."
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| Cutting the pineapple |
Onto the pineapple--cut the thin, tough core-like strip from the pineapple log and discard/compost. With the widest part of the log facing up, slice into the log, cutting out pieces around 2" x 3/4". With a leftover piece, cut small rectangles that will garnish the grapefruit "meats."
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| Slicing the cucumber peel |
For the cucumber, if you're working with a whole cucumber, rinse it thoroughly, and then chop off one of the butt-ends--around 1-1/2". Starting close the peeling, slice a large chunk of cucumber peel away from the cucumber butt. I love that I get to type "butt" in a formal way. Use this peel to trim up a few small rectangles (to garnish the grapefruit "meats") and also a few long, thin triangles for the strawberry pots.
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| Making a strawberry pot |
Finally, the strawberries--these will be like planters for the rice mixture. Wash them well, and then chop off the tips. For each strawberry, rest on the cutting board tip-side down and cut a funnel-shaped hole into the core, removing and discarding/composting strawberry innards.
Making sure that the rice mixture has cooled, assemble! Shape your nigirizushi rice into small, fat cylinders using your palms; shape further by gently squeezing the cylinders between your index finger and thumb, turning and repeating the step a few times. Once you've achieved a good shape, it should look like a fat finger--place it on your serving plate. Make as many rice fingers as you need before dressing them.
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| Rice fingers--beds for the fruit "meats" |
To assemble Pineappuru-furuutsu (my katakana-ized name for it--similar to a young Japanese person's pronunciation of borrowed Western words), place a pineapple "meat" onto a rice finger. Garnish with grapefruit, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
To assemble Guraypu-furuutsu, place a grapefruit triangle onto a rice finger. Garnish with pineapple and then a cucumber rectangle.
To assemble Suturawberri-furuutsu, fill a cored strawberry with about 1 tsp of rice mixture. Garnish with a cucumber triangle. Sprinkle a few sesame seeds over each pot.
Itadakimasu!
(Let's eat!)
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| Suturawberri-furuutsu, Guraypu-furuutsu, & Pineappuru-furuutsu |
