SUSHI BALLS Temari-zushi
Since hindi ako makahulma ng sushi rice perfectly, coz ang paghulma daw ng sushi rice ay may tamang sizes & hindi daw pwede iba't-iba ang size lalo na kapag ihahanda sa party. But according to my former Japanese husband puwede daw gumawa ng sushi ball & it's very easy to make. Like any occasions such as birthdays, festivals,wedding, anniversary, these bite-sized balls are bright ang colorful. A different seasoning for each fish adds to the variety of flavors.
Make 30 lbs.
2 oz. or 50g. tuna fillet
2 oz. or 50g. sea bream
2 oz. or 50g. squid (body), cleaned and peeled
1 whole sayori (halfbeak)***
1/2 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
3 thin slices smoked salmon
6 sprigs kinome
2-3 tablespoons Japanese shoyu or soy sauce to serve
SUSHI RICE:
2 cups uncooked rice
1 sheet of kombu kelp, 2"x 2" or 5cm x 5cm
1/4 cup Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
GARNISHES:
6 pcs. mi-zansho tsukadani seeds or capers
Wasabi & mustard
A little bit of mashed umeboshi
Method:
(1.) Prepare sushi rice as for Hand-Wrapped Sushi: wash and soak the rice in 2 1/4 cups of water at least one hour before cooking. Add the kombu kelp and place over high heat. Remove the kombu kelp once the water comes to a boil. Cook te rice over the low heat for 13-14 minutes. Turn up the heat brieftly, then remove from heat. Let stand for 8 minutes. Mix the vinegar with the sugar and salt. Dip the rice paddle in the vinegar mixture and use it to transfer the steamed rice to a handai or large shallow dish. Pour the vinegar mixture over the rice a little at a time and, with the paddle, mix in the vinegar swiftly but gently. Fanning the rice at the same time gives a better flavor.+++
(2.) Holding the knife at an angle, slice the tuna thinly into squares of about 1 1/2" or 3.5cm. Slice the sea bream and peeled squid in the same way. Cut the smoked salmon into squares the same size.
(3.) Fillet the sayori and rub vinegar into the skin. Peel off the skin from the head towards the tail. Cut into squares of 1/2" or 3.5cm.
(4.) Divide the rice into 30 portions. Lay a portion of rice on a piece of plastic wrap and twist the corners together, so that the rice forms a rough ball shape.
(5.) Lay a slice of tuna on a damp cloth and place the rice ball on top. Twist the cloth together to form a sphere. Press the top of each ball to set the fish in place. Repeat with the remaining rice and fish. When preparing the sea bream balls, sandwich a sprig of kinome between the fish and the rice.
(6.) Garnish the tuna balls with a dot of mustard,the squid balls with a dot of wasabi, the smoked salmon with mizansho and the sayori with wasabi and mashed umeboshi. Arrange the sushi balls decoratively on a serving dish and serve with small dishes of shoyu. Dip the balls in shoyu before eating.
*** Sayori (halfbeak) is a slender fish with white fish. It has a light and delicate taste. If unavailable, an uncooked ham (Parma, Bayonne, Westphalian, etc.) makes a subtitute.
+++ A fan to cool the rice. If a fan os not available, a piece of stiff card can also be used.
