Harako Meshi

Ingredients

• 400 g skinless salmon fillet, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 300 g short-grain rice
• 400 ml water
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sake
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 5 cm piece of kombu
• 150 g ikura (salmon roe)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, for the roe
• 1 tbsp sake, for the roe
• 20 g mitsuba or watercress, roughly chopped
• 1 sheet of nori, shredded
• 10 g ginger, cut into fine needles

Before you cook

• Rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear, then drain it in a sieve for 30 minutes.
• Bring the tablespoon of sake for the roe to the boil in a tiny pan, let it cool, then stir it with the tablespoon of soy sauce and spoon it over the ikura to marinate.
• Cut the salmon into 3 cm pieces and cut the ginger into fine needles.

Steps

1. Put the 400 ml water, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar and kombu into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.
2. Lower in the salmon pieces and poach them for 4 minutes, until just opaque at the edges.
3. Lift the salmon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside on a plate.
4. Take out the kombu and strain the liquid into a measuring jug.
5. Top the liquid up with cold water until you have exactly 330 ml, then let it cool to room temperature.
6. Tip the drained rice into a heavy pan with a tight lid and pour the measured liquid over it.
7. Cover, bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 12 minutes.
8. Take the pan off the heat and leave it, still covered, to steam for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
9. Uncover the rice and fold it gently with a wet spatula to loosen the grains.
10. Lay the poached salmon over the rice and put the lid back on for 2 minutes to warm it through.
11. Spoon the marinated ikura over the top and scatter with mitsuba, shredded nori and ginger needles.