Kakinoha Zushi

Name: Kakinoha Zushi
Total time: 7 h
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 2 very fresh mackerel fillets, about 400 g in total, pin-boned; 4 tbsp fine salt, for curing; 300 ml rice vinegar, for curing; 300 g sushi rice (short-grain); 330 ml water, for cooking the rice; 5 cm piece of kombu; 60 ml rice vinegar, for seasoning the rice; 30 g caster sugar; 1 tsp fine salt; 30 persimmon leaves, wiped clean (or 30 squares of baking paper)

by CommunityKitchen

JapaneseHard7 hrServes 5

Mountain sushi from Nara and Wakayama, where salt-cured mackerel was carried inland from the coast and pressed with rice inside persimmon leaves, which perfume and preserve it at the same time.

Per
serving

400kcal

20gprotein

62gcarbs

8gfat

Ingredients

2 very fresh mackerel fillets, about 400 g in total, pin-boned
4 tbsp fine salt, for curing
300 ml rice vinegar, for curing
300 g sushi rice (short-grain)
330 ml water, for cooking the rice
5 cm piece of kombu
60 ml rice vinegar, for seasoning the rice
30 g caster sugar
1 tsp fine salt
30 persimmon leaves, wiped clean (or 30 squares of baking paper)

Before you cook

Lay the mackerel fillets skin side down in a shallow dish and bury them in the 4 tablespoons of salt.
Chill the salted fillets for 2 hours, then rinse the salt off under cold water and pat them dry.
Sit the fillets in the 300 ml of rice vinegar for 40 minutes, then lift them out and drain them.
Peel the tough translucent membrane off the skin side of each fillet, starting at the head end.
Rinse the sushi rice until the water runs clear and drain it for 30 minutes.
Warm the 60 ml of rice vinegar with the sugar and teaspoon of salt until they dissolve, then let it cool.

Steps

Cook the rice with the 330 ml of water and the kombu in a covered pan for 12 minutes, then leave it off the heat for 10 minutes.
Tip the hot rice into a wide bowl and remove the kombu.
Pour the seasoned vinegar over the rice and cut it through with a spatula, fanning it until the grains are glossy and at body temperature.
Slice the cured mackerel at a shallow angle into 30 thin pieces, each about 4 cm long.
Wet your hands and press a 25 g portion of rice into a small flat oval.
Lay a piece of mackerel over the rice and press it on firmly.
Set the parcel face down on a persimmon leaf and fold the leaf around it into a neat package.
Repeat until all the rice and fish are used.
Pack the parcels tightly into a lidded box or a loaf tin, seam side down and in two layers.
Set a plate on top and weight it with a couple of tins.
Leave the sushi pressed in a cool place for at least 6 hours, or overnight, so the rice and fish settle into one another.
Serve the parcels in their leaves and let each person unwrap their own.

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