Assorted pressed sushi with sashimi

serves 4

Ingredients

• 5 slices fresh tuna (maguro)
• fillet (2-1/2 oz. or 75 g)
• 3 slices fresh porgy fillet (1-3/3 oz. or 45 g)

A.

• 1 c. water
• 3 T. rice vinegar

• 4 c. sushi rice
• wasabi, as desired
• 1/3 oz. (10 g) fresh salmon roe
• 2 strips purple laver (nori; 1"×5" or 2.5×18 cm)
• 1/3 oz. (10 g) fresh sea urchin (uni)

B.

• 3 thin slices cuttlefish(1 oz. or 30 g)
• 3 cooked shrimp (Shrimp-Cucumber Rolls)
• 3 slices egg roll (Japanese Egg Roll)
• 3 ark shells (akagai)
• 3 cockles (torigai)
• 2 slices halfbeak (sayori)
• fillet (1 oz. or 30 g)

Directions

pickled sweet-sour ginger root and lemon slices, as desired How to prepare fish for pressed sushi with sashimi: Slice the Fish.
Dip your hands in A. Pick up about 2/3 oz. (20 g) sushi rice with your right hand, and gently squeeze into a rectangular block.

Pick up a slice of fish in your left hand and brush a little wasabi over the center (illus. 1). Place the sushi rice block on top of it (illus. 2).Press down gently on the sushi rice with your right index finger (illus. 3), then turn it over so the fish is on the top. With your right thumb and index finger, press both sides so that it is roughly rectangular (illus. 4), then gently press down on the fish slice with your right index finger and middle finger. At the same time, press the fish out toward one end with your left thumb, so that the fish arcs outward (illus. 5). Turn the sushi around and repeat on the other end. Repeat the whole procedure on the same two ends for a finished look. Repeat the same procedure for each of the items in 2.

To make pressed sushi with salmon roe: Pick up a half-handful of sushi rice and form it into a cylindrical shape."Frame" The rice by pressing a strip of purple laver around the outer edge; seal the two ends together onto the rice with some rice vinegar. Fill with salmon roe. Follow the same procedure for the sea urchin.

Arrange the assorted pressed sushi attractively in a serving dish and serve.

To eat: Using chopsticks, turn the sushi so that the filling side faces sideways(illus. 6), then dip in soy sauce (illus.7).Sushi can also be eaten with the wasabi