THE nigirior nigirizushi, are the smallest type of sushi and one of the most popular in restaurants: small rice balls for cooked sushi garnished with slices of raw fish such as salmon, tuna, sea bass and octopus, or with boiled shrimp or tamagoyakior the classic Japanese rolled omelette prepared with eggs, soy sauce and mirin, a type of Japanese rice wine. In some upscale Japanese restaurants, nigiri can also be found served with a slice of Kobe beef, one of the most valuable meats. The nigiri is worked with the hands to give the shape of an elongated meatball and is always accompanied from wasabi and soy sauce. The name nigiri, in fact, can be translated into Italian as “grab, press”, precisely because of the movement that must be done with the hands to create the rice ball. Unlike how many do in Italy, the nigiri it is dipped in soy sauce always on the fish side and never on the rice side, and must be eaten with chopsticks. To complete your sushi table, also prepare hosomaki, uramaki, futamaki, temaki and gunkanmaki!

Preparation

1

Place the fish fillet on a cutting board. You can choose the fish you prefer, even of different varieties. We used salmon and sea bass. With a flat-bladed knife, make cuts perpendicular to the fibers of the fillet, so that they do not fall apart.

2

You will have to get 5 slices for fish, about 3 mm thick. If you want to prepare a larger amount of nigiri, you can cut more slices. Temporarily set the fish aside, arranging the slices on a cutting board or plate.

3

Wet your hands in 100 ml of water seasoned with 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar. In this way, when handling the cooked sushi rice, you will be able to work it without it sticking to your fingers. Take about 15 g of rice and form an elongated, oval-shaped meatball.

4

Season the rice ball with a teaspoon tip of wasabi paste. If you don’t like wasabi you can omit it. Place a slice of fish on the meatball.

5

Arrange the first nigiri on a serving plate and continue in the same way with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve, for a maximum of 3-4 hours. Serve with soy sauce and marinated ginger.

Advice and tips

Fish, if eaten raw, must necessarily be demolished. You can buy it already blast chilled at a fish shop, or blast chill it at home by placing it in the freezer for 3 days at -18°C.

Fish is much easier to cut if it is still partially frozen. For this reason, if you have blast chilled the fish, you can take it out of the freezer and slice it when it has not yet completely defrosted. You can then store it in the fridge until ready to use.

If you want to prepare tamagoyaki, or the Japanese rolled omelette, you can beat 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of salted soy sauce in a bowl and mix vigorously with a fork or Japanese chopsticks. Put a knob of butter in a non-stick pan, let it melt over low heat and pour the egg mixture, moving the pan to distribute it over the entire surface. As soon as the base has firmed up, but the top is still liquid, fold the omelette with the chopsticks by one third and then by another third, to roll it up on itself. Let it cool and then slice it thinly. You can fix the tamagoyaki to the rice ball with a strip of nori seaweed.

Marinated ginger, wasabi, nori seaweed, sushi rice and all the tools for making Japanese sushi can be purchased online or in specialized ethnic shops, or in the ethnic section of the best-stocked supermarkets.

The most used varieties of fish for nigiri and, in general, for the preparation of sushi, are tuna, salmon, amberjack, mackerel, eel, sea bass and shrimp. All, apart from the shrimp which is blanched, are normally eaten raw. If you prefer, you can quickly sear them in a pan and season them with a teaspoon of teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds.

For the preparation of sushi always use only fresh and quality ingredients.

storage

The nigiri can be stored in the refrigerator for a few hours. It must be consumed within 10 hours of preparation and it cannot be frozen.