Garden Inari Sushi
A picnic-friendly bite. Easy to pack and delicious at room temperature.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 2
- Level
- Easy
Photo: Nadin Sh / Pexels
Garden Inari Sushi is the kind of rice snack Japanese home cooks pack without a second thought. Canned inari pouches are already simmered in sweet soy; open them gently from the cut side with your thumb. Leftover components keep for a day in the fridge, but the finished dish is best eaten fresh.
Method
Wash 2 cups of sushi rice gently with your fingertips, changing the water until it is only faintly cloudy, then leave it to drain for 15 minutes so the grains hydrate evenly.
Cook the rice with 2 1/4 cups of water and a small square of kombu in a rice cooker, or in a covered heavy pot: bring to a boil, then keep it on the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Rest 10 minutes with the lid on.
Stir together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt until clear. Turn the hot rice into a shallow bowl, pour the seasoning evenly over it and cut through the rice with a paddle, fanning as you go so it cools quickly and turns shiny.
Drain the inari pouches, gently squeeze out excess syrup and open each one carefully with your thumb.
Stir the sesame seeds and finely diced carrot into the rice.
With wet hands, form rice into small ovals and stuff each pouch about two-thirds full, leaving room at the top for toppings.
Top each pocket with sesame seeds and carrot and serve at room temperature.
Chef's note
Use warm rice; cold rice will not hold its shape.
From the Onigiri and Inari counter
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