Walnut Tray Aburi Nigiri
Seared just long enough to warm the fat. Perfect as the opening course of a homemade omakase night.
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Medium
Photo: Jonathan Borba / Pexels
Walnut Tray Aburi Nigiri is all about balance between cool fish and warm, lightly seasoned rice. Buy salmon labeled for raw eating and keep it on ice right up to the moment you slice it; cold fish cuts cleaner and tastes sweeter. A kitchen torch gives aburi-style char in seconds; hold it a few inches away and keep it moving. Double the recipe for a crowd; the method scales easily.
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.
Add the rice and 2 1/4 cups of cold water to your rice cooker with a strip of kombu and use the white rice setting. When it clicks off, leave it closed for 10 more minutes.
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.
Meanwhile, chill the salmon for 10 minutes in the freezer so it firms up, then cut even slices with a long, sharp knife.
Using wet hands, shape tablespoon-size portions of rice into rounded rectangles, pressing just enough for them to hold together.
Lay each topping over its rice, then use your index and middle fingers to press it down along the length so it curves neatly.
Set the nigiri on a heatproof tray and pass a kitchen torch slowly over the fish, about 2 inches away, until the edges blister and the fat glistens.
Serve immediately. Dip the fish side, not the rice, lightly into soy sauce.
Chef's note
Use about 20 g of rice per piece. Too much rice overwhelms the topping.
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