Gunkan and Nigiri Sushi
Real Japanese gunkan! Making the complicated simple. This recipe lets you dive into Japanese cooking for a bit—I'll show everyday home cooks how to make real Japanese nigiri and gunkan sushi!
Cooking method
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Step 1:
Gather all the ingredients.
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Step 2:
Prep the nori ahead of time, cutting the sheets neatly into strips.
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Step 3:
Once the rice is cooked, season it, spread it out on a board, and let it cool.
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Step 4:
Prep the fillings.
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Step 5:
Toss the fillings with the spicy sauce.
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Step 6:
Set up your work station—you'll need a bowl of water, a surface to shape the rice on, and the nori.
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Step 7:
Shape a little rice "brick," about 15–20 g each.
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Step 8:
Wrap a strip of nori around it and press the seam to seal.
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Step 9:
Spoon the filling on top, inside the nori wall.
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Step 10:
Add a little more spicy sauce on top.
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Step 11:
Here's what they look like.
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Step 12:
Arrange them on a baking sheet and broil briefly.
- Ingredients at a glance: sushi rice – 200 g; nori – 3 sheets; seafood – 200 g; spicy sauce – 100 g; rice vinegar – to taste. Start by cooking the rice—rinse it very thoroughly first to wash out most of the starch so it doesn't turn to mush; meanwhile, cut the nori into strips. When the rice is done, season it with rice vinegar and spread it on a board to cool as fast as possible (always use cooled rice for any rolls or sushi). You can take the seasoning further with what's called sushizu in Japan, made from three ingredients: rice vinegar (Mizkan-style), mirin (a very sweet rice wine), and sugar, blended to taste and folded into the rice. At home you can just dissolve sugar into rice vinegar and water—aim for a sweet-and-sour balance. For the fillings, I used a classic spicy sauce (the simplest version is mayonnaise, sriracha, and tobiko roe), or you can buy it at any Japanese restaurant; toss the fillings with the sauce. Set up your station with the cut nori and a bowl of water to keep the rice from sticking to your hands. Shape a rice brick and wrap it in a strip of nori, pressing a grain or two of rice at the end to seal the nori so it doesn't come apart. Spoon the filling on top so it's packed but nothing spills over, then brush the tops with spicy sauce. Lay them on a parchment-lined or silicone-lined baking sheet (foil can stick if your oven has no broiler) and broil a couple of minutes until golden; with no broiler, just bake at 400°F (200°C). To really impress guests, you can torch the sauce on top for a few seconds with a kitchen blowtorch before serving. And don't forget the soy sauce and ginger—and chopsticks for the full effect. Enjoy!
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Nori - 3 kcal/100g
- Rice vinegar - 20 kcal/100g
- Chili sauce - 98 kcal/100g
- Round rice - 330 kcal/100g
