I got the idea for a sushi cake from my mom who made this for Christmas several years ago. She made one large version but I decided to make two small ones, each one about 2-3 servings. Once you make this, the possibilities are endless and you can substitute the salmon as well as the layer ingredients with different ingredients.
Ingredients (2 small sushi cakes)
2 (1/4) cups of dried rice to make sushi rice although you will probably have some left over. (See Sushi meshi/shari)
8 oz (226g), 4 oz for each cake of wild sockeye smoked salmon (sliced)
5 shiitake mushrooms cooked (see below for shiitake ingredients)
3 eggs prepped (see below for egg ingredients)
*You’ll also need plastic wrap and a glass bowl
Shiitake Mushroom Ingredients
5 dried shiitake
2.5 cups of dashijiru (nibandashi will do) or substitute with water and 1/4 teaspoon of dashi powder
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sake
3 tablespoons of sugar
Egg Ingredients
3 eggs
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
Directions
1) Soak the shiitake mushrooms overnight or for a minimum of 1 hour.
2) Once the shiitake are reconstituted, cut off the stems and add them to a pot with the shiitake ingredients listed above. (Please note: the sauce will be mild at first but after cooking down for 30-40 minutes, the sauce will reduce and become concentrated.)
3) Once they are cooled, cut them into thin strips about 3 mm or 1/8 of an inch thick and set aside.
4) Next, mix all of the egg ingredients and heat a frying pan until it’s hot. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and then the egg mix.
5) Stir the egg with a wooden spoon like you’re making scrambled eggs. Be careful not to let them burn or even get a little toasted. Turn down the heat as soon as the eggs start to cook.
6) Once the eggs are cooked, put them in a bowl and use the wooden spoon to break them up into small pieces. You want them to be small so that when you sandwich them in the sushi cake, the later of rice sticks and the whole thing doesn’t fall apart.
7) Now you’re ready to assemble. Layer a glass bowl with plastic wrap and line the entire bowl with smoked salmon. I made one by just layering the top with the smoked salmon but it looks so much nicer when the entire cake is covered in salmon. It’s gives it a smoother appearance. Plus, I have never heard anyone complain about too much salmon.
8) Next, layer some sushi rice and pad the rice in using a piece of plastic wrap so the rice doesn’t stick and you can evenly push the rice in. Check the bottom through the glass to make sure the salmon hasn’t shifted. If it has, you can still fix it during this stage.
9) Add a layer the shiitake next. Make a flower pattern with the sliced shiitake around in a circle. This makes it easier to cut the slices since the knife is less likely to cut through a shiitake that is perpendicular to the knife.
10) Back to the rice. Add another layer of rice and this time press a little harder on the rice. The first time you don’t want the salmon to shift so you can’t press down as hard but feel free to press a little harder here. You’ll have to forget about the fact that you were so careful not the smash the rice while making the sushi rice.
11) Add a layer of egg. You can put as little or as much as you like but if you put too much it’s difficult to press the last layer of rice together with the cake.
12) Lastly, add another layer of rice and voila! Pull the cake out of the glass container by pulling on the edges of the plastic wrap and set on a plate. Decorate with cream cheese and cucumbers or gari (pickled ginger) and serve.
Soak the shiitake mushrooms.
Cook the shiitake with the shiitake ingredients and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the soup has reduced.
When the shiitake are done, the soup has reduced down quite a bit.
Cook the eggs quickly and stir so the eggs don’t burn A wooden spoon works well once the eggs start to cook.
Break up the eggs with a wooden spoon until you have small pieces.
Lay the plastic wrap first and then use 4 oz. of the salmon and line the entire bowl.
Put some sushi rice and press down. Look under the bowl to make sure the salmon hasn’t moved and created any gaps.
Lay the slices of shiitake in a flower pattern. This makes it easier to cut.
Add your second layer of rice and press down.
Add the eggs and then the last layer of rice and press down again.
Use the edges of the plastic wrap to pull out the entire cake and lay on a cake plate. Peel plastic wrap off and decorate with pickled cucumbers or gari (pickled ginger) and/or cream cheese.
A slice of sushi cake!
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
