RECIPES | Salmon roe, or ikura as it’s known in Japan, are salmon fish eggs. The vibrant orange pearls are a bit of a luxury ingredient, and are often found in sushi, on salads, and in kaisen don. Salmon roe are much larger than most other fish eggs used for sushi and burst like water filled balloons when you bite into them. The flavour is quite mild – it’s really about the impact of that burst.
This salmon roe sushi recipe is inspired by our many trips to Japan, and is perfect for a bit of fresh seafood luxury in your home.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes / Cooking Time: 30 minutes / Serves: 1-2 people
Ingredients
- 1 rice cooker cup (160g) of Japanese short grain rice
- 20ml rice vinegar
- 4g caster sugar
- 1g salt
- 100g salmon roe
- 3 sheets nori
- wasabi
- pickled ginger
- tamari
Method
- Cover the rice in water and stir to dislodge the excess starch.
- Pour the water out and add fresh water. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the water runs clear.
- Place the rice in the rice cooker and add water up to the 1 cup line, cook on a quick setting.
- Transfer the rice to a shallow container to help cool the rice.
- Mix together the rice vinegar, salt and sugar.
- Pour the vinegar mix over the rice and mix well.
- Once the rice is cool, form oblong rice balls, each with 20g rice.
- Place a small amount of wasabi on each rice ball.
- Cut a piece of nori 5cm by 10cm and wrap around the rice ball so that there is a rim to hold in the salmon roe.
- Repeat until all the nori and rice have been used.
- Top the rice with 20g salmon roe.
- Serve with tamari.
Notes
You can make each piece of sushi as big or as small as you like. Just make sure you use an equal amount of rice and salmon roe for each piece.