Inari Sushi (inarizushi)

[iainpb]

I visited a kaiten sushi bar this week, where the chefs serve their freshly prepared sushi to the conveyor belt and you take what you fancy. I took a plate of what the chef described as bean curd filled with rice, this was delicious but does anyone know what this is called?

It was a flat piece of bean curd, filld with rice and rolled, it also tatsed a little sweet. Did I eat a dessert?

[gfron1]

I believe you had inari zushi, but I'm no expert.

[Abra]

Inari sushi is usually a triangular pocket of thin sweet tofu stuffed with rice, so maybe this was a variant?

Edited October 16, 2008 by Abra (log)

[torakris]

Most definitely inari (inarizushi), this one one of my favorite foods and I often have a pack of this for lunch.

This is a picture from a while ago (with some kara-age, fried chicken)

This is their most common form though occasionally you may find them stuffed with other things as well as the rice.

Lots of pictures.

Edited to add this is not a dessert despite the slight sweetness.

Edited October 16, 2008 by torakris (log)

[iainpb]

Thanks for that - they are exactly as shown in that picture. I'm relived to hear they are not a dessert and I did not commit an awful sin by applying some soy sauce

Now to try and make my own..

[Kerry Beal]

My favorite too. I've got all the fixings for it in my cupboards - the age tofu

(in cans - made it myself the first time - that was enough to prove I could do it), the sushi rice, and the little bottle of furikake to finish it off. Oh, and gotta have pickled ginger.

[torakris]

Thanks for that - they are exactly as shown in that picture. I'm relived to hear they are not a dessert and I did not commit an awful sin by applying some soy sauce 

Now to try and make my own..

←

Actually, inari is one of the few items at a sushi restaurant that you don't need to apply soy sauce to. While there is nothing wrong with it and I am sure that some Japanese do it as well, inari is usually just eaten as is.

I am making inari for lunch today, I will be cheating though as I use pre-seasoned aburage (tofu-pocket).

Here is a nice step by step picture guide if you really want to try making them.

[petite tête de chou]

Inarizushi and green tea ice cream (who knew?) were the first Japanese food items that I fell in love with during the '80's. I wasn't sure what to expect but the moist and sweet pockets were a nice surprise. I never imagined that they were tofu! It was a real eye-opener to the many, many different ways that tofu can be used. Really great stuff!

[piazzola]

Most places that I go to eat inaris are catered by Chinese enterpreneurs and they are mostly sweetish. I wento one Japanese store and commenting to one of the assistants there tell me that inari are not sweet and I should use Japanese vinegar to flavour the rice just like Californian rolls.

So How do I prepare a true blue inari and what goes for a topping if necessary?

Thank you

[torakris]

Most places that I go to eat inaris are catered by Chinese enterpreneurs and they are mostly sweetish. I wento one Japanese store and commenting to one of the assistants there tell me that inari are not sweet and I should use Japanese vinegar to flavour the rice just like Californian rolls.

So How do I prepare a true blue inari and what goes for a topping if necessary?

Thank you

←

Inari definitely have a sweetness to them but it is far from dessert-sweet.

Rice for sushi (even California rolls) is seasoned with vinegar, salt and sugar.

For inari, the pockets are further seasoned with usually both mirin and sugar included in the seasonings. See the link two posts above this for a recipe (with pictures).

[piazzola]

Thank you torakris

Shall check those links