Chirashi Sushi is served on happy occasions and at parties in Japan.  This bright and colorful dish is made of sushi rice with a variety of vegetables mixed in, and toppings sprinkled over the top.

Chirashi Sushi 

INGREDIENTS

For Pickled Lotus Root & Ginger

• 2 inches lotus root (renkon) (5 cm)
• 1 inch ginger (2.5 cm)
• ½ cup rice vinegar (120 ml)
• ⅓ cup sugar (65 g)
• ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

For Chirashi Sushi Mix

• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
• ½ cup water (120 ml) (for soaking dried shiitake mushrooms)
• ⅔ gobo (burdock root)
• 0.8 oz dried kanpyo (gourd strips) (20 g)
• 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt) (for rubbing kanpyo)
• ½ carrot
• 1 ¼ cup dashi (300 ml)
• ¼ cup sake (60 m)
• 3 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

For Egg Crepe (Kinshi Tamago)

• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
• 1 Tbsp dashi (or sake or water)
• ¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)
• ½ Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)

For Snow Peas

• 6 snow peas
• pinch kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

For Sushi Rice

• 3 rice cooker cups uncooked Japanese short-grain rice (540 ml)
• Water
• 2 inch kombu (dried kelp) (5 cm)
• ⅓ cup rice vinegar (75 ml)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

For Unagi (Eels)

• 1 package unagi (eel) (160 g)

For Shrimp

• 8-10 large shrimp
• 1 Tbsp sake
• pinch kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

Toppings (optional)

• 4 Tbsp Ikura (salmon roe)
• 4 Tbsp shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori)
• ½ Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

1) To Make Pickled Lotus Root & Ginger:

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Combine rice vinegar, sugar, and kosher salt in a small saucepan. Bring it to boil and let the sugar dissolved completely. Set aside to cool.
3. Peel and cut the ginger to julienne strips (thinner the better). Peel the lotus root and cut out the edge to make a flower shape (Read my Hana Renkon tutorial).
4. Slice the lotus root into 1/8” (3 mm) and soak in vinegar water for 5 minutes to prevent from turning brown (just drop a few rice vinegar in water – doesn’t have to be precise).
5. Boil water in a small saucepan and blanch the ginger and lotus root for 3 minutes.  Drain well and transfer them to the vinegar mixture to marinate.  You can make this ahead and keep it up to 1 week in refrigerator. 

2) To Make Chirashi Sushi Mix:

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Soak dried shiitake mushrooms with 1/2 cup water until they are hydrated and tender. Then squeeze the mushrooms and reserve the liquid (= shiitake dashi) in the bowl.  Cut off and discard the stem.
3. Slice the shiitake mushrooms. Strain the reserved shiitake dashi to remove impurities. Save this shiitake dashi until you’re ready to use in Step 8.
4. Make a criss-cross incision at one end of the gobo. This criss-cross incision will help you shave the gobo like a pencil.  Shave into small thin pieces as you rotate the gobo.  Soak the cut pieces in water so they won't turn brown. Change the water 1-2 times.  Drain right before you start cooking in Step 8.
5. In a small saucepan, bring water to boil. Quickly rinse the kanpyo in running water and drain. Rub kanpyo with 1 tsp salt. Rinse and drain well.
6. When the water is boiling cook kanpyo for 3 minutes. Transfer to iced water to stop cooking process and squeeze water out.
7. Cut kanpyo into small pieces and cut the carrot into julienne strips.
8. Add shiitake mushrooms, gobo, and kanpyo in the pot (keep the carrot aside for now). Add dashi, reserved shiitake dashi (the liquid from hydrating dried shiitake), sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce, and bring to simmer on medium heat.
9. Skim the foam and scum on the surface as much as you can, decrease the heat to simmer, and cover with Otoshibuta (drop lid). This lid ensures that ingredients are submerged under the liquid and flavorful cooking liquid circulates well. You can make one with aluminum foil easily and here's the tutorial.
10. Add the carrot while there is still liquid in the pot but toward the end of cooking so that you don't overcook carrot and get mushy.  Continue to cook with Otoshibuta until the liquid is almost gone.  The whole cooking process is about 20-25 minutes depending on the heat.  Transfer the Chirashi Sushi Mix to a plate to cool completely.  If you end up with some cooking liquid, you can save a little bit so you can season the rice later.  You can make this ahead and keep it in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days.

3)To Make Egg Crepes:

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Whisk the eggs and add the rest of ingredients into the bowl. Whisk to combine and strain the egg mixture to get silky texture.
3. Heat the large non-stick frying pan and grease the pan with paper towel dipped in vegetable oil. Make sure to wipe off the excess oil. When the pan is hot, pour the egg mixture just enough to cover the bottom of the entire fry pan.
4. Tilt the pan to fill the fry pan with the egg mixture and cover with the lid.  Remove from the heat and place the pan on a cold towel to cool the pan so the the egg won't become brown.  Once the egg crepe is cooked through, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Continue this process until all the egg mixture is gone.
5. Roll up the egg crepes and cut thinly into julienned strips. Loosen them up and set aside.  You can make this ahead and keep it in the refrigerator up to 2-3 days or freeze up to 4 weeks.

4) To Prepare Snow Peas:

1. Remove the tough strings along the edges of snow peas.  Bring water to boil in a small saucepan.  Add pinch of salt and blanch them for 2 minutes.  Drain and cut diagonally in half or thirds.

1)To Make Sushi Rice:

1. Gather all the ingredients.  
2. Rinse the rice, soak for 30 minutes, and drain (read the tutorial).  Put the rice in a rice cooker bowl and add the water till "Sushi" water level (a bit less than regular). Place kombu on top and start cooking. If you don't have a rice cooker, follow this tutorial.  Combine the sushi vinegar ingredients in a bowl and mix together. You can microwave or heat the mixture in a saucepan over the stove to dissolve the sugar completely and remove the strong vinegar taste/smell. 

2) To Prepare Unagi

1. Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). As the unagi you purchased is already grilled/broiled, all you need to do is reheat. Place the unagi on a parchment paper or silicone baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Once it’s cool to touch, you can cut into ¼ inch (0.6 mm) pieces.  Set aside.

3) To Prepare Shrimp:

1. Using a skewer, devein shrimp without removing shell (see the tutorial).  We peel the shell after cooking to retain the flavor of the shrimp.  Boil water in a medium saucepan.  Once boiling, add sake and shrimp and simmer until pink, about 2-3 minutes. Remove the shell and set aside.  

4) To Assemble Chirashi Sushi:

1. Start this step when all the steps above are completed. Discard the kombu from sushi rice and transfer to Hangiri (or a large serving platter). If you use hangiri, quickly run water so rice doesn’t stick. Pour sushi vinegar over the rice paddle to evenly distribute sushi vinegar over rice. With the rice paddle, slice the rice at a 45 degree angle to separate the rice instead of mixing.  At the same time you need to use a fan to cool rice so the rice will shine and doesn't get mushy.
   
2. Once the sushi rice is cooled, squeeze the Chirashi Sushi Mix to remove excess liquid (otherwise rice gets too soggy) and combine with sushi rice. You can always add a few Tbsp of reserved liquid to season the rice if you like (I don't usually do it). 
3. Gather all the toppings you’ve prepared.
4. First, spread the shredded egg crepe. Decorate the chirashi sushi as you like. I usually start from lotus root, shrimp, unagi, snow peas, ikura, sesame seeds, and nori in the center.  Enjoy!

https://www.justonecookbook.com/chirashi-sushi/