押し寿司

Pressed Sushi

The fish or salmon roe in this recipe not only adds a delightful texture to the sushi, but also flavour and colour. Salmon roe, known as ikura, is high in omega-3 fatty acids.

MAKES 16 PIECES

16 cooked king prawns (shrimp)

2 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar

1 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar

wasabi paste, optional

1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar, extra

1 quantity prepared sushi rice (here)

125 g (4½ oz) flying fish roe or salmon roe

4 toasted nori sheets

Line a 26 x 16 cm (10½ x 6½ in) baking tin about 4 cm (1½ in) deep with two long pieces of plastic wrap so that it overhangs on all sides.

Peel the prawns, then slit them along their bellies, ensuring you don’t cut all the way through. Remove the vein. Mix the vinegar with the sugar and a pinch of salt until the sugar is dissolved, then add the prawns and mix. Set aside for 15 minutes. Drain well, then neatly and snugly arrange the prawns in a single layer, belly-side up, in the baking tin. Flatten with your hands, then smear a little wasabi over the cut side of each prawn.

Fill a bowl with warm water and mix in the extra rice vinegar. Dampen your hands with the water to prevent the rice sticking to your hands. Carefully spread half the rice over the prawns, without moving the prawns, then press down firmly. Smooth the rice over so that it forms an even layer, wetting your hands as needed.

Spead the roe over the rice in a thin even layer with the back of a spoon, then press down gently. Trim two sheets of the nori to fit the tin and cover the rice in a single layer. Press down to adhere. Add the second half of the rice, pressing and smoothing as you did earlier, then trim the remaining two sheets of nori to cover the rice and press down again to adhere.

Fold the plastic wrap over the sides to enclose the rice. Put a smaller tin on top of the plastic and fill with cold water to weigh down the sushi. Leave for 30 minutes, then remove. Unfold the plastic wrap and invert the sushi onto a platter. Remove the plastic wrap carefully so the prawns stay in place. Cut into 16 rectangles, each containing a prawn.

Left: Place the prawns in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Right: Use the back of a spoon to spread a thin layer of roe over the rice.