Sushi Rice: Short grain cooked Japanese rice mixed with rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. I use an adjustable stainless steel otoshibuta, which can change the size of the drop lid based on different pot sizes. If you cook at home, you don’t need to “guess” anymore. Simply remove the oil and cook with quality ingredients and less sugar (I use unrefined sweetener as alternative for refined white sugar). The most common type of inarizushi is made with vinegared sushi rice and aburaage that has been simmered in a sweetened soy sauce (inari age). As I previously mentioned, you can add a variety of ingredients to the sushi rice to make it more interesting. Here are some popular ingredients used in Japan to flavor inari sushi:

Strain: pour over a strainer and rinse with cold water to help it cool. Then place the aburaage pieces between the palm of your two hands and squeeze as much of the excess water out. It will stay at room temperature for half a day (less than 6 hours in summer), in the refrigerator for a few days, and in the freezer for a month. Inari Sushi is a popular dish in Japan along with nigiri sushi ( nigirizushi– hand-pressed sushi that you find at sushi trains). It is particularly popular among children. Aburaage: Deep fried tofu pouches made by sling tofu into thin slices, removing the water and frying it in oil.Inari sushi is a common component of bento boxes and is available in delis alongside sushi rolls. What is Aburaage? Depending on the shape of Inarizushi you will be making, the aburaage needs to be cut differently. To make a squarish oval Inarizushi, cut an aburaage in half crosswise and make two square pieces. For a triangle Inarizushi, cut an aburaage in half diagonally, making two right angled triangles.

Inari sushi is not just any other type of sushi. It is an important type of sushi deeply rooted in Japanese culture and tradition. In this section, we will explain all the basics of what it is and why it is culturally important. What is inari sushi? After two minutes, remove the aburaage from the boiling water and cool them on the side. At this point, you may want to lightly press the aburaage in a tofu press to remove any excess water before you prepare your sushi rolls. Inari sushi is a type of sushi with rice balls wrapped in ‘Aburaage’ deep-fried tofu pouches. Known as Inarizushi in Japan this sushi is a little different. “Inari” the name, is derived from the “Inari” Shrine. For an offering to the shinto god Inari, this sushi was used. Because the favourite food of the Shinto god’ messenger fox is said to be Aburaage. Kakushi aji is the secret flavour which enhances the entire flavour. For this recipe, Kakushi Aji is “MISO paste”. You will not notice the miso because it is not the dominant flavour but it enhances the fragrance and enriches the flavour as a whole. As the tofu pouches are cooked gently in the savory dashi-based broth, they absorb the amazing umami flavor and capture some of the juices for the best enjoyment. Homemade vs. Store-Bought Inari AgeThe amount of sesame seeds I added was 1 tablespoon for 240g/8.5oz of sushi rice. It’s quite a lot but you can hardly notice that because of the colour of the sesame seeds. Crab meat and lemon peel: It is topped with canned club meat and lemon peel. It is very tasty with a dash of soy sauce! The name of this sushi is associated with a type of shrine called ‘ Inari Shrine’, which used to worship the deity, Inari. It is said that the favourite food of the fox, the messenger of Inari, was aburaage (deep fried thin tofu) so people offered aburaage to the shrine.