While everyone is busy planning and making holiday meals and baked goods, I decided to get a head start on Japanese New Year special meals.
I know it sounds crazy since it’s not even Christmas yet! But in Japan we don’t generally get together with family and relatives for Christmas, but instead we get together on New Year’s Day or the first few days of New Years.
I was actually surprised to receive many requests for traditional New Years food recipes from the readers because I was never been a big fan of Osechi Ryori (Traditional Japanese New Years Meal, お節料理) while growing up in Japan. I only have a few favorite dishes like Sweet Rolled Omelet (Datemaki 伊達巻) and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Candied Chestnuts (Kurikinton 栗きんとん) but I mostly look forward to my mom’s Saikyo Miso O-zoni (Kyoto-style shiro miso soup for New Years 西京味噌のお雑煮).
Since Christmas or New Year’s Eve is not here yet, I decided to share these Cucumber Wrapped Sushi that could be served as appetizer for your holiday party or any get together. This type of sushi is called Gunkan or Gunkan Maki in Japanese.
Gunkan (軍艦) meas “battleship” in Japanese, and the name comes from its oval shape. Typically, gunkan sushi are wrapped around with nori seaweed and has toppings like salmon roe (ikura), sea urchin (uni), and broiled eel (unagi) on them. But today I used thinly sliced cucumber to wrap around.
Once rice (or sushi rice) is cooked, you can quickly assemble the sushi right before you serve. If you don’t eat raw fish, you can substitute with smoked salmon or simply create your own!
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Cucumber Wrapped Sushi
Ingredients
- 2 Persian/Japanese cucumbers (or 1 English cucumbers)
- 3-4 cups sushi rice (cooked and seasoned)
Toppings of your choice:
- 4 oz sashimi grade salmon
- 4 oz sashimi-grade yellowtail
- 4 ozsalmon roe sashimi grade tuna
- 4 Tbsp ikura (salmon roe)
- 10 sashimi-grade shrimp (amaebi)
For Garnish
- 10 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch kaiware daikon radish sprouts
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. I also use one 1 ¾ inch (4.5 cm) round cookie cutter.
To Prepare Fillings
- Dice tuna and lightly marinate the tuna with scallion, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
- Slice the cucumber with a peeler to make long thin strips.
To Assemble
- Place shiso leaves on a serving platter. Dip a cookie cutter in a bowl of water (so the rice doesn't stick) and place it on top of a shiso leaf. Stuff sushi rice into the cookie cutter halfway and remove the cutter gently. Roll the sushi cylinder with one strip of cucumber slice to measure the circumference of the circle.
- Make slits at the end of the cucumber slice with a knife as you see below. Now you can interlock the strip around the rice.
- Fill in the cucumber wrapped sushi with your favorite toppings. For amaebi (sweet shrimp), I place a couple of pieces from the outer edges to the center in the cucumber cup, so it looks like a flower.
- Slice the sashimi-grade fish perpendicular to the muscle (the white line you see in the fish) and place a few slices in the cucumber cup.
- Place the tuna mixture in the cucumber cup. Garnish with lemon and kaiware daikon radish sprouts. Serve immediately.
To Store
- I don't recommend keeping sashimi-grade fish and shrimp longer than 24 hours. Keep them refrigerated until serving.
Our Recommendations for Buying Sashimi Online
When we have a sudden craving for sashimi we usually buy from our local Japanese supermarkets. If you don't have a reliable shop to purchase quality sashimi nearby, we would recommend buying from Catalina Offshore online.
They've been in business for over forty years and all the sashimi products we've tried from them are outstanding. Disclosure: We earn a small percentage commission from your purchase of products linked to Catalina Offshore.
