Quality, fresh seafood perfectly laid on a bed of sushi rice.. this is my happy place right here. It's tough to beat the simplicity and the elegance of a well prepared chirashi-don or kaisen-don, especially when the seafood is so fresh! Below you'll learn how to make this amazing bowl of heaven and also the differences between types of chirashi sushi.
What is Chirashi Sushi?
Chirashi sushi (also called chirashizushi or “scattered sushi”) is a style of sushi where the toppings are either placed or scattered (as the name refers) on a bed of sushi rice. There are different styles of chirashi depending on the region in Japan. For example, in the Tokyo area it is typically a bowl of sushi rice layered with an assortment of colorful cuts of sashimi and vegetables, often referred to as “chirashi-don” (don is short for donburi, which means “bowl”). Chirashi-don is probably the most popular and what we typically see at restaurants in the United States. A non-sushi rice version of this is called kaisen-don, which means “seafood bowl.”
In the Kansai region of Japan (around Osaka), chirashi sushi is called “barazushi.” Rather than cuts of sashimi layered on a bowl, it’s usually filled with more vegetables and small cubes of cooked seafood and sometimes raw fish. But different parts of Japan have their own versions of this style of chirashi and it can be called various names. It’s confusing, to say the least!
Both are seen as festive meals and often eaten during holidays in Japan, especially on March 3rd, which is called Hinamatsuri (“girl’s day” or “doll festival”). Barazushi is served in a larger bowl or a traditional sushi oke / hangiri (wooden sushi mixing bowl), which makes it perfect for parties and potlucks! You can see how to make my version of barazushi here.
What Do I Need to Make Chirashi-don?
Simple and elegant defines this style of chirashi sushi. Fresh cuts of sashimi and colorful vegetables artistically layered on a bed of sushi rice. It may sound intimidating, but it’s actually one of the easiest types of sushi to make. The most important thing is to have quality ingredients.
Where Can I Get Fresh Seafood?
This is probably one of the most common questions I get and I have an entire post about it here. But to keep it short, if you're in an area that has fresh seafood readily available, you could go to the fish market or a Japanese market and buy already sliced sashimi and literally just place it on top of a bowl of sushi rice (or regular rice for kaisen-don). For those that don't have that luxury, there are online seafood markets that will overnight fresh, "sashimi-grade" fish right to your doorstep. (I haven't tried these vendors myself but have heard good things about them. I plan to test them out in the near future). Another option is to cook some rice at home and just order sashimi from your favorite sushi restaurant. I have friends that do this all the time.
In the recipe below, I use a variety of different seafood, but you’re free to change it however you like. It is good to have at least 4 to 5 different types of sashimi, preferably more, and a couple vegetables to accompany it.
How to Make Chirashi-don
Since chirashi-don/kaisen-don really only has two parts to it; the rice and seafood, it becomes that much more important that both of those ingredients are done right. If you plan to make chirashi-don then first you need to have the perfect sushi rice, which you can see how in my post here.
If you plan to cut your own sashimi then that becomes a lot more complicated, but lucky for you I have a whole tutorial on how to cut sashimi properly. Check it out here. And remember, you'll want to have all the ingredients ready before plating the actual donburi.
Plating chirashi-don or kaisen-don is not difficult; you’re basically just placing the toppings onto a bed of rice. However, to make it pleasing to the eye might take a bit of practice. I’ll go over some tips and have a general guideline below, but there’s really no rules, so let your creative juices flow and have fun with it!
Plating Guidelines
- Tsuma (shredded daishould be in the background and can be used to stand ingredients up.
- Shiso leaves add a lot of color and contrast and can be used as dividers between different fish. But don’t overdo it; you don’t want your chirashi-don to look like a salad.
- Slices of cucumber can also be used for garnish and a divider. They can also add some good texture to the bowl.
- Taller ingredients (as well as bold-colored fish) should be laid toward the back.
- You can add wasabi and ginger to the bowl or leave it on the side. Soy sauce should always be on the side.
- Remember, don’t overdo it. Elegance is key.
Chirashi-don / Kaisen-don (Seafood Bowl)
INGREDIENTS
Tools/Supplies:
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Clean damp towel
- Serving bowl
- Bowl for cold water or tezu rice vinegar water - optional
- Moribashi garnishing chopsticks - optional
Ingredients:
- 1 piece amaebi sweet shrimp with head (see step 1)
- 1½ –2 cups cooked sushi rice unseasoned rice if making kaisen-don
- 1 tablespoon tsuma shredded daikon radish
- 1 –2 shiso leaf
- 3 slices sashimi cut maguro tuna
- 3 slices sashimi cut sake salmon
- 3 slices sashimi cut hamachi yellowtail
- 2 slices sashimi cut tako octopus
- 3 –5 pieces uni sea urchin
- 1 tablespoon ikura salmon roe
- Wasabi
- Gari pickled ginger
- Soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
Sushi Rice
- First step is to start making sushi rice or just white rice if making kaisen-don. While the rice cooks, you can move on to prepping the toppings. Making sushi rice will take approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. Make the Perfect Sushi Rice
Preparing Seafood
- Depending on how you purchased your seafood you may be ready to skip to plating. If you need to slice the fish into sashimi pieces then follow my How to Cut Sashimi post here.
Plating
- For this recipe, the amaebi is peeled with the head still intact. To do this, simply peel the shell starting right under the head and work your way to the tail, but leave the tail on.
- Using your hands or a shamoji (rice paddle), place sushi rice in the bowl and gently flatten the top.
- Place the tsuma first. This is a garnish and should be placed in the background; it also helps stand the ingredients up.
- Next, lay the shiso leaf on top of the tsuma. The bright color of the shiso leaf makes for great contrast but shouldn’t be the focal point. Lay these under a bright-colored fish and have the top partially sticking out.
- I lay the amaebi right in the middle since we only have one piece of it. Also the “amaebi no atama,” or the head of the sweet shrimp, can be used for great decorative purposes. You cannot eat these as is, but you can deep-fry them either in a tempura batter or simply on their own.
- The maguro goes on next, toward the back partially against the shiso and daikon. Fish with bold colors like maguro can be in the back but still stand out thanks to its rich color.
- Salmon has a bright color as well and is placed on the other side.
- Lighter-color fish like hamachi is better placed in front of other bold-color fish.
- Tako doesn’t have much color except for the skin, so place it in a way the skin side can be seen.
- Smaller ingredients like uni or ikura are versatile and can be placed really anywhere. In this case the uni is rather large so I placed them all the way in front, which contrasted the colors nicely.
- Spoon the ikura in the center, add some wasabi and ginger, and serve with a side of soy sauce.
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