Instead of giving the usual cake for my son’s birthday
celebration, I'd decided to go Japanese & make him a healthy
sushi cake instead. So I let my imagination go wild, adding lots of
colours & combining Jonathan’s favourite sushi ingredients to
satisfy both his sight & appetite.
(I'm so happy that my Sushi "Birthday Cake" has
emerged as one of the 5 top spots in a Foodies contest in the USA
& has been featured as their Recipe of the Day as
"amazingly innovative Sushi BirthDay
Cake"!
1 cup Rice
1 cup water
Tezu: 1 tbsp of Mitsukan rice vinegar, ½ tsp of sugar & pinch
of salt
Sushi Ingredients:
1 slice of Unagi (eel)
1 slice of smoked salmon
1 slice of omelette
1 slice of seaweed
1 piece of crabmeat (chopped & mixed with mayonnaise &
spring onion)
2 tbsp of canned tuna
1 tbsp Ebiko (roe)
[b]Method:[/b]
1) Your first step is to prepare your vinegar-water solution by
mixing all Tezu ingredients in a small sauce pan. Dissolve over
medium heat but don’t allow mixture to boil. Leave to cool.
2) Wash rice several times till water runs clear. Let your rice
strain for 30 minutes & transfer the rice to cooker or steamer.
Add the measured water to cook.
3) Sprinkle vinegar mixture evenly over cooked rice while it’s
hot & fold it with spatula. Do not stir as this will break the
grains. Allow rice to cool.
4) Spread bamboo mat on a flat surface & put a sheet of nori
(seaweed) on top of it.
5) Wet hands & place a small handful of sushi rice on top of
seaweed & spread it out in a diagonal line. Add your favourite
fillings & roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape
the sushi. Remove the bamboo mat & cut evenly.
6) As I’m making a letter ‘J’, I’ve repeated step 5 but this time,
without nori, to mould into the bottom part of the alphabet.
7) Joined the 2 sushi rolls to form full letter & add
ingredients to decorate according to your liking. Don't worry if
the shape doesn't look as nice. The ingredients will cover the
flaws later.
8) Transfer onto serving plate & sprinkle Furikake (dry
Japanese condiment, usually sprinkled on rice). You may wanna
transfer the alphabet before you form the letter if you're afraid
to lose the shape.
9) Add the candle etc & there you go - your very own Sushi
Birthday Cake!
