Chirashi Zushi

This is certaily not what most people think of when they hear the word "sushi." There is no fish and not even any seaweed! This dish is essentially just a bunch of seasoned veggies mixed with seasoned sushi rice. Delicious! This recipe serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

rice:
2 1/2 cups uncooked sticky rice
5 cups water

rice seasoning:
5 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

veggies:
3 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and cut into strips
1 medium renkon, peeled and sliced (optional)
1 abura age, rinced in boiling water and cut into strips
1 carrot, cut into strips
1 small gobo, peeled, cut into strips, and soaked for 5 minutes
1 cup bamboo, cut into strips

veggie seasoning:
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp mirin
1 1/2 cups water

garnish: pickled ginger to taste, cut into small strips

Method:
1. Combine rice and water in a rice cooker and cook for 30 minutes.
2. Heat ingredients for veggie seasoning in a medium saucepan until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add veggies and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated (10-20 minutes).
4. Mix ingredients of rice seasoning. When rice is finished, add rice seasoning to rice and mix well.
5. Mix veggies with rice in a large serving bowl and garnish with pickled ginger. Serve at room temperature.