My Grapefruit & Avocado Chirashi Sushi is a modern take on traditional Japanese sushi. It's savory, citrusy, slightly sweet and refreshing. I can guarantee this will be your next favorite sushi.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Entree, Main
Cuisine: Japanese, Vegan, Japanese Fusion
Servings: 3
Author: Plant-Based Matters
Ingredients
Rice for Sumeshi (Vinegared Sushi Rice) *
1 1/2cupsuncooked Japanese white rice(starchy short grain rice)
Prepare rice for the sumeshi. Place rice in a large bowl. Pour water to cover the rice. Wash it with your hand moving in circular motion then quickly discard the water. Repeat the process 5 to 6 times until water becomes clear. Drain well. Alternative way: Place rice in a fine mesh colander. Rinse under running water. Use a hand moving in circular motion to rinse thoroughly until water becomes clear. Drain well.
Transfer the rice to preferably a cast iron pot with a heavy lid or something similar. Pour water and make the rice leveled. Place kombu sheet on top of the rice (submerge in the water) and cover with the lid.
Cook over slightly higher than medium heat. In about 10-15 minutes, it starts almost boiling (you will see the bubbles.) At this point, open the lid and use a rice paddle to give a quick stir from the bottom. Make the rice leveled again then cover with the lid. Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Keep the lid on and let it stand for 10 minutes.
While rice is still cooking, start preparing the toppings & condiments. For grapefruit, slice off the top and bottom end. Then place it cut-side down and carefully slice off the entire peel & membrane.
Once the entire flesh is exposed, cut out the segments one by one. Do this over a bowl to catch the segments as well as the juice. After all the segments are cut out, squeeze the remaining to get the juice out. Important: the juice will be used to make the sushi vinegar later
Grab the segments from the bowl and cut them into smaller pieces (about 1/2-inch or 1.3 mm.) Then put them back in the bowl. Set aside.
Make the grapefruit sushizu (seasoned rice vinegar mixture.) Transfer 2 tbsp freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (from step 5) into another bowl. To that, add rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Whisk together until well blended. Set aside. You may see the sugar and salt not quite dissolved which should be fine once it is mixed with warm rice.
When the rice is done, remove the kombu sheet and transfer the cooked rice to a large shallow bowl (preferably wooden sushi bucket for soaking up excess moisture.) Add the grapefruit sushizu and mix with a rice paddle. To do so, move in gentle cutting motion. Once it is mixed well, use a fan to let the rice cool down until ever so slightly warm like your body temperature. Sushi rice tastes better when it is not completely cold. Lastly, add toasted sesame seeds and mix again. Set aside.
At this point, start dicing avocado roughly the same size as the grapefruit segments. Place the diced avocado in a bowl and pour the remaining grapefruit juice. No juice left? No worries. You can also use a tiny splash of lemon to keep the avocado from turning brown (optional.)
To serve, place the rice in a serving bowl or plate. Top with the grapefruit, avocado, scallions, radish microgreens or sprouts and shredded nori (optional.) Pour soy sauce along with wasabi over and enjoy!
Notes
My Sumeshi (vinegared sushi rice) recipe makes 2-3 servings by default. For leftover rice (if any), you can store in a fridge and make fried rice the next day! It’s already seasoned but it works fine.
For this recipe, I make sushizu (seasoned rice vinegar mixture) mix with grapefruit juice to mix with the other traditional sushizu ingredients; rice vinegar, sugar and salt. If your grapefruit doesn’t give you enough juice (2 tbsp) just fill the rest with extra rice vinegar.