SUSHI CAKE
The star here is fuss-free sushi – even if you’ve never folded and rolled sushi before, you’ll be able to master this dish. I was inspired by a Nadia Aidi creation on Instagram (check out foodmymuse.com). So clever!
Serves 6 • Preparation: 1 hour and 15 minutes • Cooking time: 20 minutes
• 250ml sushi rice
• 15ml sugar and 30ml rice vinegar
• 5ml sesame seeds, toasted
FILLING
• 500g fresh salmon, trout or tuna
(or use half of one and half of the other), bones and skin removed
• about 80ml Japanese sushi mayo
• 5ml sriracha, or to taste
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• about 10ml low-sodium soy sauce
• 3ml toasted sesame oil (optional)
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
• 2 sheets nori, shredded
• togarashi (Japanese 7-spice blend), to finish 1 Rinse the sushi rice well and soak it in clean water for 30 minutes, then drain. Bring 375ml (1½ cups) water, the soaked rice and a generous pinch of salt to the boil, reduce the heat, put the lid on and simmer for 15–20 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, cover the pot with a clean tea towel, put the lid back on and leave for another 15 minutes.
2 Turn the rice out into a flat dish so that it can cool down quickly. Dissolve the sugar in the rice vinegar, sprinkle it over the rice along with the sesame seeds and stir it through with a flat knife. You can use a fan to cool the rice down faster.
3 Cut the fish into small cubes and mix it with the mayonnaise, sriracha, spring onion, soy sauce and, if you like, sesame oil.
4 Get the rest of the filling ingredients ready.
5 Assemble the cake Spoon half of the rice into a bundt cake tin that has been greased with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use a regular cake tin.
Arrange a layer of cucumber on top of the rice, followed by all the fish, a layer of avo slices and then a layer of nori. Remember, nori is difficult to slice through in the final product, so cut it into small pieces or shred it. Finish with the last of the rice and press together firmly before turning out the cake (see photo opposite).