Recipes

Battleship Rolls/Gunkanmaki

This battleship-shaped version of nigiri sushi has a ribbon of nori seaweed wrapped vertically around the rice and raw toppings such as ikura (salmon caviar) and sea urchin.

Makes 12 pieces

11/2 sheets nori seaweed
Seasoned sushi rice (see Michael Schulson’s recipe)

Hand Vinegar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 cup water

Toppings
1/2 – 2/3 cup crabmeat*
about 1 tsp. sake
2 tsp. wasabi paste ? or powder
1–2 tsp. water
1/4 – 1/3 cup salmon caviar or red lumpfish caviar
12 pickled caperberries ?or capers

To serve
Pickled ginger
Japanese soy sauce

Procedure
Mix the hand vinegar ingredients in a small bowl.

Place the crabmeat on small plates and sprinkle with a little sake. If using wasabi powder, mix 1–2 teaspoons powder in an egg cup with about 1–2 teaspoons water to make a clay-like consistency. Turn it upside down and set aside to prevent it from drying out.

Cut each sheet of nori crosswise into ribbons, 7 x 1 inches, making 12 ribbons in total.

Dip your hands in the vinegar mixture, then take about 1–2 tablespoons rice in one hand and squeeze it into a rectangular mound about 2 x 3/4 x 11/4 inches high. Wrap a nori ribbon around it, overlapping about 1 inch at the end. Glue it together with a grain of vinegared rice. Put 2 teaspoons caviar and a few pickled caperberries or capers on top. Repeat to make 3 more rolls with caviar, 4 with crabmeat topped with a little salmon caviar, and 4 with crabmeat with a dot of wasabi on top.

Arrange on a platter, and serve with the pickled ginger and a small dish of soy sauce as party food. If making individual servings, serve the soy sauce in small, separate dishes.

*Use the “fresh” lump crabmeat sold in a tub by your local fish store, not the pasteurized canned variety.