Surimi Chirashi Sushi with Summer Vegetables

A filling main dish salad of surimi and summer vegetables tossed with sushi-seasoned rice

When it's hot out, my body craves lighter food. Eating seasonally, the kitchen pendulum swings [yeah, there's a pendulum swinging in my kitchen. that's why it's a mess all the time!] from hearty chili, stew, or casseroles over to simply seasoned piles of pretty vegetables.  Making a chirashi sushi is one way to keep it cool in the hot weather. Chirashi sushi means scattered sushi, which means I get to be lazy all the flavors without all the fuss of rolling your own.

I love to roll my own sushi, don't get me wrong. The other day I made a bunch of pretty, and tasty, Egg, Kohlrabi and Carrot rolls. Taking a page from Fusian we put panko over top and the flavor/texture contrast was really neat.

When I've got kohlrabi or cucumber I will make up a big bowl of chirashi sushi. If I've got salmon I'll add that, or Spam, Surimi, or just scrambled eggs rolled up in an omelette. My friend Lasar introduced me not only to chirashi sushi but also to the furikake my son and I sprinkle on top. [My spouse and daughter don't care for furikake, so I list it as optional below.]

This keeps for a couple of days and can be reheated gently in the microwave. I store the cucumbers/kohlrabi separate because I like them cool and crunchy.

When I make chirashi sushi I generally see what vegetables I've got on hand--any combination of carrot, cucumber, kohlrabi, avocado all work well in this meal.

I was planning on making sushi when I assembled these ingredients--can you see why I changed the plan? Kombu does NOT substitute for Nori!

Surimi Chirashi Sushi with Summer Vegetables (serves 6 to 8)

3 eggs mixed with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¾ teaspoon sugar

3 cups sushi rice (Calrose or Hinode short grain rice), cooked according to package directions

⅓ cup seasoned rice vinegar, up to ½ cup if you want

1 cup (or more) peeled chopped cucumber or kohlrabi (or both)

½ cup (or more) shredded carrot

1 avocado, diced

1 package (6 ounces) surimi imitation crab meat, cubed (also optional)

optional seasonings: furikake and/or sesame ginger seasoning

good with soy sauce or tamari

In a small skillet cook eggs until set. I tend to pour a little egg mixture in at a time, then roll it up to one side and add more to cook, repeating until all the egg mixture is cooked. Remove to a cutting board and chop into cubes. In a large bowl, toss cooked rice with seasoned rice vinegar until thoroughly mixed. Add carrots, egg, and crab meat (if desired) and toss to combine. [I like to serve the  green vegetables separately for folks to add to their plates, because we usually have leftovers of this and I don't want to reheat the cucumbers while I'm reheating the egg and rice].  Add optional seasonings and serve.

This post is shared on Fresh Foods Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Hot Fun in the Summertime, Tasty Tuesdays