Photo/Illutration Mosaic sushi

Buongiorno! Four years after my return from India due to the pandemic, I finally got to leave Japan. Italy was the next chapter in my globe-trotting journey.

I arrived in Milan after a 17-hour flight from Fukuoka via Taipei. I immediately found a cafe serving Maritozzo, a pastry which is also popular in Japan, at the Milan Central Station and ordered one with a cappuccino.

The total cost was 6.6 euros (1,100 yen). The long flight and the strong euro reminded me that the barriers to travel are rising.

I made a careless mistake, not unlike any other traveler. I bought a ticket for the Venice-Rome express train with the wrong departure station. We had to pay extra to get the tickets changed (ouch!), and still had about an hour before departing. I had a look around the station and found a chain sushi kiosk, which are common in Europe. Six pieces, each of avocado roll and salmon sushi, would cost 13.45 euros (2,300 yen).

That is not affordable, whether for a daily price, or as an ekiben, so I left without buying. I was surprised when my sidekick, who sticks to Japanese food, boarded the train with a bag of sushi in hand. I had no intention of eating anything other than pasta and pizza, but I tasted it. I swallowed the words, “not now,” and placed my index finger on my cheek and said, “buono” (delicious). Is this now Italian? Or Japanese?

Allow me to introduce you to Mosaic sushi. It’s beautiful and doesn’t take much time and effort to make nigiri or rolls. Your guests from overseas are sure to love it.

Ingredients for 2 servings
180 grams rice / 220 ml water / 1 piece (5 cm) dashi kelp / 1 tsp white sesame seeds / 3 eggs / 1 Tbsp sugar / 1.5 Tbsp milk / 1 large sheet nori seaweed (21x19 cm)
1 tsp oil / 100 g boiled small shrimps / 4 crab sticks / 1 cucumber / 2 mini tomatoes / 3-4 boiled asparagus spears / 2 leaves boiled cabbage / 1 Tbsp mayonnaise

Directions
1. Prepare the sushi rice. Wash the rice, placing kombu kelp on top when cooking.

2. Combine salt, sugar and vinegar and mix well. Pour over the cooked rice.

3. Scatter white sesame seeds over cooked rice; stir in with a rice paddle.

4. Make Japanese omelet. Pour eggs, milk and sugar into a bowl and mix well.

5. Heat oil in a rolled egg pan. Add a third of the egg mixture. Stir broadly and put nori on top of the egg mixture and roll. Repeat twice.

6. Cut crab sticks, cucumber and boiled asparagus into small pieces.

7. Spread the cabbage at the bottom of your bento box; top them with sushi rice. Spread mayonnaise over rice, then arrange the other ingredients on top.

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Scan this QR code with your smartphone to view the recipe video in English.
https://www.youtube.com/c/PenandSpoon

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This article originally appeared in the March 31, 2024, issue of Asahi Weekly.

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Chikako Tada

Chikako Tada: The author of seven cookbooks, Tada is a Japanese food journalist and editor of Pen & Spoon, a website devoted to food (https://pen-and-spoon.com/). She worked as a newspaper reporter for 12 years before going freelance. She spent two years studying baking in Paris and began making bento around 2016 during her seven-year stay in India. She returned to Japan in 2020 and lives in Fukuoka.