Cheater's Sushi Stacks

I had the girls around on Friday night for Wine and hors d'oeuvres and had a terrible hankering for sushi.  Living in the Midlands, that's generally impossible to satisfy without driving to Dublin.  Even to make my own I would have to be extremely confident in the freshness of the fish and being so far inland and having only access to one fishmonger who I don't particularly care for means I won't be making sashimi at home any time soon.  I decided to use some gorgeous Irish smoked salmon instead. I was slightly pressed for time, so didn't want to mess with vegetables and rolls, so I made stacks!  This is super easy and very appealing to sushi newbies with all the ingredients available at Tesco!

Smoked Salmon Sushi Stacks

• 1½ cups sushi rice 
• 2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons sugar 
• 2 teaspoons mirin 
• 2 teaspoons sake (can use water)
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt 
• 4 sheets toasted nori 
• 1 tsp wasabi 
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 8 ounces smoked salmon
• Pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi to garnish and serve

Bring rice and water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin and sake in a small saucepan and cook until salt and sugar are dissolved. 

When rice is cooked, mix in vinegar mixture and spread out on a clean surface to cool.

Mix mayonnaise with wasabi until combined and light green.

Lay one sheet of nori on a clean surface and spoon 1/3 of the rice on top. Spread out over the nori using wet hands and press down to seal.  Top with a layer of smoked salmon. Using a pastry brush, brush with a thin layer of mayonnaise. Top with another sheet of nori and press down frimly to seal. Repeat twice more finishing with the fourth sheet of nori, shiny side up.

Wrap the square in plastic film and refrigerate for a few hours.

When ready to serve, get a very sharp knife and run the hot water.  Wipe and run the knife under the water before each slice using the wet blade to cut the stack into one inch pieces.  

Serve topped with pickled ginger and leave out soy sauce, wasabi and some extra wasabi mayonnaise for people to add as desired.

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