This elegant steamed-rice tub, or ohitsu, is made of sawara cypress, and is used to keep rice warm at the table. The sawara comes from the forests of Kiso in Nagano Prefecture, and is rated so highly that it is protected by the government. In fact, the shrines at the sacred Ise complex, on eof Japan’s most revered sites, are ritually rebuilt in twenty-year cycles, using Kisa sawara.

Traditionally, rice would be transferred from a cooker to an ohitsu and placed at the edge of a low table on the tatami, where the housewife would sit. It was her job to dish the rice into family members’ bowls and replenish them.

Today, as busy schedules mean that families rarely share their mealtimes, we often see family members serving themselves directly from the rice cooker. It’s more likely that ohitsu only make an appearance on special occasions or when entertaining guests. I’ve even seen one creative hostess using ohitsu small enough to hold only one or two portions of rice, for individual place settings. While most ohitsu today are made by machine, this vessel was made entirely by hand using a round plane. It took more than eight hours to finish.

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Makisu mats are essential in the making of makizushi sushi rolls, and tend to be the same size - ten inches square. It may look like a snap in the hands of a seasoned cook, but making sushi rolls is far from easy. The nori seaweed is laid on the mat, then coated with vinegared sushi rice and filling before being rolled. But without years of practice, spreading the rice evenly and rolling it in a smooth, even motion to create an aesthetically pleasing spiral of filling can be maddeningly frustrating.

Makisu have long been used to shape other items as well, such as omelets, or to squeeze off excess liquid from food materials. One friend, for example, uses hers to strain off the last traces of water from spinach while shaping it for ohitashi. For this dish, spinach is cooked whole, with the ends dipped in the boiling water first before the leaves are plunged. While the spinach is still firm, it is removed and squeezed into a tight roll before slicing.

This teriyaki chicken recipe is so good I made it twice in a row!

When I made the teriyaki sauce this time I didn’t hover over the stove
watching nervously.
By mostly ignoring it, the sauce cooked nice and thick, like honey.
It developed a delicious caramelized complexity.

Teriyaki Chicken-and-Asparagus Rolls

Asupara-maki Tori no Teriyaki
serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a meal

Soak skewers in a tall bottle.

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• Soak 8 to 10 bamboo skewers for at least an hour

Marinate:

• 2 large boned chicken thighs, with skin attached
• 2 Tablespoons shoyu
• 2 Tablespoons mirin
• 2 Tablespoons sake
• 1 Tablespoon finely grated ginger

Combine the shoyu, mirin, sake, and ginger in a shallow bowl or small baking dish. Marinate the chicken for about half an hour, turning several times. Remove the thighs from the marinade and dry with paper towels. Discard the marinade.

Assemble and Grill:

• 6 thin spears of asparagus, cut to fit the thighs
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (recipe)

Chicken thighs vary very much in size! Try to choose two that are similar! If they are uneven in thickness, make a horizontal cut to butterfly the thicker meat off to the side. With smaller thighs, pound the meat to even the thickness. Don’t pound too much or the skin will separate from the meat.

Arrange the asparagus on the chicken and roll. Secure cross-wise with bamboo skewers: thread the skewers through the overlapped part of the chicken in a fan shape. The long ends of the skewers make it easy to turn the chicken as you broil it.

Heat your grill or broiler. Place the chicken, skin side toward the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 6 minutes.
Remove the chicken rolls from the heat and apply a coating of teriyaki sauce to both sides. Return to the heat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to dry the sauce. Repeat several times until the rolls are coated with a nice glossy layer of sauce.

Serving:

• warm the remaining teriyaki sauce
• mixed salad greens
• sansho pepper

When the chicken is cooked, twist the skewers to loosen them, but don’t take them out. Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Slice the rolls into 1″ disks. Lay the disks on a plate a bed of mixed greens. Drizzle with a little teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with a bit of sansho pepper.

Note: I was using a boiler and my chicken was on a foil lined cookie sheet, so I applied the sauce one side at a time.

Inari sushi is a deep-fried tofu pouch stuffed with seasoned sushi rice. Yummy! Give the recipe a try, it’s easy, rewarding, and looks great when added to a plate of sushi.

For a refreshing departure from the sushi-in-seaweed theme, try wrapping your rice roll in cucumber!
This recipe isn’t as hard as it seems, with a bit of patience and this recipe, you will have a dinner to die for!

This dish serves as a great accompaniment to most Japanese meals. Sunomono translates into English roughly as vinegared food. The following recipe is both light and refreshing. It is particularly good to eat in the hot summer months.