Temari Sushi are small balls of sushi rice topped with colourful ingredients. They are the perfect finger food for special occasions and certainly have a wow factor. In Japan, they are often served during the Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Day/Girl’s Day) festival on the 3rd of March. See the video.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 450g / 1lb sushi rice (note 1)
- 3 sashimi-quality scallops (about 3.5cm in diameter, note 3)
- 3 pieces smoked trout (about 4cm² / 1 9/16 in² per piece, note 4)
- 3 pieces smoked Wagyu beef (about 4cm x 10cm / 1 9/16” x 4” per piece, note 5)
- 3 pieces prosciutto (about 4cm x 10cm / 1 9/16” x 4” per piece, note 5)
- 9 round slices cucumber (paper thin, about 1mm / 1/32” thick, note 6)
- 9 round slices radish (paper thin, about 1mm / 1/32” thick, note 6)
- A pinch of salt
- 9 sliced quarter avocado (about 5mm / 3/16” thick)
- Ikura
- Dill leaves
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Sprinkle a pinch of salt over cucumber and radish slices. Leave for 10 minutes to wilt, then pat off excess water if they are too wet (do not dry too much).
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Divide the rice into 18 x 25g / 0.9oz portions (note 7) and gently shape each potion into a round ball. It does not have to be perfectly round - do not squeeze too hard.
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Cover the rice balls with a damp kitchen towel or kitchen paper to prevent them from drying out.
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For each Temari Sushi, you will need a piece of cling wrap about 20cm/8" long.
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Place a topping in the centre of the cling wrap (see Placing Toppings below). Put a rice ball on top of the topping.
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Gatherer all corners of the cling wrap. Hold the ball on your left hand (for right-handers) and twist the gathered cling wrap just above the rice to form a ball (note 8).
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Unwrap the cling wrap and place the Temari Sushi on a serving plate, rice side down.
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Cured Wagyu Beef – Fold a piece of cured Wagyu beef over to make a piece roughly 4cm² / 1 9/16 in² per rice ball.
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Smoked Trout – Use a piece of smoked trout.
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Prosciutto – Fold a piece of prosciutto over to make a piece roughly 4cm² / 1 9/16 in² per rice ball.
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Scallops – Halve each scallop horizontally and use 2 pieces per rice ball.
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Cucumber and Radish – For each rice ball, place 3 slices of cucumber and radish alternately, overlapping slightly to form a round sheet. Tuck the last slice underneath the first slice (see the video).
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Avocado – Place 3 slices, overlapping slightly to make about 4cm / 1 9/16 in wide per rice ball.
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Place small piece of dill on each of the smoked trout Temari Sushi.
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Place a few ikura on each of the scallop Temari Sushi.
1. Please refer to Temakizushi (Hand Rolled Sushi) for how to make sushi rice.
2. You don’t have to use all the toppings listed here. You can also try other toppings mentioned in the post.
3. If your scallops are larger, slice them diagonally into 3 pieces (you will only need 2 scallops). If your scallops are much smaller, you may use a few more scallops to sufficiently cover the rice ball.
The idea is to cover the top half of a rice ball with the scallop.
4. Smoked salmon works too. Each slice of smoked trout/salmon is not very thin, so you only need one slice per rice ball.
5. My cured meat slices were very thin, so I folded each large piece to make the topping thicker.
6. Because of the way I decorated the cucumber and radish topping, I used small cucumbers and radishes so the topping wouldn't be too wide for the rice ball. My slices were no more than 3cm / 1¼" in diameter.
If you can only find larger cucumber and radish, halve each slice and make a topping with semicircular slices. Use 4 semicircular cucumber and 4 semicircular radish slices (8 in total) per rice ball.
7. Some recipes make slightly larger rice balls. If you make 30g / 1oz rice balls, you will get 15 Temari Sushi using this recipe. You need to adjust the number of toppings accordingly.
Alternatively, increase sushi rice to 540g / 1.2lb and make 18 x 30g / 1oz rice balls.
8. You may need to remove air bubbles between the cling wrap and the sushi ball.
The more you twist the cling wrap, the firmer the rice ball becomes. However, try not to tighten the cling wrap too much - the aim is to form the rice and topping into a ball shape that holds together without falling apart.