We make ourselves a treat that looks the part, but is actually for dessert.
Like a lot of Japan-based foodies, we generally find ourselves in one of two mental states: currently eating sushi, or looking forward to the next time we get to eat sushi. Occasionally, though, other cravings manage to work their way to the surface of our conscious thoughts, and the other day one of them was “We want some sweets.”
However, it should go without saying that we can never completely suppress our desire to eat sushi, and so we decided to try to satisfy both of our desires by making some sushi sweets.
Rather than try to adapt strips of raw fish into a dessert, we figured the wiser thing to do would be to make a dessert that looks like sushi, and Japanese novelty snack maker Kracie was there to help us with that plan, thanks to their Tanoshii Osushiya-san (“Fun Sushi Chef”) confectionary kit.
▼ Make sure to cut along the dotted line to open the kit, not just tear the bag open (this will be important later).
Inside are a number of pouches containing the ingredients you’ll use to make your pseudo sushi. Most of them are powders, which you mix with water to form the stand-ins for the rice and toppings.
The different ingredients produce different types of candy, with the “rice,” pictured above, having a chewy, mochi-like texture. On the other hand, the “maguro/tuna” and “tamago/egg” are gelatins.
Then there’s the ikura/salmon roe, which is a little more complex. First, you add water to create two separate liquids, then as you transfer the red one into the clear with a dropper, they form little spheres that look just like the real thing.
Remember when we said to open the bag without tearing it? That’s because it doubles as a placemat, complete with optical-illusion sushi plates on which to place the pieces you make, like they’re being served up at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
After kneading our “rice” into nigiri-style shapes, it was time to add the toppings. The tuna was legitimately impressive. The lustrous quality of the gelatin made it look like a prime slice of akami maguro, and the shaping mold even accounts for the sinuous lines in an actual piece of the fish.
Unfortunately, such shininess works against the “egg” pieces, since the real thing isn’t so reflective. However, the visuals got a boost in realism when we added a dash of the included “soy sauce” (actually a Ramune soda-flavored sweet syrup).
Once again, the ikura has some extra steps involved. The suggestion is to use it for a gunkan-style piece, where the outside is wrapped with nori seaweed.
Subbing for the nori is a soft, malleable candy, which you wrap around a piece of rice, and then top with sprinkled ikura.
▼ Of course, skipping the nori is an option too, if you’d prefer.
Aside from being both quirky enough for adults and easy enough for kids, the Tanoshii Osushiya-san set is also extremely affordable at just 250 yen (US$2.40). It may not be gourmet dining, but food always tastes better when you made it yourself, and this is just the sort of sweet snack to enjoy while gazing at a bonsai tree…and then maybe eating the bonsai tree too, if it also happens to be made out of candy.
Photos © SoraNews24
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