Ehomaki (恵方巻) and Celebrating Setsubun (節分)!!
These delicious Ehomaki rolls are meant to guarantee a lucky and prosperous start to the new year (based on the lunar calendar)! At least that is the belief here in Japan. They are extremely versatile and are easy to make, so you can fill them with just about anything you desire.
Around this time of year, in most department stores and supermarkets, you can find a plethora of choices of long, uncut maki sushi rolls - Ehomaki - adorning the aisles. The varieties are endless, from traditional to more modern fusion rolls, where east meets west... Some department stores even offer over 100 different types!
Despite having celebrated the Gregorian calendar New Year on January 1, thanks to the influence of Chinese traditions, the Japanese recognize the period between February 2-4 as being the official end of winter, and the beginning of a brighter and warmer spring – in other words, the start of the Lunar New Year.
This year, Setsubun (or the day before the start of spring) falls on February 2, 2021 and is celebrated by eating a whole, uncut Ehomaki, while facing the year’s lucky direction (this year, its meant to be south – southeast), as well as throwing roasted soy beans, which I’ll get to in a moment.
Ehomaki’s direct translation is “the lucky direction roll” and the tradition of eating this delicacy originates from Osaka, in the Kansai region of Japan. It has since become a marketing phenomenon, and is now a tradition celebrated throughout the entire country.
Though not considered a public holiday, Setsubun is a cultural and religious event with ceremonies being held in many temples and shrines all around Japan. Families will also celebrate the festival with the famed bean throwing, or “Mamemaki” (豆撒き) within the walls of their own homes.
Japanese children in particular can enjoy this day, as it’s a great way to relieve any stress by pummeling a family member (most often a father or male relative) who disguises himself as a demon (oni), with roasted soy beans, while yelling “Oni wa Soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (鬼は外! 福は内!) In English this would translate to “Out demons! Luck/Fortune Enter!” Not so fun for the person who has to clean up afterwards though… Hehehehe…
This action is meant to repel or drive out all evil from the home, while attracting good luck for the new year to come. And no need to worry if you struggle to find any demon volunteers, as it is sufficient enough to throw the beans out of your entrance door and windows while yelling the sacred chant.
And finally, to ensure that your luck is truly sealed, each member of the family must eat one dried roasted bean for each year of their actual age. My son for example is 10 years old, and will therefore have to eat 10 beans. I myself am not sure I’ll be able to stomach all 21 beans this year, as they are relatively dry... 😉
I hereby share my own Ehomaki making adventure with you, in the hope that I may help spread some luck for the year 2021!
Hope you enjoy the recipe, and if you have your own Ehomaki preferences, please do share!
Recipe – (makes 6 Ehomaki rolls)
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups Japanese short grain rice (after cooked, will yield around 1.2 kgs of rice)
4 tbsp. sushi vinegar (store bought – if you wish to make your own, please see **note below)
6 large pcs dried nori
300 gms fresh raw salmon (cut into long thin slices)
200 gms surimi (imitation crab sticks)
1 Japanese cucumber (cut into long thin slices)
50 gms ikura (salmon roe)
50 gms tobiko (flying fish roe)
200 gms boiled shrimp
5-6 shiso leaves (perilla)
1 medium avocado (sliced)
FOR BEEF FILLING:
150 gms wagyu beef (thinly sliced – shabu shabu style)
1 small onion (sliced)
1/2 tbsp. cooking oil
80 ml sake
80 ml mirin
80 ml soy sauce
20 gms sugar
** These are simply suggestions and what I like to use. The possibilities however are endless!!
METHOD:
1) After boiling the rice, transfer to a large flat vessel/bowl – if possible, or a sushi oke (which is a large wooden flat bowl – that I don’t happen to own just yet, but it’s on my list!) and pour the sushi vinegar slowly all around the rice. Using a “cutting” and flipping motion, gently cut and flip through the rice with a rice spatula until the vinegar is evenly mixed in. Try not to stir too much, or else the rice will get mushy.
2) Allow the rice to cool to room temperature (remember, we are using raw fish, and heat encourages bacteria growth), while covering with a damp cloth, to prevent the rice from drying out.
3) In the meantime, begin by laying out all the items you plan on using to fill the Ehomaki, and preparing the sushi bamboo rolling mat – known as a makisu (巻き簾).
4) Prepare the beef filling: Heat a frying pan with the oil over medium heat and sauté the sliced onion until translucent.
5)Add the wagyu beef and sauté until almost cooked, while still remaining a little bit pink. Add the sauce and stir until sugar has melted and beef is cooked through (around 2 mins). Remove from heat and cool in a plate.
6)Lay a piece of the nori with the rougher side facing up on to the makisu, until the edge meets the bottom end of the mat.
7) For each roll, you will need 200 grams of the sushi rice – weighing the rice does help and ensures you have even-sized rolls throughout. Take 200 grams of rice and shape it into a log, to around the length of the nori’s width. Starting from the end of the nori, furthest away from you, place the “log” of rice around 2.5 cm (or at 2 fingers distance - your index and middle - width-wise) from the edge of the nori.
8) Using a pulling motion with your hands (you may need to wet them slightly to prevent rice from sticking onto them), hold the end of the nori, furthest from you, while gently pulling apart the “log” of rice down towards you. You can also use the rice spatula for this action. Spread the rice out, as evenly as possible covering everything but the top end – 2.5 cm empty gap – of the nori.
9) Start to add your fillings right at the middle section of the rice. Keep in mind that too many fillings may cause more difficulty when rolling.
10) To roll, using two hands, gently hold the bottom of the makisu with your thumbs, while holding the rice covered nori with your remaining 8 fingers (the hands spread out to each side of the roll), lift and roll over the filling, until the rice is touching the other end of the nori – 2.5 cm gap. Then gently squeeze your hands at each end of the roll, and then in the middle, until sealed.
REMEMBER DO NOT CUT THE ROLL, or you will be cutting away at your luck! You may notice from my photos that the end tips of my Ehomaki don’t look as nice and neat as in most maki sushi photos. Again, this is simply because I didn’t want to cut and take any chances on losing out on my family’s luck and good fortune!
** NOTE:
Home-made sushi vinegar RECIPE (for 4 cups rice)
INGREDIENTS:
5cm x5cm konbu piece (hard, dried kelp)
1 thin slice of lemon (optional)
110 ml Rice vinegar
8 ml mirin (sweetened rice wine)
60 gms sugar
20 gms salt
METHOD:
- Wipe off any white powder you find on the konbu with a dry paper towel, without washing.
- Add all the ingredients in the list to a medium pot, and heat slowly over medium heat, and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Do not boil.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Remove lemon, while keeping the konbu piece in the mixture and store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to use. Can be kept for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. It’s best to make the sushi vinegar the night before so the flavor has time to build up.
HAPPY SETSUBUN!
Yours Gastronomically,
Pia
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