An Attempt at Cooking: Inari-zushi

As I transition from job to job, I want to start a habit of documenting some of my cooking and recipes. I also would like to keep my momentum and carry over this effort when I actually start my new job.

To start things off, something relatively easy: Inari-zushi. I started with the original recipe from cookpad here I believe this recipe to be a bit too sweet for my tastes, so I have adjusted the ingredients and wait times to accomodate.

Ingredients For Inari

Inari Age: 1 pack
Soy Sauce: 100ml
Mirin(rice wine): 10-20ml
Sugar: 100g
Water: 300ml

Ingredients For Rice

Rice Vinegar or Sushiko
Optional: Sesame Seeds

Steps

Slice the inari-age to size.
Lightly boil the inari-age in plain water for 2-3 minutes to remove excess oil.
Drain and press the inari-age lightly to remove excess water. This does not have to be perfect.
Using a larger pot, combine the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and water. Bring this to a simmer and dissolve the sugar. Then add in the inari-age that was just boiled.
Let it lightly simmer for about 15-16 minutes.
Take the whole pot off the heat, and let it sit and cool down for about 4-5 hours. This will allow the inari-age to fully absorb the flavor.
While the inari-age are cooling and absorbing all the good juices, set the rice to cook. It is important to note you must reduce water for sushi rice. This is about 6-10% less than the normal amount. The rice vinegar added to the rice will not only add flavor, but also add texture.
Once the rice is done cooking, mix in the rice vinegar/sushiko as described on the bottle/package. It’s also okay to let the rice cool for a little bit afterwards. Optionally, add sesame seeds to the rice for more flavoring.
Now take the inari-age out of the pot and give each inari-age one last squeeze before filling them with sushi rice.
Fill each inari-age pocket up to around 80-85% with rice and press flat on a plate to serve.
Enjoy! Ooor give them to me. That would be nice.