This Sushi dish and our Tenuta di Castellaro - Bianco Pomice 2011 are super tasty together. Give it a try!

Created by Martina Battistotti

The rice:

600ml water

510g sushi rice

100ml rice vinegar

50g sugar

10g salt

5g Kombu seaweed with rolling mat

For the filling:

2 medium beetroots

Samphire

4 eggs

10g sugar

5 g soya sauce

2,5g salt

Nori seaweed

Sunflower seed oil

For ginger and beetroot Gari

1 piece of ginger

1 beetroot

100ml rice vinegar

25ml water

20g sugar

5g salt

How to prepare: The rice

Wash the rice under cold water, drain it well

Put the rice into a medium size pan with the water

Cover and bring to boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat for 10 min or until all the water is absorb. Do not stir

Turn off and let the rice stand covered for 10 min

In the meantime, in a small saucepan over low heat, combine the rice vinegar, water, sugar, salt and a piece of Kombu seaweed.

Stir until everything is melted (don't bring to the boil)

Turn cooked rice into a large bowl and let it cool. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan.

Drizzle the rice vinegar syrup onto the rice slowly until all the liquid is absorbed, make sure the rice is at room temperature and shiny.

The beetroot filling:

Cut the beetroot into small matchstick shapes

Cut the samphire seaweed into same length as the beetroot matchsticks

Tamagoyaki, Japanese omelette:

Beat eggs thoroughly in a bowl

Add sugar, salt and soya sauce and carry on beating, until is homogenized

Place a non-stick omelette pan over low heat

Using kitchen roll spread a thin layer of sunflower seed oil onto pan

Pour a thin layer of egg mixture into the hot pan

When egg layer is firm on the bottom but still slightly liquid on top, lift up of the omelette with a spatula from one edge and fold end over remaining egg layer and remove

Oil the pan again and repeat until all the egg mixture has been used

Place omelettes on a chopping board and cut into equal pieces. – see picture bellow.

The Gari, pikled ginger and beetroot: (to be prepared a head, 2 hours or more (unless shop bought)

Peel and cut the ginger into paper thin pieces

To make it softer toss the ginger with salt and sugar. Set for 30 minutes (otherwise submerge it in a bowl of water for all the night)

Blanch them into boiling water for 1 minute

Mix the water and rice vinegar in a small saucepan over a low heat. Let the sugar and salt dissolve, do not bring to the boil

Put the rice vinegar mixture into a jar along with the thinly sliced ginger, allow it to cool before putting the lid on and storing in the fridge

Repeat the same procedure for the beetroot if desired

Making the sushi - Tamagoyaki nigari (egg omelette): 

Dip your hands into water

Make cubes out of the rice (similar size to a regular meatball)

Do not press too much in order to prevent the rice cube falling apart

Put a piece of the tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) on top of the rice cube

Tie the omelette and the rice cube together with a Nori seaweed strip

Making the sushi – Beetroot and samphire: 

Prepare a bamboo mat, covering it with cleaning film

Place a sheet of nori seaweed on top

Dip your hands into water

Cover two thirds of one side of the nori seaweed with the sushi rice, approximately 1 cm high

Put the roasted beetroot and the raw samphire in a line on top of the rice in the centre

Using the rolling mat, start rolling up the ingredients away from you, while keeping the roll tight

Leave it to set in the fridge for 10 minutes

Wet the blade of sharp knife and cut up into pieces