What is inari sushi?
The plain deep-fried tofu pockets are called “aburaage” and are made of soybeans. When aburaage are seasoned with a dashi broth that gives them a sweet and flavorful outer layer they are called “inari age.” Inari sushi, or Inarizushi, is named after the Shinto deity, Inari, who protects crops, fertility, and general prosperity. People would give offerings of inari sushi and aburaage to the Inari shrines in Japan because the brown pouches were thought to represent the shape of a fox, an animal associated with the Inari deity. Different regions in Japan also have different shapes of inari sushi, too. For example, there are rectangle inari sushi that resembles fox ears, or triangle shaped sushi.
How to make inari age
While many Japanese grocery stores sell pre-seasoned inari age, for this recipe I chose to season the aburaage at home so that I could adjust the levels of sweet and savory flavors. To make inari age, get your hands on aburaage from your local Japanese grocer, and then boil them in water to remove the oil in the tofu. After removing the aburaage from the water, have them cool and then squeeze out the excess water. Then you bring a simple sauce of dashi broth, soy sauce, sugar, and miso to a simmer and then add your tofu pockets, which will soak up all that flavor. After about ten minutes, remove them from the sauce, cool them down, and press out the excess liquid. You can use the inari age as soon as possible, or keep them in an airtight container to use for later.
Filling options
Typically, you can add sushi rice inside your inari sushi–it’s a pretty basic, on-the-go snack. What’s great about inari sushi is that you can choose to add any fillings and mix them in with your sushi rice. I have seen variations of adding tamago, spicy tuna, tobiko, and more. Since I like to add furikake with my sushi rice to give my inari sushi a bit more umami flavor and crunchy texture, I’ve adjusted my inari age seasoning to accommodate this extra seasoning in the furikake.
How to serve
The best thing about inari sushi is that it’s super low-key and you can serve it on a plate, bento, or take it straight into your hands and eat it all up–no wonder they always feature this in anime! Similar to other sushi, you can also serve this with soy sauce and wasabi if you want that extra kick.
