Chirashizushi for Delivery

I got a call from one of my students to make a Hinamatsuri Chirashizushi (scattered sushi for Girls Day celebration) for her daughter's birthday party. Usually, making Chirashizushi is easy if you can use the ready-made sushi mixes that contain cooked root vegetables. However, my student is allergic to gluten, so the sushi filling had to be cooked from scratch, which is not difficult as long as you have tamari soy sauce which is a soy sauce that is made only from salt and soy beans.

Also, the pretty pink sakura denbu, that gives a nice touch to the girls day feast often contains soy sauce (which contains gluten). In case you cannot find gluten free denbu, it can easily be made by boiling a piece of cod then mixing it with sugar and food coloring in a frying pan until it becomes flaky and the moisture has dried out. And last, most of the salmon roe you see on the market is marinated in soy sauce (醤油漬け）so, you need to get one that is salted (塩漬け） in order to make it gluten-free. 

The Chirashizush is often eaten with a bowl of clam soup. This is because the size and shape of the pair of shells of one Hamaguri Clam will never match with the  other clams which is the symbol of a lasting marriage.  It is a tradition to put two flesh in on clam in the clear soup for the Hinamatsuri Feast.

With two boys, I though I would never have the opportunity to make a Hinamatsuri Chirashizushi, so it was  great fun. Hope they like it!