Shandon Sushi (or How to cook a Cork Nori) - An Irish take on a Japanese classic

Happy new year to one and all. I do know that I have been updating very little in the last year, but that has been due to moving from Connemara to Cork, and working a great deal at sea.

Good news is I have applied for an allotment in Cork, and will be getting back to growing and cooking.

So, the one thing - which I wrote about a while back, was the use of seaweed in traditional Irish recipies.
Nori are probably the most identifiable Japanese food. Most people associate this delicate looking and delicious seaweed wrapped Japanese treat with the exotic east - and yet it was eaten in Ireland as a staple of the poor for centuries, and the same type of sea veg used to make Nori was eaten in Ireland but known as Sleabhac (pronounced Schlowk).

A very good UK based company producing Nori sheets and a very wide range of dried seaweeds are Clearspring and they are quite widely available in Ireland as well as having an online store.

This was covered in previous postings, an Irish version of a Welsh staple - Laver bread - and a Nettle and Nori omelet.

But Nori itself can be made the main attraction. nori sheets, along with sushi rolling mats are easily found in most health stores.
Personally I tend to shop in the English market a lot - the people across the way from Mr Bells in particular.

I tried to make a type of Irish bulgar wheat one year, using oats - but that failed and was simply too much work, so I just gave up on that and bought bulgar wheat.
In this recipe, I use it to replace expensive sushi rice, and do a quick Irish nori using Bulgar - which in theory I could grow and make myself here in Ireland.

It could not be easier to prepare.

Prepare the bulgar in to a Tabbouleh - in this case it is an Armenian version called Eech.

Anyway, you will need:
Bulgar wheat, 1 cup
Boiling water, 2 cups
Shallot - very finely sliced
Fist full of parsley, very finely chopped
dash of olive oil
Pack of Nori leaves, toasted (most health stores have them)
Half a lemon, squeezed.
Cucumber
Small pack smoked salmon

It could not be easier to prepare.

You will need:
1 cup of Bulgar wheat
2 cups boiling water
1 very finely sliced Shallot.
A handful of parsley - finely chopped.
Half a lemon, squeezed.

Prepare the Bulgar in to a Tabbouleh - in this case it is an Armenian version called Eech.

Put the Bulgar wheat and shallot in a bowl
Add the boiling water and cover
after 15 minutes add the parsley, lemon juice and olive oil to mix through
That's it - Sin E !!!!

Lay the toasted Nori sheets on the sushi mat.
I layered on some smoked salmon slices, then some very thinly sliced cucumber.
After that about a centimeter depth of Eech/Tabbouleh
Baton of cucumber in the center
Roll
Slice
Serve with a little dollop of homemade horseradish sauce.

I topped mine with a little wasabi and shop bought pickled ginger.
In future, I'd use home grown horseradish sauce - after all wasabi is just Japanese horseradish - and I'd leave out the ginger.

Looks great, and tastes great.

I topped mine with a little wasabi and shop bought pickled ginger.
In future, I'd use home grown horseradish sauce - after all wasabi is just Japanese horseradish - and I'd leave out the ginger.

Looks great, and tastes great.

Think of it - to paraphrase Basil Fauwlty as a Hiberno / Nipponese cucumber sandwich.

Actually, with the fillings it would be Hiberno / Nipponese / Turkish / Armenian hybrid !!!!

I wonder if with reference to my new home would it is a little too much to call it a Cork Norrie recipe??

Although this is my own recipe, if you are interested in cooking with seaweed I still have to say you should invest in Dr. Prannie Rhattigans great book - Irish Seaweed Kitchen

Enjoy - and please feel free to leave a comment - I really do appreciate the time, effort and feedback.