Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Fried Sushi Cakes
- Total Time
- About an hour, plus resting time
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:24 cakes, 6 to 12 servings
- 1and ½ cups short-grain sushi rice
- 2tablespoons mirin
- 1and ½ tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
- 2-inch piece konbu
- 1tablespoon salt
- 1egg yolk
- 1teaspoon red-wine vinegar
- 1and ½ teaspoons orange juice
- 2teaspoons lime juice
- 1tablespoon chipotle in adobo, including some of the liquid
- 1teaspoon salt
- ¾cup grapeseed oil
- ¼cup olive oil
- ½cup light soy sauce
- ½cup honey
- 2tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1tablespoon rice-wine vinegar
- Rice flour, for dredging (or substitute all-purpose flour)
- Grapeseed oil
- Coarse salt
- Minced scallions
- 6big scallops, each sliced into 4 pieces
- Minced cilantro
For the Rice Cakes
For the Chipotle Mayonnaise
For the Honey Soy Sauce
For Frying and Assembling
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine sushi rice, mirin, rice-wine vinegar, konbu and 1 tablespoon salt in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid wrapped in a damp cloth and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until done. (Alternatively, use a rice cooker.) Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Step 2
Line an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with plastic wrap. Firmly press the rice into the pan. Refrigerate until set, preferably overnight. Remove the rice from the pan and, using a chef’s knife dipped in hot water to prevent sticking, cut into roughly 1-by-3-inch rectangles.
- Step 3
Make the chipotle mayonnaise: Combine the egg yolk, red-wine vinegar, orange juice, lime juice, adobo and liquid and 1 teaspoon salt and purée in a food processor or blender. Add the ¾ cup grapeseed oil and the olive oil in a drizzle and process until smooth, thick and creamy.
- Step 4
Make the honey soy sauce: In a small saucepan, bring the soy sauce, honey, sherry vinegar and 1 tablespoon rice-wine vinegar to a boil and stir until smooth. Cool before using.
- Step 5
Heat grapeseed oil in a pan, deep enough to just about cover the rectangles. A broad skillet will require more oil than a deep saucepan, but will allow you to cook more pieces at once. Allow oil temperature to reach 350 to 360 degrees. Dredge the rice rectangles in rice flour and cook until golden and crispy, about 5 minutes total, turning once; transfer to paper towels and season with salt
- Step 6
Combine chipotle mayonnaise and scallions. Top each rectangle with a bit of the mayonnaise, then drape with a piece of raw scallop. Brush or drizzle with honey soy, then garnish with a bit of cilantro and a tiny pinch of salt.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Randy
It's just a delicious appetizer; no one claimed the recipe is authentic.
Carole
I lived in Japan for almost a decade. They don't feel a need to be "authentic" when preparing Western-style foods so I don't feel compelled to do the same when making anything Japan-inspired.
Jason M.
This is a really exceptional recipe. The accompanying sauces are a must, however for the amount of oil in the chipotle sauce I had to essentially quadruple all other ingredients. After these tweaks—perfection.
MH
This is a great recipe. It might seem difficult, but even the rice cakes are very easy, as well as forgiving. The other steps were done rapidly. We didn't have scallop, so took J-G's advice to use tuna and avocado. Super, super delicious and impressive.
Nina
This is an exquisite bite! I used a quarter sheet pan for the rice yielding 48 1×1.5 inch pieces. Since this was for a crowd, I substituted just-barely cooked 50-count peeled shrimp for the scallop. Fried the sushi cakes earlier in the day. Refried just before assembly and service. Put a couple drops of the glaze onto the cakes after refrying, then added sriracha mayo, a piece of shrimp and a small slice of avocado. Delish!
Anika
Hands down this is one of the tastiest appetizers I have ever made. The texture of the freshly-fried cakes is amazing! I didn't have scallops at home so just subbed them with canned smoked oysters. Loved it still!
Little Guy
This appetizer sings. The flavours falling over one another as would a litter of puppies engaged in happy frolic. I subbed out the scallops for lox negating the formidable dose of salt called for in cooking the cooking of the rice.. perhaps a teaspoon and a half? It’s really a wonderful launching recipe for all sorts of improvisations: as Mark and Jean-George’s banter invite. The mayo rocks. The honey soy as well.
Anne
Just made this tonight….it stopped the conversation. Enough said, I will make again!
Daniel
These were delicious but the raw scallop stank up the work fridge so bad dear Lord
Anika
Hands down this is one of the tastiest appetizers I have ever made. The texture of the freshly-fried cakes is amazing! I didn't have scallops at home so just subbed them with canned smoked oysters. Loved it still!
Alan
1 Tbs may be a typo. I made it per the recipe and it was gross. I changed to 1 tsp. and this is a great sushi rice recipe. Frying the rice adds great texture, worthy of an attempt, especially if you don't like rolling sushi or forming the rice by hand.
dostrower
One of our favorite dishes...ever. Note that amount of salt in rice is WAY too much. Inedible.
Jason M.
This is a really exceptional recipe. The accompanying sauces are a must, however for the amount of oil in the chipotle sauce I had to essentially quadruple all other ingredients. After these tweaks—perfection.
Alicia
Wish I had read this before I just tried to make the mayo...twice. If I had stopped at about 1/2 of the oil, it would have been perfect. Instead, I kept adding and it turned to a broken, liquid mayo. Giving up at this point and going to try with shiracha & mayo.
RG
I just made the crispy rice cakes (topped with sushi grade tuna mixed with sriracha mayo). Absolutely delicious. I am making the rice cakes again and I am going to do thin batons and use as a topping (like a crouton) for a asian inspired salad. The honey soy sauce is also really good.
Nina
This is an exquisite bite! I used a quarter sheet pan for the rice yielding 48 1×1.5 inch pieces. Since this was for a crowd, I substituted just-barely cooked 50-count peeled shrimp for the scallop. Fried the sushi cakes earlier in the day. Refried just before assembly and service. Put a couple drops of the glaze onto the cakes after refrying, then added sriracha mayo, a piece of shrimp and a small slice of avocado. Delish!
Chris
Delicious. One of the best foods that I’ve made and eaten. Had a dinner party with everything gone! Licking the plate gone. Informal kitchen dinner without silverware. Added summer rolls. It was wonderful. Used almost a full pound of scallops. Yum. Can’t wait to make again with other seafood like tuna, salmon, etc. avocado as well. Don’t delay - make this today.
Randy
So glad to have found this recipe again! I've made this several times, but using seared scallop, avocado or shrimp. Making them bite-sized also works well.
MH
This is a great recipe. It might seem difficult, but even the rice cakes are very easy, as well as forgiving. The other steps were done rapidly. We didn't have scallop, so took J-G's advice to use tuna and avocado. Super, super delicious and impressive.
Authentic Japanese
Not authentic: *Don't cook rice in one of those brownie pans. At least try a rice steam cooker. If you don't have that then just do it with a pot. *Never "firmly press the rice" under any circumstances. The umami of sushi also the texture, in which we have a perfectly fresh fish combined with the soft opening of the rice. *Blenders are never used when cooking sushi. Sushi should be made without any modern day technology. *No baking dish, plastic wrap, honey & no chipotle.
Randy
It's just a delicious appetizer; no one claimed the recipe is authentic.
Carole
I lived in Japan for almost a decade. They don't feel a need to be "authentic" when preparing Western-style foods so I don't feel compelled to do the same when making anything Japan-inspired.
co_baker
Right, but authentic pizza doesn't have mayo and corn on it and Italians, even Italians in Japan don't get upset about it. It's fusion, it's an inspiration, it's a compliment -- that's all. Itadakimasu!
Alan
This is one fine recipe, but...I have never been able to find "rice-wine vinegar" anywhere. Rice wine, yes; wine vinegar, yes. But no rice-wine vinegar. So I use half rice wine and half wine vinegar, seems to work OK...
Sandra Simblist
Rice wine vinegar should be found in most major supermarket the Asian or International Food Section. For sure Whole Foods.
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