March 3rd is "Hinamatsuri", a day in Japan to celebrate and wish for the happiness and healthy growth of girls. It originates from the Chinese festival "Shangsi Jie" (上巳の節句).

In Japan, there is a tradition of displaying Hina dolls. In my family, which has two daughters (my sister and myself), we would also set up a small Hina doll display when I was growing up.

Chirashi-sushi is a classic choice of Hinamatsuri. With its vibrant colors, this festive dish is perfect for celebrations. It is believed to have originated in the Edo period and became associated with Hinamatsuri in the Taisho era.

This year, I made a seafood chirashi-sushi, garnished with finely chopped shiso (perilla leaves), which not only helps prevent food poisoning from sashimi but also promotes the flow of Qi, making it a perfect ingredient for a spring Yakuzen dish.

It's a great dish for home parties too, so give it a try! 

Ingredients (2 servings)

2 Go (300g) Uncooked Japanese short grain rice
4 tbsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Sugar (cane sugar recommended)
1/3 tsp salt

1/4 Carrot (cut long and thin, but not shredded)
2 big Dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in 700ml water for 1 hour and drained, then sliced) *Do not throw away the soaking water. 
30 g Boiled lotus root (sliced) *If you use raw a lotus root, peel and soak in the cold water for 10 minutes)
2 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Sugar (cane sugar recommended)
2 tbsp Mirin
4 tbsp Sake

4 slices Sashimi Salmon
4 slices Sashimi Tuna
4 slices Sashimi Scallop
1 block Tamagoyaki (make with 3 Chicken eggs+1 tbsp Sugar+1/2 tbsp Soy sauce)
6 Shiso leaves (thinly sliced)
1 tbsp Roasted white sesame seeds

Mixture of wasabi and soy sauce *Optional

Method

Step 1 - Cook the 2 Go rice (300g) with 360ml water.
Step 2 - Put the carrot, shiitake mushroom, lotus root, soy sauce, 2tbsp sugar, mirin, sake and 600ml shiitake soaking water in a pot and bring to boil. Then put the lid on and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Drain.
Step 3 - Make sushi vinegar (Mix the vinegar, 2bsp sugar and salt in a bowl)
Step 4 - Once rice is cooked, combine the sushi vinegar mixture, the other mixture from the step 2, and cooked rice in a sushi oke (rice mixing bowl) and mix gently, but separate a pile of rice with a rice ladle.  
Step 5 - Cut the tamagoyaki into small square pieces.
Step 6 - Serve the rice in a plate or shallow bowl, garnish with sashimi slices and tamagoyaki, then sprinkle the white sesame seeds and shiso leaves.

You can eat it on its own or with wasabi soy sauce. 
If you can purchase Chirashi-zushi mixture at your local supermarket, it would be so much easier to make as you can skip 2 and 3.
Enjoy!