Green beans changed history,mango sushi too?

mango sushi with fresh mint

475 years ago this year a maritime mishap caused a major change in the history of gastronomy.In 1543, a Chinese ship with three Portuguese sailors on board was headed to Macau, but was swept off course and ended up on the Japanese island of Tanegashima. Antonio da Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and Antonio Peixoto – the first Europeans to ever step on Japanese soil – were deemed ‘southern barbarians’ by the locals because of the direction from which they came and their ‘unusual’, non-Japanese features. The Japanese were in the middle of a civil war and eventually began trading with the Portuguese, in general, for guns. And thus began a Portuguese trading post in Japan, starting with firearms and then other items such as soap, tobacco, wool and even recipes.The Portuguese left an indelible mark on the island: a battered and fried green bean recipe called peixinhos da horta. Today, in Japan, it’s called tempura and has been a staple of the country’s cuisine ever since.
A 1603 Japanese-Portuguese dictionary has an entry for namanrina sushi, literally half-made sushi.Sushi was originally produced by fermentation of fish with rice.With the invention of rice vinegar a process was gradually developed which eliminated the fermentation process and used vinegar instead.
The namanari was fermented for a shorter period than its predecessor the narezushi and possibly marinated with rice vinegar.I had a short foray into making sushi some years ago and recently thought I would  give it another go.Previously I had made a stab at creating an Algarvian sushi  Biqueirao, espinafres enrolado ( marinated spinach and anchovies rolled in spinach leaves )

  my inspiration masu-zushi-smoked fish sushi

This time I was looking for something a little more avant-garde.There are so many elements and so much variety to Japanese cuisine that it is very difficult to put it under one banner.Sushi has been popular outside Japan for years,but there´s so much scope for growth with the lesser known elements of the cuisine.

“There are so many elements and so much variety to Japanese cuisine it is very difficult to put it under one banner. “Sushi has been popular in the UK for years, but there’s so much scope for growth with the lesser known elements of the cuisine.

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/chefs-predict-food-trends-2018

There are so many elements and so much variety to Japanese cuisine it is very difficult to put it under one banner. “Sushi has been popular in the UK for years, but there’s so much scope for growth with the lesser known elements of the cuisine.

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/chefs-predict-food-trends-2018/

There are so many elements and so much variety to Japanese cuisine it is very difficult to put it under one banner. “Sushi has been popular in the UK for years, but there’s so much scope for growth with the lesser known elements of the cuisine.

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/chefs-predict-food-trends-2018

I decided to use a type of process called Oshi-zushi (pressed sushi ).This sushi normally uses smoked fish either salmon or trout.My sushi was going to be somewhat different, not sushi as in raw fish,but sushi as in sweet coconut rice topped with fresh succulent mango and fresh mint.I thought of using fresh pineapple which would work beautifully too, but I thought the colour of the mango was  more tempting.I wanted something you could pick up and eat in your fingers, something sweet to round off our tasting menu.

I used a 100% national rice produced exclusively in the Ribatejo flood plains by The country´s greatest rice producer Orivázea.It has much more starch than arborio rice.The banks of the river Tagus offer the ideal conditions for it to flourish.Its consistency and large grains have a great capacity to absorb liquid whilst retaining their shape.This is why the particular rice is the favoured choice by chefs preparing sushi dishes in Portugal.

Mango Sushi  
makes 12
300g best quality sushi rice 
100g caster sugar
200ml organic canned coconut milk
400ml water
500g peeled sliced mango
Put rice,sugar,coconut milk in a pan and bring to the boil,stirring constantly to prevent the rice from sticking.Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes,stirring occasionally to avoid boiling over.Once the rice has absorbed the liquid but is not yet fully cooked,remove from the heat,cover with atight fitting lid and leave to steam for 10 minutes more until the rice is tender.
Lightly rinse out a 20 x 15 cm shallow rectangular ceramic dish and tip in the cooked rice.Spread it out evenly to a 2 cm depth.Smooth the top and leave to cool.when cool,cover with clingfilm and chill for at least two hours or overnight.
Once chilled cut the rice into 3x8 cm fingers.Trim slices of mango into matching rectangles and place on top of the rice.garnish with a fresh mint leaf.