Makes 12



As an alternative, serve the nigiri in lettuce ‘boats’. They look very pretty and are also easier to pick up and eat – important at a party.

INGREDIENTS:

½ quantity vinegared rice

Hand vinegar:
4 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar
250 ml water

Toppings:
100 g beef fillet, about 7 cm thick
Vegetable oil, for rubbing
1-2 rollmops (marinated Bismarck herring)
8 asparagus tips
2 teaspoons wasabi paste or powder
4 Little Gem lettuce leaves
8 small chicory (witloof) leaves

To serve:
Sprigs of cress or shredded spring onions
A small strip of nori seaweed
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2.5 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons white wine
1 ½ tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
Juice of ½ lemon

HOW TO MAKE:
1. Make the vinegared rice (sumeshi). Mix the hand vinegar ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Rub the beef all over with vegetable oil. Grill at a high heat until golden brown on all sides, but rare in the middle. Plunge nto iced water to stop the cooking. Remove from the water, pat dry with kitchen paper and cut 4 thin slices, about 7x4 cm. All the slices should be red inside and brown around the edges.
3. Cut the rollmops into 4 and make a little lengthways slit in the skin of each piece.
4. Cook the asparagus in lightly salted water for 5 minutes until soft. Drain and place under running water to arrest cooking and bring out the color. Pat dry with kitchen paper.
5. If using wasabi powder, mix with 2 teaspoons water in an egg cup, stir to make a claylike consistency, then turn upside down to stop it drying out.
6. Dip your hands in the hand vinegar and take a handful of the cooked rice in one hand (about 1-2 tablespoons). Mould it into a rectangular shape about 5x2x2 cm. Repeat with the remaining rice, making 12 portions. Put a tiny dab of wasabi on top of 4 portions.
7. Arrange a slice of beef on 1 portion of wasabi-and –rice, with the two short sides hanging over the end. Top with a few sprigs of cress. Repeat with the other 3 slices of beef and set them in 4 Little Gem lettuce leaves.
8. Arrange 2 asparagus tips on another rice portion and tie with a nori ribbon. Repeat to make 3 more. Arrange a piece of rollmop on each of the remaining 4 rice portions and insert chopped spring onion and grated ginger into the slits. Arrange all the leaf boats on a serving platter. Mix the white wine, soy sauce and the lemon juice in a small bowl. Serve the lettuce boats with a small bowl of lemon sauce and another of plain soy sauce.