Generally found in ramen, in soups or vegetable stir-fries, the narutomaki is an element that's both kawaii and intriguing. King of the bento, we very often wonder what these little spirals are made of and whether it's possible to recreate them at home...
The answer is yes!
Some information to start with
This long white stick with wavy edges reveals a pink or orange spiral when cut. But before offering you a (super-simple) recipe to make your own narutomaki and dazzle the eyes (and taste buds) of your guests, here are a few things to know about this original food to shine during your meals.
First of all, the name. The narutomaki's appearance is what gave it its name. Its first part is "naruto", like the Japanese city where the phenomenon called the "Naruto whirlpool" occurs. A real attraction in Asia, this phenomenon can be observed at tide times when several bodies of water meet (the Pacific Ocean and the Seto Inland Sea at this spot). As you'll have understood, at a precise point a whirlpool forms that can reach 1.70 m deep and where the water currents easily exceed 20 km/h.
The second part of the word is "maki", and as you can imagine, it's a reference to the other emblematic culinary speciality of Japan. After evoking its spiral shape with the water whirlpools, it's here its cylindrical aspect that is highlighted.
It won't escape anyone, but it's this ingredient that also inspired the name of the main character of the manga Naruto Uzumaki.
The recipe
To be honest, most of us don't know exactly what this much-loved element is made of. Sometimes served in very thin slices, it's not always easy to grasp and recognise its taste. And that colour — is it really natural in the end? That's everything you're going to discover by following the recipe below.
👥 for 1 roll
🥣 15 min preparation
🕒 15 min cooking
Ingredients
600 g cod
25 g flour
20 cl Mirin (cooking sake)
2 egg whites
8 g salt
8 g sugar
red food colouring
Method
- Cut the fish flesh into cubes and plunge them into a bowl of water with ice cubes
- Wring them out as much as possible once the fish is well chilled
- Blend the fish cubes with the salt, sugar, Mirin, flour and egg whites until you get a smooth, even paste
- Separate the paste into 2 parts
- Add the red colouring to one of the parts until it takes on a pronounced pink colour
- Spread the white paste on a bamboo mat covered with food wrap
- Spread the pink paste on the white paste
- Roll it all up — tightly
- Steam the roll for 15 minutes
- Let cool then place in the fridge for 1 h so the preparation sets well
- Cut slices that you can add to your other dishes
Find the full recipe on Marmiton.
