Inari sushi are one of my favourite specialty sushi at the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants I frequent. If you’re watching your pocket book, however, they’re a snap to make at home with just a few ingredients. Traditionally filled with cooked and seasoned sushi rice, they may be served plain or topped with egg salad, tuna salad or a variety of other sushi fillings. I’ve also filled the tofu pockets with a somen noodle seafood mixture and with leftover Arborio seasoned Korean style (Yubu Chobap).
You can make your own fried and seasoned tofu pockets, but why bother, when you can buy a can of 16 half pockets for a fairly reasonable price (~$5 CDN, locally) and save yourself the mess? Leftover tofu pockets freeze well in the seasoning liquid once the can has been opened, so they’re practical for single diners.
Seasoned Fried Tofu Pockets
Lap Cheong Sausage Inari Sushi
Lap Cheong Sausage Inari Sushi – makes 15-16 inari sushi
1 cup raw sushi rice, cook as per package instructions
4 lap cheong sausages
2-3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar to season the cooked sushi rice
1 can Hime brand inarizushi
Optional add-ins:
1/4 cup of finely cubed cooked carrot, thawed frozen peas or thawed corn kernels (omitted)
6-8 shiso leaves, julienned
a couple of sweet Japanese thin omelettes (usuyaki tamago), rolled and cut into 1/8 inch strips
Once cooked, you’ll have about 3 cups of rice, enough to fill 15-16 inari sushi. When cooking the sushi rice, lay the sausages over the top of the rice, cook, then remove the sausages and dice. Add the diced sausage to the cooked rice and cut in along with the rice vinegar.
For ease of stuffing the tofu pockets, use 2-3 tablespoons of the rice mixture, shape into an oval and insert it into the opened tofu pocket.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 
Tofu pockets – way cool! I’ve never seen them. I make Inari with good old nori strips, and no meat. Yours look great, though!
There are SO many add-ins to the rice or toppings that meat is just one version. I wanted to use up some Chinese sausage from my freezer so I was going for a ‘fried rice’ version. I’ve also done a Korean treatment with leftover Arborio rice and another version with somen noodles mixed with seafood (fake crab legs).
https://aboleyn01.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/korean-inari-sushi-yubu-chobap-and-a-more-traditional-version/
https://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/152574.html
PS: The use of the fried tofu pockets is what makes them ‘inari’ or fox sushi, AFAIK. 🙂
Thank you for the links.
Since I have never seen tofu pockets and don’t know how to make them (if you do, please tell me!), I just fake it with nori strips and call it inari.
As to meat, when my oldest granddaughter was 4, I taught her to roll sushi, but she insisted on using chicken nuggets instead of fish and/or veggies. Whatever rocks your boat!
I don’t make the seasoned tofu pockets myself, I just buy the canned ones. Hime makes a decent brand which isn’t too pricey.
https://www.japancentre.com/en/products/1513-hime-inari-fried-tofu-wraps
Of course, there ARE recipes for making your own … I just can’t be bothered. 🙂
https://www.ehow.com/how_7355258_make-inari-pouches.html
Your grand-daughter’s chicken nugget sushi rolls sounds brilliant. You can add them to the onigiri-razu that you used to make. 🙂
Thank you for the links. Unfortunately, the canned ones are not kosher, so I can’t use them.
I see why you don’t want to bother making your own tofu pockets. I might try one day, but meanwhile, I’ll just keep on faking them.
P.S. Whatever my granddaughter does, it is always brilliant, but then I am just a little biased!
Here’s another recipe I found for making your own. Give it a look.
http://justhungry.com/inarizushi-sushi-bean-bag-redux-cooking-your-own-inarizushi-skins
Thank you very much! It looks like a pretty simple, yet quite time consuming procedure. I’ll probably try it when I have time on my hands.
I hope you give it a try. It’s a nice sushi dish … one of my nephew’s favourites. (We each have a LOT of favourites.)
Generally, I stay away from fried foods, especially deep fried, but this is tempting…
Such an inventive way with tofu “wraps”! You know, I keep away from there whenever in Japan because they are always filled with rice and nothing else (and they are sweet!).
I don’t mind the bit of sweetness on the outside. That’s the nature of the dish so it’s a change from the rest of the dim sum assortment.
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