I stumbled across this giant sushi mold at Marukai (a local LA Japanese market) and immediately bought it. Nevermind that the instructions were in Japanese and I don’t speak/read Japanese – it was Hello Kitty and that’s all that matters. I knew it would be the perfect centerpiece for my Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year’s Day) celebration!

The basic parts speak for the themselves. The mold works like a musubi press or springform pan. You add sushi, press down layer upon layer and when you take the mold off, you have an adorable kitty head – tho not before you decorate her face with the liftable template!

It was all genius – and large, 8″ to be exact so it’s like making a traditional Hawaiian pan sushi. I took the liberty of making up my own fillings since I had no idea what the box said but this thing is pretty versatile.

sushi rice ingredients:
2 cups rice
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

salmon filling ingredients:
1 (6 oz) can pink salmon
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar

face toppings:
1-2 pieces Spam, cooked
1 egg, scrambled
furikake

Cook the rice in a rice cooker. When it’s done and piping hot, scoop it out into a bowl and add the rice vinegar, salt and sugar. Stir together well to combine.


Scoop half the sushi rice into the press, layering it evenly, then push the press down to get the rice flat.

In a small bowl combine the salmon, soy sauce and sugar. Spoon that over the pressed sushi rice and press down again. Make sure you clean off the pressing plate after each press to make sure you have a clean surface.

Spoon the last of the sushi rice over the pressed salmon and one last time, press flat again.

For the bow I fried some Spam in a pan until cooked through, then used the template to cut out the bow.

I did the same for the nose by scrambling an egg and using the most yellow parts to cut out an oval nose shape.

I placed the template on top and sprinkled furikake for the eyes and whiskers then placed the egg nose and Spam bow into place.

There you have it, the most adorable giant sushi ever. It was so cute that when I made it for New Year’s Day no one wanted to cut into it – but one bite and they were hooked!