Inari Sushi

Inari sushi consists of aburaage — thin, deep-fried tofu pouches — simmered in a sweet soy-dashi broth, then stuffed with vinegared sushi rice. The dish is named after Inari Okami, the Shinto deity of rice, tea, and foxes. In Japanese folklore, foxes (kitsune) are particularly fond of aburaage; the golden color of the fried tofu and the ear-like shape of the pouches reinforce the association. Wikipedia documents the dish as a Japanese preparation without naming a single inventor. Inari sushi is a popular everyday food — inexpensive, portable, and vegetarian — commonly sold at shrine festivals and packed for picnics and bentos.

An inari sushi is a golden, slightly sweet tofu pocket yielding to a core of lightly vinegared rice. The aburaage skin, simmered until it has absorbed the sweet soy-dashi broth, is soft, glossy, and faintly sweet; the rice within is firm and tart. Eaten cold or at room temperature, the contrast of the sweet skin and the sour rice is the defining pleasure — simple, portable, and beloved.

Inari sushi rests on the aburaage pouch and its sweet-soy seasoning. Aburaage — thin sheets of fried tofu — are cut into rectangles and formed into pouches; they are then simmered in a mixture of dashi, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin until the tofu's porous structure has absorbed the sweet-savory liquid thoroughly. The absorbed broth is what gives the skin its characteristic sweet, savory, juicy character. The pouch is filled with vinegared sushi rice — short-grain rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt — whose tartness provides the contrast to the sweet skin. The tofu's protein network gives the pouch enough structural integrity to hold the rice without tearing, yet remains soft enough to eat as a wrapper.