How To Make Inari Sushi

Index

A Beginner’s Guide to Making Inari Sushi

Simple and sweet, inari sushi is a tasty type of sushi that’s consumed widely in Japan. It is eaten daily as a form of fast food, available at konbinis (convenience stores) and supermarkets everywhere. Making it at home is quite easy as well – below, we’ve laid out the basic steps to making homemade inari sushi!

How to Make Sushi Rice

  1. To make sushi rice, cooked rice is seasoned with vinegar, sugar, and salt. First prepare the sushi vinegar by heating vinegar, salt, and sugar in a pan until the salt and sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the cooked rice into a moistened bowl. Traditionally, a wooden idai is used but any large bowl will work.
  3. Fold the sushi vinegar you prepared into the rice until it’s evenly mixed in.
  4. Remove excess water and cool the rice until it can be handled by fanning it. Cover with a paper towel to retain moisture while you prepare the aburaage.

How to Prepare Aburaage for Inari Sushi

What is Aburaage?

Aburaage is deep-fried tofu skin that forms the outside pouch of inari sushi. It is boiled and seasoned when making inari sushi, in order to remove excess oil and add flavor.


  1. Boil the aburaage in water for a couple minutes in order to remove excess oil then strain.
  2. Simmer aburaage in water, dashi, sugar, and soy sauce for about ten minutes. Other flavorings, like mirin and miso, can be added as well.
  3. Remove from heat and let cool until the aburaage is cool enough to handle.

How to Make Inari Sushi

When both the sushi rice and aburaage are cool to the touch, you’re ready to assemble your inari sushi!

  1. Take small portions of the sushi rice – enough to fit into the aburaage pouches – and mold into cylindrical shapes with moistened hands.
  2. Pack the rice balls into the aburaage skins and seal.
  3. As a final touch, garnish the inari sushi with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds!

You can learn how to make sushi!