🦑 Squid nigiri (ika)
Squid nigiri, or ika, is vinegared sushi rice topped with a thin sheet of raw squid. The squid is bright white, slightly translucent, with a soft yet springy bite and a delicate sweetness. Chefs often score its surface finely so it is easier to chew and holds the wasabi.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g Japanese short-grain rice
- 240 ml water
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 g sushi-grade squid body (mantle), cleaned
- 1 tsp wasabi paste
Method
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it with the water and let it rest covered for 10 minutes.
- Warm the vinegar with the sugar and salt until dissolved, fold it into the hot rice with a cutting motion and let it cool to body temperature.
- Peel off the thin skin, open the body flat, score the surface in a fine crosshatch and cut it into 10 rectangles.
- With wet hands, shape about 20 g of rice into a small oblong, dab a little wasabi on the underside of the topping and press it gently onto the rice.
- Serve right away, 2 pieces per person as a snack or 8–10 as a meal.
How to make it lighter
- Count pieces: the rice makes up most of the calories, so 2–4 pieces alongside a salad is lighter than a full sushi platter.
- Squid is very lean, so ika is a good piece to fill up on when watching calories.
- Ask for smaller rice balls or order the same topping as sashimi to skip the rice entirely.
History
Nigiri is the hand-pressed style of sushi that took shape in Edo, today's Tokyo, in the early 19th century, when street stalls sold quick bites of vinegared rice topped with fish from Edo Bay. Its invention is usually credited to the sushi maker Hanaya Yohei, though the story is hard to verify. Before refrigeration, many toppings were cured, simmered or marinated, and raw toppings became common only in the 20th century. Squid is one of the everyday toppings at Japanese sushi bars and conveyor-belt restaurants.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →