Happy Hinamatsuri! March 3rd marks Hinamatsuri in Japan, an ancient festival celebrating daughters and a day to wish for the health and happiness of girls.
What is Hina Matsuri?
Hina Matsuri translates to "Doll’s Festival" as on this day, families with young daughters display hina ningyo (hina dolls), representing Japan's court, including the emperor and empress, from the Heian period (794 to 1185). It is also called Momo no Sekku (Peach Festival), one of the five seasonal turning points in Japan.
Today, Hinamatsuri is celebrated throughout Japan, and is a day for families to come together and celebrate the young girls in their lives! 
Celebrating Hina Matsuri with Tasty Food
Food plays a central role in celebrating Hina Matsuri! On this day, we enjoy eating foods that are colored white, pink and green, which represent a wish for girls to blossom and grow like the peach flowers + buds that emerge from the white snow. 
Examples of such colorful foods include hanami dango (green pink and white mochi on a stick) and hina-arare (green, white, pink and yellow Japanese rice crackers sweetened with sugar).
Other special foods include Sakura mochi, a lovely light pink mochi wrapped in salt-pickled sakura leaves that just shouts springtime!
Chirashizushi, the perfect meal for this spring festival
The star of the show though is Chirashizushi or “scattered sushi”, a type of sushi made with colorful ingredients strewn over sushi rice.
It’s a popular choice for Hina Matsuri because it’s so visually appealing and many of the common ingredients have auspicious meanings:
- Lotus root = looking into a hopeful future
- Shrimp = happily growing old, represented by the bent back of the shrimp
Chirashizushi is also popular as it’s a way to beautifully play with the pink-white-green color combination that defines Hina Matsuri.
How to make Sakura Chirashizushi
For Hina Matsuri this year at Bento&co, we decided to make a special type of Chirashizushi, featuring ingredients cut out in cherry blossom patterns to add to the festive springtime mood. 
What you need to make Sakura Chirashizushi:
To display your chirashizushi beautifully, we recommend going for a picnic or Shokado style bento box. These large tiers can easily pack a portion for 3-4 people depending on their size, and they'll make transport easy.
Today, we are making Sakura Chirashizushi, to add a floral touch to our meal perfect for the Spring. Our Sakura Cutter Set is perfect for this, and a breeze to clean.
Ingredients you need to make Chirashizushi
- 1 Japanese cup of short-grain rice (= ¾ US cup)
- 1 Tbsp of Instant Sushi Seasoning or rice vinegar
- Cherry blossom Daikon pickles (recipe below - you can substitute them with watermelon radish or carrots)
- 7 oz (about 200g) of sashimi-grade raw fish (we used salmon and tuna, but use your favorite fish)
- 5-6 steamed snap peas for a touch of green! (you can also use snow peas or Okra)
- Tamagoyaki (made from 2 eggs)
Optional ingredients for a delicious chirashizushi
Because we all have different tastes, feel free to explore with other ingredients—but keep the color scheme in mind (yellow, green, orange, pink).
Here is a non-exhausting list of what you could use:
- Ham
- Sliced cheese
- Ikura (Salmon roe eggs)
- Boiled shrimp
- Cucumbers
- Smoked salmon
- Shiso leaf
- Nori seaweed
- Avocado
- Crab or imitation crab
How to make Japanese Chirashizushi (Step-by-Step Recipe)
Step 1: Make Cherry blossom Daikon pickles
If you would prefer, you can skip this step and substitute them with watermelon radish or carrots for a quicker prep! These pickles will keep for a couple weeks refrigerated.
Ingredients:
- Daikon radish
- 5 Tbsp Vinegar (preferably rice vinegar, but you can also use apple cider or white vinegar)
- 1 Tbsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of Yukari-chan Furikake
1. Cut the daikon into 0.25 to 0.5 cm slices.
2. Cut cherry blossom shapes from the daikon using the sakura cutter.
3. Mix the vinegar, sugar and furikake in a container or a Ziplock bag. Add 1 teaspoon of water if you would prefer less sour pickles.
4. Add daikon to the mixture and let sit for at least 3 hours until daikon is dyed the desired pinkness. (The longer you wait, the darker the pink)
Step 2: Make Sushi Rice
Cook Japanese short-grain rice in a pot or a rice cooker.When cooking in a pot, use double the amount of water than rice; your rice is fully cooked when all the liquid is absorbed and your grains are fluffy and soft.
Once cooked, transfer to a large bowl, and sprinkle 1 Tbsp of Sushinoko Instant Sushi Seasoning. Mix thoroughly with a rice paddle and adjust to taste.
Leave your rice to cool.
Step 3: Prepare Your Toppings
Cut daikon pickles (or watermelon radishes) and tamagoyaki into sakura shapes with the cutter.
Cut snap peas diagonally and sashimi into slices or cubes according to preference.
Step 4: Assemble your Chirashizushi
Assemble your chirashizushi. Place rice into your bento box, covering the bottom entirely. How thick you go depends on the depth of your chosen box, but don't forget to leave vertical space for your toppings!
Scatter your sashimi then your snap peas, then complete with sakura shaped radishes and tamagoyaki.
Enjoy straight out of the box at home or at a picnic under the cherry blossoms with family and friends!
Chirashizushi: Your Shortcut to Tasty and Easy Sushi
We hope you try and make Chirashizushi at home because it's the epitome of a low-effort, high-reward meal that's perfect for a celebration and for wow-ing friends and family.
What's great is that you can customize it to your liking, adding the seafood or vegetables that you enjoy! Adding cherry blossom shaped ingredients definitely takes things to the next level and makes it instantly more exciting.
Let us know if you make chirashizushi at home, we'd love to see your pictures!
Curious to try more recipes? Check out more on our blog :
1 Comment
I made this and it was delicious and looked so pretty! I have made the sakura pickles again since. They’re a perfect garnish for rice, eggs, salads, pretty much anything.