Temari Zushi

This vegetable sushi dish uses pickled blossoms of myoga (a rhizome related to ginger, but I think has more of a peppery taste), shitake mushrooms braised in soy sauce, and fresh avocado slices.

Here are fresh myoga blossoms, imported from Japan:

I sliced the myoga lengthwise, blanched them in boiling water, and put them in a lemon juice-based pickling liquid:

After pickling overnight, the myoga turn a bright scarlet color:

The feedback I provided to Elizabeth was that I wasn't entirely satisfied with the balance of flavors in my execution of this dish.

The myoga was quite tart after being picked in the full-strength lemon juice. Next time, I'll reserve a third of the rice and season it with less rice vinegar in anticipation of the picked myoga.

I also thought the shitake mushroom would be better braised in less soy sauce to avoid overshadowing the flavors of the mushroom and sushi rice.