Gunkan or « Mothership » in Japanese is a typically Japanese way of serving ingredients which would be difficult to serve on top of a nigiri.
They are usually made by wrapping a piece of « nori »/dry seaweed around a ball of rice/shari with plenty of space left on top to fill.
Some people do not appreciate the « nori », but it could be replaced with very thin strips of daikon, cucumber, zucchuni and so on.
Here are some samples of « gunkan » I have eaten over the years:
Ikura/Salmon roe Kani Salada/Crab salad Kanitsume/Crab pincers
Kobashira/Round Clam round twin muscles Mizuna/A Japanese thin leaf vegetable + quail egg Negitoro/finely chopped tuna and thin leeks
Shirako/Whiting-male cod sperm sacs Takuan/Pickled Japanese daikon + cucumber
I hope to introduce more in the near future!
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This is the second series of the Gunkan (more to come, don’t worry).
It includes a few repeats, such as the « Shirako » (Cod Whiting) as above to introduce other pics
« Benisuwaigani » (Red Suwai Crab), « Mikkuriebi » (Mikkuri Shrimp, a variety of sweet shrimp, delicious in spite of the colour!), « Kobashira » (Muscle from the « Bakagai » Shellfish), « Nama Karasumi » (raw mullet roe)
« Ooenkogani » (Ooenko Crab, featuring body flesh, red brins and pincers flesh!), « Akahada Tsurutsuru », a seaweed gunkan! It is a red seaweed variety), « Sakura ebi » (Sakura Shrimp, the pride of Shizuoka Prefecture!), « Nama Shirasu/Umeiwashi » (raw whitebait from « Ume » sardines)
See you again!
As promised here are more « Gunkan »!
The three above are varieties of sea urchins: « Bafun uni » and Murasaki Uni », whereas the last last shoows both gunkan and nigiri.
Above are three types of crabs: « Egani », Ibaraganimodoki » and Matsubagani »
Three shellfish varieties: « Kagabai », Nejinakubai » and « Sazae » (Turbo Shell)
We go to fish varieties: « Hoteiuo » roe, « Konago », and « Muroaji » (horse mackerel variety)
And to end: « Noresore » (baby conger eels), and two shrimp varieties: « Shiraebi » (white shrimp) and « sunaebi » (sand shrimp)
