Serves 6

Rice:

The key to perfect sushi rice lies in using short-grain Japanese rice. Cook 3 cups of rice according to the packaging instructions, then stir in the rice seasoning. You can purchase ready-made rice seasoning in Japanese specialty stores or make your own: In a small bowl, stir together ½ cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt until the sugar and salt are dissolved; to help them dissolve more easily, you can first warm the vinegar slightly. For 2 cups of cooked rice, you will want to stir in ⅓ cup of the seasoning. Or you can skip the rice seasoning altogether and just add salt when cooking the rice.

Grilled harissa salmon:

For the best flavor, marinate the salmon with the Harissa BBQ Sauce in the refrigerator overnight, but if you don’t have time, no worries–just season the fish as instructed below and cook it right away. After removing the cooked fish from the grill pan, you can brush it with more sauce if you like.

4 skin-on salmon fillets, each 5-7 ounces

½ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup New York Shuk Harissa BBQ Sauce

Cooking oil spray

Place the salmon in a bowl or on a plate, season with the salt and add the Harissa BBQ Sauce, covering the entire fish. Heat a stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray the grill pan and the skin side of the salmon with cooking oil spray. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Spray the top of the fish, then flip and cook for 4 minutes longer, or to your preferred doneness. To ensure the salmon does not dry out, it’s important to remove it from the heat before you think it’s actually ready. You can serve the fish at room temperature.

Spicy tuna:

Always purchase sushi/sashimi grade tuna for this dish. It will keep refrigerated for up to a day. Another serving option is to slightly sear the tuna steaks, then stir the remaining ingredients together and serve the spicy mayo as a dipping sauce

1½ pounds ahi tuna steaks

⅓ cup mayonnaise

2½ tablespoons New York Shuk Signature Harissa

1 teaspoon New York Shuk Fiery Harissa

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Salt

Dice the tuna into small pieces; if your tuna is especially fibrous, use a spoon to scrape the meaty part of the fish from the white fiber. In a large bowl, stir together the tuna, mayonnaise, Signature Harissa, Fiery Harissa, soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.

Harissa furikake:

Furikake is a dry Japanese condiment that’s often sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables, fish and more. Think of it as the “Japanese Everything” spice. Typical blends include dried nori (seaweed), toasted sesame seeds, dried fish, dried egg, dried herbs, salt and sugar. Inspired by furikake, we’ve created our own version with a Middle Eastern twist. Store in an airtight glass jar for all your sprinkling desires. In place of the harissa furikake, you can just use toasted sesame seeds when serving the sushi.

3 packages (each 0.17 ounces/5 g) roasted seaweed snack, crumbled into little pieces

½ cup toasted white sesame seeds

½ cup black sesame seeds

4 tablespoons New York Shuk Fiery Harissa

1½ teaspoons Maldon sea salt 

In a small bowl, stir together the roasted seaweed snack, white and black sesame seeds, Fiery Harissa and sea salt. If you have a spice grinder, you can grind some of the mixture to create a finer texture.

Additional toppings and serving:

To complete your sushi adventure, add toppings such as firm Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced scallions and creamy avocado. Traditional seaweed sheets cut into 4 pieces or conveniently available seaweed snacks work well for wrapping your creations. Pickled ginger, shiso leaves, and wasabi are optional additions that provide great flavor and are found in specialty Japanese stores.

4 firm Persian cucumbers 

Seaweed (see note above)

1 bunch scallions, green part thinly sliced

1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and cut lengthwise into thin slices

Soy sauce for dipping 

Pickled ginger, shiso leaves and wasabi (optional)

Wash the cucumbers but don’t peel them. Cut each cucumber lengthwise into 4 pieces, then turn the slices face down on the cutting board and cut each slice into 5-6 thin pieces.

To serve, set out all of the components: rice, seaweed, salmon, tuna, cucumbers, scallions, avocado, harissa furikake, pickled ginger, shiso leaves, wasabi and soy sauce for dipping in bowls and on platters. Then let everyone assemble their own sushi. You can take a piece of seaweed, add a tablespoon of rice and top with the different toppings. To make a sushi bowl, place the rice in a bowl and top with the different toppings.