Do you know the sushi called "menegi sushi"? It's an unusual sushi where small green onions are placed on vinegared rice (sumeshi) and eaten. Since it's not a standard ingredient found at every sushi restaurant, some of you may never have seen it. "Can green onion be a sushi topping?" Such questioning voices can be heard, but menegi and vinegared rice (sumeshi) are a perfect match. Also, slipping in a menegi sushi midway through enjoying seafood sushi, the refreshing pungency of the green onion plays just the right role as a palate cleanser. This time we introduce the appeal of such delicious menegi sushi.

What is menegi?

Menegi is a leaf green onion harvested right after sprouting. Leaf green onions refer to green onions with many green leaf parts that can be eaten from the root to the leaf tips (for example, Kyoto's Kujo green onion).

There is no variety called menegi; it's a name that comes from the green onion's cultivation method. Because it is carefully and preciously harvested while still small, it is sometimes called "hime-negi" (princess green onion).

Menegi is about 6 to 10 cm long and about 1 mm in diameter. Though small and tender, it has a crisp texture, and one bite gives you a firm sense of the green onion's pungency. With its fresh and clean flavor, it's often used as a sushi topping or condiment.

Also, menegi is perfect not only as a sushi topping but also as a condiment for soba or natto, or as an ingredient in clear soup. Mixing it into white rice together with salmon flakes to make mixed rice is also recommended. Or adding it to salads or carpaccio adds an accent to the flavor.

Incidentally, the main production areas for menegi are Shizuoka Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture. Most are grown by a cultivation method called hydroponics, raised on sponges, and even at shipping they are shipped with the hydroponic sponge still attached to the roots.

What does menegi sushi taste like? Where can you eat it?

Menegi has a slightly pungent, refreshing, clean flavor, characterized by a crisp texture.
Menegi sushi, with menegi placed on the rice, goes well with various sushi ingredients, soit's ideal as a palate cleanser for seafood-type sushi ingredients, and it also has the sterilizing effect inherent to green onion as a condiment. Its color is beautiful too, so it stands out on the dining table.

There are few places where menegi sushi is on the standard menu at conveyor-belt sushi restaurants; counter-style sushi restaurants are more likely to have it on the menu.

However, even at conveyor-belt sushi restaurants it does appear as a limited-time menu item, so please be sure to check. Also, the famous chain "Sushizanmai" has menegi sushi on its "grand menu"(price 162 yen incl. tax / as of May 2022).

How to make menegi sushi 1—how to obtain it

Menegi sushi is not a sushi you can eat anywhere, but in fact it's very easy to make.
For those who have never eaten it, or who suddenly want to eat it again, why not get hold of some menegi and make it yourself?

Getting hold of menegi takes a bit of effort, but for ingredients, at minimum, as long as you have menegi and vinegared rice (sumeshi), you're fine. It's a truly simple dish.

First, let us explain how to obtain menegi. Perhaps because menegi doesn't keep well and is difficult to manage, the volume in circulation is small, and it rarely appears in supermarkets. It may appear in the vegetable sections of large supermarkets or department stores, but the price is relatively high compared with other green onions, at around 300 to 600 yen per pack (about 20 grams). It could be called a rare, high-end ingredient.

However, the good news is that menegi can be grown at home. If it's not sold at your nearby supermarket or department store, growing it yourself is an option. There are also easy-to-try cultivation kits, available from online mail order or home centers.

Places that sell menegi cultivation kits

Menegien (sells cultivation kits)

Furusato Noen (sells cultivation kits)

Seeds of "Kaori Menegi," a variety dedicated to menegi (seeds only)

Menegi can be harvested in less than a month after sowing the seeds. Also, menegi has no season and can be cultivated and harvested year-round, which is a welcome point.

Even a child who dislikes green onions may be able to eat the thin and tender menegi. Menegi you've sown and harvested yourself will surely taste especially delicious.

How to make menegi sushi 2—ingredients and steps

Now, next we introduce the ingredients and steps for menegi sushi.

<Ingredients>

• Menegi
• Rice
• Vinegar
• Toasted nori
• Salt　
• (Optional) bonito flakes, sesame, umeboshi

<Steps>

1. Wash the menegi, drain it well, then cut into about 5 cm lengths. Cut the toasted nori too into about 10 cm lengths and about 5 mm widths. Lightly searing the toasted nori over a flame before rolling improves the aroma.
2. Form the vinegared rice (sumeshi) into a tawara (barrel) shape and place the menegi on top. At this point, forming it while wetting your hands with vinegar water (equal parts vinegar and water) makes it easier. Optionally, you may also place salmon or shrimp on top together.
3. Wrap with toasted nori and sprinkle salt. Optionally, top with bonito flakes, sesame, or mashed umeboshi.

Freshly harvested menegi grown at home appearing on the dining table—how wonderful that would be. It would also likely be welcomed as one of the ingredients for hand-rolled sushi.

Menegi sushi has so much appeal!

This time we've introduced what menegi sushi is, its appeal and introduction, how to make it, and so on.
It may look plain at first glance, but in fact it's full of appeal—menegi sushi.

If you have time, treating a friend to menegi sushi you've grown and made yourself is also recommended; but even for those who feel that's a bit much, if you spot menegi sushi at a sushi restaurant, please be sure to order it.