The amount of each ingredient varies and really depends on how sweet, salty and seasoned you like it. Filled with the rice, they’re the perfect handheld snack beloved by sushi lovers and non-sushi lovers alike! Pour the seasoning/cooking liquid from the seasoned Inari age container (or package) into a small bowl. Foxes in the wild are said to be messengers of Inari, so the tofu-and-rice snack is sometimes given to them, too.

The god is said to resemble a fox, and so at fox-shaped statues within Inari shrines, these deep-fried tofu pockets are presented as offerings.Almost all Inari shrines, no matter how small, will feature at least a pair of these statues, usually flanking or on the altar or in front of the main sanctuary. This simple dish is highly adaptable too, and once you’ve perfected the basic techniques of preparing aburaage and creating the rolls, you can start to experiment with different seasonings and fillings. Inari sushi are also a popular item for bento boxes, and you may see this type of sushi packed at the deli along with sushi rolls. For this recipe, I used Awase Dashi made with katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and kombu (dried kelp). According to records of Fushimi Inari, the oldest and perhaps most prominent Inari shrine, these kami have included Izanagi, Izanami, Ninigi, and Wakumusubi, in addition to the food deities previously mentioned.

You can find how to cook seasoned mince (ground meat) and Iri Tamago in my post, Sanshoku Bento (Tri-coloured Rice Bowl). Combined with other types of sushi or prepared for Bento, inari sushi has a place in the daily diets of many Japanese across the country. It an essential ingredient for making Inari Sushi (Inarizushi), Soba Inari and for topping noodle soups like Kitsune Udon or Kitsune Soba. For this recipe, 2 rice cooker cups of uncooked rice yield roughly 3–4 servings ( 3½ US cups or 660 g) of steamed rice and make 12 Inari sushi pieces. Inari is often described as being the "closest deity to humans" according to a Toyokawa priest in Smyers's article.

The sushi rice within the Inari sushi is completely surrounded by the tofu, meaning that it maintains its heat and flavor a little more.