Many cooks fear running with a fun idea, but the only thing the creative cook fears running with is a pair of scissors. The Irish sushi comes from one of those fun idea marathons. Best served a couple green beers into St. Patrick’s day, this dish first brings giggles then brings calls for seconds. Tender rare beef with a hint of corned beef spices held on to a boiled potato by a light layer of wasabi. A classic is born. Like so many creative dishes this one is still a work in progress. The original vision was to use riced potato as a base, but we have yet to figure out how to get the potato dry enough to emulate sushi rice. If any of you out there can figure it out we would be happy to hear from you.

In a small saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a simmer, add CORNED BEEF SPICES, simmer for 15 minutes while preparing the beef and potatoes. Bring another pan with 4 Cups water to a boil for the potatoes. Peel and slice the potatoes into rectangles about the size of sushi rice balls, though a little thinner. They don’t all have to be exactly the same length, just big enough to hold the slices of steak. Cook the potatoes as you would for potato salad, boiling 5-7 minutes until tender but not mushy. Rinse just to stop cooking but not to completely cool, toss with rice vinegar, sugar and salt, set aside. Cut the steak into thin slices, removing fat from the edges as desired. 16 total slices is what you are looking for without getting to the thin end of the steak. Before the final step of briefly cooking the beef, prepare the wasabi. Mix the powder with water, it will be quite thick. Roll three little balls for each shamrock, work into heart shapes and place on the plate with a fourth piece forming the stem. Bring the water with the CORNED BEEF SPICES to a rapid boil. Just before adding beef, toss the potatoes again, place four potato slices onto each plate and place a small dab of WASABI onto each potato. Cook the steak by dropping four pieces at a time into the water and cooking about 15 seconds. Remove from the water and shake off any excess liquid. Place on the potato pieces and brush with soy sauce. Serve extra soy sauce with the wasabi shamrock to make traditional Japanese dipping sauce. Repeat 3 more times and serve immediately.

Serves: 2-4.
Prep. time: 5 minutes plus simmering time.
Cooking time: 10 minutes total.