Gravad arctic char nigiri

First prepare the gravad arctic char (leave to cure for 5-7 days)

For the gravad, place the artic char fillets skin side up in a shallow tray with the sake to marinate for 20 minutes to absorb the alcohol.

Meanwhile, to prepare the cure for the gravad, roughly chop the dill and mix with salt, pepper and sugar.

On a clean work surface, lay out a sheet of cling film with baking paper on top about twice the size of one fillet, so there will be enough to wrap around the fillet.

Place a fillet, skin side up, on top of the baking paper and spread half of the curing mixture across it, pressing the mixture into the fish. Then wrap the fillet tightly in the baking paper and cling film and place skin side up in a shallow tray. Repeat with the second fillet.

Place a heavy object on top of the fillets to weigh them down (such as a chopping board with tins placed on top) and leave in the fridge for 5-7 days - the longer you leave the char to cure the more intense the flavours will be.

When you are ready to make your nigiri

To make the sushi rice, wash the rice 7-8 times in cold water, gently tipping out the water in between each wash, drain off in a colander, then leave to rest for 30 minutes.

To cook the sushi rice, add 448g water to 400g rice in a small sauce pan. Add the konbu and bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 17 minutes.

Rest the rice for 15 minutes, then decant the rice into a tray to cool for about 8 minutes to reduce the temperature to 50°C.

Next add two thirds of the vinegar and with a spatula, mix across the rice on the diagonal whilst fanning the rice (either with a small electrical office fan or improvise a hand fan with a magazine) for 5-7 minutes until the rice has cooled to below 28°C . You may need to add more sushi vinegar dependent on how absorbent the sushi rice is.

To prepare the fish for sushi, unwrap the fish, discard the curing mixture and wipe of any residue of the curing mixture.

Remove skin from the fillet and trim of the edges of the fillet to around 3cm wide.

Cut each piece for the nigiri just 3-4mm thick, and at a 45 degrees angle – this takes practice, but it will taste equally delicious if you do cut it thicker.

To assemble to nigiri, mix a little water into wasabi powder to make a paste (if using powdered wasabi).

To make the nigiri sushi, take a piece of fish in the palm of your hand, add a smear of wasabi, then with your other hand mould a small oval shaped ball of rice (approximately 20g), bring the two together with a gentle squeeze and use your hands shape the nigiri.

Repeat process with remaining pieces of fish.

Serve with soy, ginger and wasabi.