In cooking, the little things add up. A seemingly simple dish of sushi rice stuffed into a fried tofu pouch can be spectacular, when care is taken with each small step. One Kaneohe cook illustrates this with her inari sushi, better known as cone sushi to Hawaii folks because some versions call for triangular shells.

Kazumi "Edna" Nakanishi, 74, has been preparing inari for more than 40 years. Her seasoned fried tofu shell, called aburage, is not oily and offers a sauce so delicious it doesn’t play second fiddle to the sushi rice that fills it. In fact, the aburage is so juicy that it drips sauce when bitten into. The inner present — sweet, vinegary sushi rice — also reflects her exacting touch, with gobo (burdock), carrots, string beans and shiitake mushrooms adding color and texture.

Nakanishi’s inari has been dazzling taste buds for decades. Her recipe has long been famous with her four grown children’s friends. When son James played Little League, his teammates would eat 100 inari. And fans of the dish continue to grow, extending far beyond the family’s circle. Nakanishi recently took her sought-after inari to a Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific bake sale.

"It’s the best cone sushi," said family friend Carolann Ohta of Kaneohe, who has enjoyed the dish for more than 20 years. "When you buy cone sushi from the store, the rice is hard by the next day, and you don’t want to eat it. With Mrs. Nakanishi’s, the rice is delicious for three days, and the seasoning is perfect."

When Nakanishi arrived in Hawaii in 1966 from Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan for an arranged marriage, she had no cooking skills. But her mother was an excellent cook, so she figured out how to make inari sushi by remembering the taste.

"Before, you couldn’t buy food. If you wanted to eat something, you needed to make it yourself … so I learned from everyone how to cook," she said.

NAKANISHI STARTS with top-quality rice, which she says makes a world of difference. Her favorite brands are Tamaki Gold or Kagayaki Select. She washes the rice thoroughly — five or six times — stirring about 20 times each.

(Though she and her husband, Hatsuo, retired owner of Shinwa Construction, eat brown rice for dinner, she never uses brown rice for inari — "It’s not the same.")

Nakanishi also has high standards for aburage. In fact, for about a year, she stopped making her inari because Kanai Tofu, her source for the pouches, had closed. Now she shops at Aloha Tofu in Kalihi, where she can purchase her aburage freshly fried. She boils these briefly to remove excess oil.

In preparing the fibrous gobo root, Nakanishi gently scrapes off the skin by using the back of the knife blade so none of the edible part is wasted.

"We were poor, so you don’t waste," she explained.

Then, instead of using a grater, she shaves the gobo by whittling it with a knife similar to the way one would sharpen a pencil. Amazingly, the gobo pieces are uniform in size, shape and thickness.

Nakanishi’s considerations go beyond the dish itself to the folks who will eat her inari. She pays special attention to the sesame seeds in her recipe, grinding them in a Japanese mortar and pestle to nearly a fine dust. She says this extra step allows those who cannot eat small seeds to enjoy the dish. The powder is mixed in with the seasoned vegetables added to the rice.

After the careful prep comes the cooking process, also full of Nakanishi’s special details.

She simmers the aburage in a sauce of granulated Japanese soup stock called dashi-no-moto, sugar and soy sauce. This is a brief process, she says, because cooking in soy sauce toughens the aburage. The pouches soak in the liquid for at least an hour before stuffing, allowing them to absorb the tasty liquid and cooling them enough so fingers don’t get burned during stuffing.

After cooking the vegetables in the same sauce, rice is seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt, and the veggies and rice are carefully mixed with a cutting motion that protects the grains from being smashed.

Nakanishi stuffs the aburage gently with the rice (again, to preserve the grains), then rests each inari on its side to cool for an hour before refrigerating. To serve, she places them rice-side up.

Some say these tasty morsels are better on the second day, and any leftover rice is delicious by itself.

Nakanishi is also known for other Japanese dishes, such as her nishime, kinpira gobo, tempura and konbu maki. But since her children liked American food, she learned to make beef stew, hamburgers and spaghetti. Daughter Jean says her mother’s American repertoire bears a hint of Japanese flavor.

"Mrs. Nakanishi cooks with thought and love," said Ohta. "It shows in all of her dishes."

Cone Sushi (Inari Sushi)

Seasoned aburage:
» 20 squares aburage (fried tofu shells)
» 20 cups water, divided
» 1 heaping tablespoon dashi-no-moto (soup base powder)
» 2 cups sugar
» 2 teaspoons Hawaiian salt
» 1/2 cup soy sauce (Kikkoman recommended)

Seasoned rice:
» 5 cups rice
» 1 gobo (burdock), shaved or roughly grated
» 10 string beans, string removed and sliced
» 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
» 1/2 cup rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and diced (about 3 dried)
» 1-1/2 cups liquid from aburage seasoning
» 1 heaping teaspoon dashi-no-moto
» 2 teaspoons salt

Rice seasoning:
» 1 cup rice vinegar (Mizkan recommended)
» 1/2 cup sugar
» 2 teaspoons salt
» 1 heaping tablespoon roasted and ground sesame seeds

Make aburage: Cut aburage in half, and with fingers, separate aburage to create pouch to be filled with sushi rice.

In large pot on high, place aburage in 16 cups of water and cover. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat and continue to boil, covered, for 20 minutes. Aburage will float, so periodically push down aburage with back of a wooden spoon several times. Drain in colander and rinse thoroughly.

Return aburage to the pot with remaining 4 cups of water. Add dashi, sugar, salt and soy sauce, cover and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Transfer aburage with liquid into a large bowl and set aside to cool for at least 1 hour.

Prepare rice: Wash rice thoroughly and cook in rice cooker.

Meanwhile, boil gobo about 10 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

In pot, combine gobo, string beans, carrots and mushrooms with liquid from aburage, then add dashi and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cover and stir continuously until most of liquid is absorbed.

For rice seasoning, mix vinegar, sugar and salt until well blended (sugar should be dissolved). When rice is cooked, place in large mixing bowl and add vinegar mix. Apply cutting motions to stir the rice, being careful to keep the grains intact. Do not mash. Add ground sesame seeds, and then add in cooked vegetables.

Stuff aburage: Take 1 aburage pouch and gently squeeze out excess sauce. Gently stuff with rice filling and lay on its side to cool. Repeat until done. Cool 1 hour before refrigerating. Serve rice-side up. Makes 40 inari.

If refrigerated, good for 3-4 days. Serve extra sushi rice without the aburage. It is called bara sushi.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Lynette Lo Tom is interested in passionate cooks who keep traditions alive. Contact her at 275-3004.