Salmon Sushi Bake Recipe

What is Sushi Bake?

Also known as deconstructed sushi roll or baked sushi casserole, it is is essentially a Pan Sushi or Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll that has been warmed up in the oven, and has melted creamy cheese oozing all over it!

You'll need these simple ingredients for the rice:

• sushi rice: if you can't get Japanese Koshihikari short grain rice, you can use sushi rice substitutes such as risotto rice. I sometimes add a piece of dried kelp when cooking the rice, for extra umami, but it's totally optional. Honestly, you might not even be able to tell, unless you have very delicate taste buds!
• Sushi seasoning: to save money, you can make your own sushi vinegar using white rice vinegar, white sugar and salt (exact quantities provided in the recipe card below.)
• Furikake: this Japanese seasoning can be bought at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Asian grocery stores and Japanese markets. Or make your own by mixing lightly toasted sesame seeds with cut up pieces of seaweed and dried seafood. It makes even a bowl of plain white rice delicious!

For the salmon, you'll need:

• Fresh salmon: I cut mine into 1 by 1.5 inch pieces. Some people may prefer them smaller, in which case, they'll cook up faster. Frozen salmon works but it'll have a lot of water around it after thawing, so pay dry with paper towels before covering in the sauce. Canned crab, imitation crab meat, real crab meat and canned tuna are all good substitutes.
• Mayonnaise: I actually use a lot less mayo than the usual recipe, but if you look at the step-by-step photos below, it's more than enough. Of course, feel free to squeeze more onto the baked rice later, if you want more! My go-to is Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise as it is just so much tastier than regular mayonnaise! If you can't get it, DIY by combining ½-1 teaspoon of white sugar with regular mayo. (Some people add chicken stock powder too.) I have not tested the recipe with sour cream or Greek yoghurt. (If you substitute, you'd probably need more sugar.)
• Cream cheese: This makes the salmon taste richer and gives it a bit of a charred top when it melts all over the rice. Use your hands to mix it into the salmon- if not, you'll need to soften the cream cheese by taking it out of the fridge 5-10 minutes before mixing the sauce with a fork. (Otherwise, the sauce will be lumpy.)
• Vinegar: Adding some acid helps to keep the flavor bright, and makes sure the dish does not taste too heavy. If you have pickled cucumbers or pickled chilies sitting in the fridge, use that brine instead of vinegar!
• Soy sauce: remember it's light soy sauce we want and not dark soy or sweet soy. (Although, to be honest, those flavors would probably go well too!)
• White sugar: a little bit of sweetness really helps to make the flavors shine but you can skip this if you used shop-bought sushi seasoning (it is sweetener than my homemade version.)
• Sesame oil: this is actually optional. Skip it if you want a purer Japanese flavor. (Sesame oil is more of a Korean Gimbap/ Korean sushi ingredient but I like the aroma, so I've included it.)

Suggested toppings:

• Avocado: I highly recommend topping with cut up or sliced avocado. Refrigerate till you want to assemble the sushi bake, to get a nice contrast of cold avocado and warm rice!
• Green onions: sliced scallions- or freshly sliced jalapenos- are a good way to introduce freshness to lift the creamy mayo sauce.
• Nori Sheet, optional: to make it a "handroll party", cut toasted seaweed sheets into quarters, and use them to roll the baked salmon and rice in. You can use Japanese or Korean seaweed (roasted gim.)

🥡 How to Store

Leftovers should be refrigerated as soon as possible, kept in an airtight container. (Rice goes bad super fast and can give you bad food poisoning, so don't leave it at room temperature.)

You can reheat in a 325/ 162.8C oven for 10-15 minutes or microwave for 30 seconds, followed by 10 second increments till warmed through. Alternatively, I sometimes stir-fry it and make it into fried rice!