Simple Baked Sushi Recipe
“Baked Sushi is a new popular version of the traditional Japanese rolled sushi. It is baked in a pan or cup that creates a creamier taste. With a touch of sweetness that matched the saltiness of the seaweed, plus a punch of wasabi! You will surely crave for more.”
Filipinos love Japanese foods, so it is not surprising that this baked sushi become a rapid trend in the Philippines and abroad. It has the ingredients of the sushi roll but this version is simpler as you need to bake it.
This baked sushi is also cook-friendly and less intimidating to make especially if this is your first time to make a sushi. You don’t need to use a bamboo rolling mat to make it. All you have to do is make the rice, mix the ingredients and then bake it. After baking, get a bite size piece and wrap it a small piece of nori or roasted seaweed then eat it.
What is Sushi
Sushi is a popular dish in Japan made of rice seasoned with vinegar and a mix of seafood and other vegetables. The good thing about sushi is that there are many variations and options you can choose from.
To make a good sushi, preparing the rice is an important step. You have to season the rice with vinegar, sugar and salt mixture. Below are some tips to make sushi rice.
Tips for a great sushi rice
Make sure to rinse your rice properly. Washing your rice thoroughly before cooking removes it extra starch. Too much starch will cause the rice to have sticky texture.
Use your rice cooker. No need to cook it on a stove, this will save you time and energy.
Mix vinegar seasoning while the rice is still hot. You can use a large bowl that will give you room to toss the rice to coat evenly.
Baked sushi ingredients
Sushi rice. This is a white rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt. Though it is recommended to use Japanese rice or short-grain rice, you can still use Jasmine rice. As what I used in this recipe. As long as your rice is not soft and loose, you can use it.
Crabsticks or Kani. I used a local brand crabsticks and it tastes really good. You can also use crab meat if you want to or even use a salmon or tuna as alternatives.
Cream cheese, mayonnaise & Cucumber. These are the only ingredients you need to mix with the crabsticks. You may also want to use some grated carrots to give a beautiful color to the dish.
Scrambled Eggs. Some do not use this ingredient, but I think it is a good addition to the baked sushi. It adds creaminess and flavor to the baked sushi.
Other ingredients & condiments
Furikake. This is a dry Japanese seasoning that is usually sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables and fish. It’s typically made of a mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt and monosodium glutamate. Since it was difficult to find this ingredient in the supermarket, I just made it at home. It is a simple combination of roasted sesame seeds, roasted seaweed flakes with some sugar and salt. It tastes good as an alternative.
Japanese Mayonnaise. This mayo has a rich egg flavor because it only used egg yolks instead of American mayo that contains the entire egg. It is also normally made with rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead of distilled vinegar. This will serve as our toppings.
Roasted/ Seasoned Seaweed. They are very similar to the regular nori but they are crunchier and normally seasoned. You can buy them as small sheet and are perfect for this baked sushi servings.
Wasabi paste. This is a typical condiment used for sushi and other foods in Japan. It is a pungent condiment so you have to make sure to use it in small quantity.
Sriracha sauce. This is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. If you don’t like your sushi to be spicy, you can omit this ingredients. But you can generously put more if you like the spice.
Next time you crave for a sushi, try this baked sushi recipe. You and your family can share and enjoy it. Happy tummy!
Watch on YouTube: Baked Sushi
Simple Baked Sushi Recipe
Equipment
- Square pan/ muffin pan
- Spreader/ Spatula
- Electric oven
- Electric cooker
Ingredients
Rice Mixture:
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Crabsticks mixture:
- ½ cup full-fat cream cheese block, room temperature
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 250 grams crabsticks, chopped
- 1 medium cucumber, cut into small cubes
- 3 tablespoons sriracha sauce
- 2 medium eggs, scrambled
- 3 tablespoons furikake
- Japanese mayonnaise
- nori or seasoned seaweed
- wasabi paste
Homemade Furikake:
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup roasted/ seasoned seaweed or nori, cut into small bits
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 390 °F/ 200 °C.
- If you will make your own furikake. Using very low heat, toast the sesame seeds until fragrant and golden. Mix the crumbled nori pieces. Season with sugar and salt.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix until sugar and salt are dissolved. Put rice in a medium bowl. Pour the vinegar-sugar-salt mixture and sesame oil. Mix until well blended. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine cream cheese and mayonnaise. Mix until smooth. Add chopped crabsticks and stir. Toss in the cucumber and mix until well combined.
- Optional step: Divide mixture into two separate bowls. One part, normal and other half, spicy. In one part, add sriracha sauce, mix and set aside. You can also make the whole batch as spicy. Or you can also omit sriracha if you want the whole mixture as normal and skip this step.
- Place rice in a 9"x9" square baking pan. Spread evenly and flatten. Sprinkle furikake on top of rice, then add the scrambled eggs, spreading evenly. Place the crabsticks mixture on top, with half part normal and half spicy mixture. Flatten mixture to compact it. Sprinkle furikake and top with Japanese mayonnaise.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool in a wire rack. Cut into serving slices, put in a nori and serve with wasabi paste. Devour and enjoy!
- Alternatively, you can make this is a muffin pan for bite size servings by using almost the same procedure. Place rice on top of nori and flatten.
- Then top with crabsticks mixture and sprinkle with furikake. Top with Japanese mayonnaise. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool in a wire rack.
- Cut a serving size and place in a nori/ seasoned seaweed, put some wasabi paste and enjoy!
