This Viral Sushi Bake is fabulous and comes together quickly. It is a great way to have sushi at home without a lot of effort. It uses frozen imitation crab meat, a salmon fillet baked with your favorite seasoning and a little sticky rice.
The rice is layered into a 13 x 9 pan and then a little mixing of ingredients for the fish layer on top. Once the dish is put together and baked, it is topped off with some sriracha mayonnaise and black sesame seeds. Once cooked, the best part is wrapping a spoonful in sushi nori with other ingredients like cucumbers and avocados.
How to Make Viral Sushi Bake
1. Prepare and bake salmon fillets. I like to purchase the half a salmon at Costco. I use the whole thing when I bake this dish. It fills a 9 x 13 pan. So, if you do not have as many people eating at your house, cut this recipe in half and make it in an 8 x 8 square pan. You can use frozen salmon fillets, too. Just remember to get them out of the freezer early enough to let them thaw.
2. Season the salmon with garlic powder and lemon pepper. Place this in a 400° oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. When the meat flakes easily with a fork, it is done. There is a change in the color and texture of the meat when it is done. I like to bake my salmon for 30 minutes in my oven.
Done is a subjective term when talking about salmon. Some people like their salmon more rare than others. Salmon is generally safe for anyone to eat even if it is not completely cooked. The meat has a shiny tinge when it is still not done. Salmon that has lost this shine and is more of a matte color is on the well done side. So for me, it is somewhere in between.
Viral Sushi Bake is an easy and quick way to eat delicious sushi!
3. Cook the rice. If you have a rice cooker, you know what to do. Did you know you can make Perfect Rice in any saucepan? The ratio of water to rice is 2:1, two cups of water to one cup of rice. For a 13 x 9 pan of Viral Sushi Bake, you need four cups of water and two cups of short grain rice.
Bring the pan to a boil. Then reduce the heat, with the lid on, to a simmer. When the lid starts to rattle, then I turn the heat down to medium. I set the timer for 20 minutes. Soon, the lid will begin to rattle again as the pan produces steam. At this point, I turn the heat down again to the lowest setting. When the timer goes off, you have Perfect Rice. Add the rice vinegar to the rice and stir until it is mixed.
4. Take the imitation crab out of the package. The kind I buy has pieces of crab wrapped in a cellophane paper. Make sure you take anything like this off the crab. Pull it apart into stringy pieces. Place all these pieces in a bowl and use kitchen scissors to cut these into smaller pieces.
The base of the Viral Sushi Bake is cooked short grain rice.
5. Add the cooked salmon to the same bowl as the imitation crab. The cream cheese and the Japanese mayonnaise need to be added to the bowl. You can use regular mayonnaise, but the Japanese mayonnaise is richer. It is made from egg yolks. Regular mayonnaise is made from whole eggs. Use a large spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients together.
6. Place the cooked rice mixed with rice vinegar in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap over the rice. Use it to mash down the rice into an even layer.
7. Use about a half an ounce of sushi nori to cover the rice. You can lay it in sheets, but I like to crinkle it up into flakes. It makes a layer on top of the rice. The flakes make it easier to spoon out.
8. Pour the imitation crab and salmon mixture over the top of the sushi nori. Smooth out the fish layer and bake for 15 minutes at 375°. If you are making half a recipe, it only needs 10 minutes in the oven.
You can use real crab, too.
9. Once the Viral Sushi Bake is done cooking, use the sriracha mayonnaise to make a diagonal pattern over the top. My family likes a little more heat, so I add another layer of regular sriracha sauce and go the other direction. Sprinkle on some black sesame seeds for the finishing touch.
10. Cucumber is a must for me with this Viral Sushi Bake. I peel an English cucumber and then cut it into thin strips. Place a few strips of cucumber on a small seaweed sheet and then place a spoonful of the Viral Sushi Bake on top. You can also add a slice of avocado, then roll up and enjoy!
I really cannot tell you how good this is. My family loves this dish and it gets eaten up so quickly. My daughter lives a few streets away with her children. This last week after I made this, she kept texting me and saying, “Hey, mom! Can I have some Viral Sushi Bake for lunch?” Of course, I always say, “YES!”
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Viral Sushi Bake
Ingredients
- 1 – 2 lb. Salmon Fillet
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Lemon Pepper
- 4 Tbsp. Butter
- 1 lb. Imitation Crab
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Japanese Mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. Sriracha Sauce
- 2 Cups Short Grain Rice
- 4 Cups Water
- 1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar
- 2 1/2 oz. Sushi Nori (Seaweed Paper)
- 1 Tbsp. Black Sesame Seeds
- 1 English Cucumber
- 1 Avocado, sliced
Instructions
- Season salmon with garlic powder and lemon pepper.
- Bake at 400° for 20-30 minutes.
- Put rice in the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
- Pull apart the imitation crab.
- Use kitchen scissors to cut the crab into smaller pieces.
- Add the cooked salmon to the chopped imitation crab meat.
- Place the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise and sriracha on the fish.
- Use a spoon and mix everything together.
- Pour the rice vinegar over the cooked rice and mix.
- Place the rice in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.
- Crinkle up about half an ounce of sushi nori over the rice.
- Pour the fish layer on the seaweed paper.
- Bake at 375° for 15 minutes.
- Squeeze out sriracha mayonnaise over the top of the dish.
- Add a layer of sriracha going the other direction.
- Sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
- Place a few sticks of peeled and sliced cucumber on a piece of sushi nori.
- Add a spoonful of Viral Sushi Bake, roll and eat.
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