Learn how to customize your own sushi bake at home with some of my favorite tips on choosing other proteins, what type of baking dish to use, and how to eat sushi bake leftovers.
Who invented sushi bake?
Sushi bake is basically a sushi-influenced casserole. This layered seafood dish has a base layer of seasoned sushi rice, a second layer of seafood (or other proteins like tofu), and a bevy of toppings like Kewpie mayo, sriracha, and crispy bits of tempura. The casserole is also served on crispy sheets of nori, so you can make your own bite-sized handrolls–it’s an easy potluck dish to be eaten communally. Sushi bake originated from Mimi Qiu Reyes, a Filipino nail artist who created the dish in 2015. Since then, it has been remade many times all over the internet because it’s easily customizable and fills so many bellies with one dish.
Ingredients in this sushi bake
The ingredients in a sushi bake are similar to specialty sushi rolls at many Japanese American restaurants and are much like what’s in a California roll. Essentially, sushi bakes are like sushi rolls, except the rice and filling are layered into a baking dish. You scoop the filling and rice onto a nori sheet to make your hand roll (temaki). Each sushi bake can be divided into three parts: rice, fish (or other protein), and toppings. This sushi bake uses:
seasoned sushi rice (not just plain white rice) mixed with furikake baked salmon kani (pollock) Kewpie mayonnaise cream cheese savory seasonings crunchy toppings
The sushi rice
For sushi bake this is the exact sushi rice recipe I use for making nigiri sushi, or handrolls, except I add furikake at the very end. I like using short-grain white rice and a simple seasoning of cane sugar, kosher salt, and rice vinegar. To make the seasoning, combine the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar in a bowl and microwave for 20 seconds until everything is dissolved. You can also make sushi rice using a rice cooker and add the seasoning to the pot.
Fish & protein options
Picking a fish or protein for a sushi bake is like choosing a specialty sushi roll at your favorite Japanese restaurant. I really love salmon rolls, especially baked salmon rolls, and this recipe is similar, except it’s in the form of a casserole. The filling includes baked salmon and kani, alongside Kewpie mayo, cream cheese, soy sauce, red miso, and sriracha seasoning. For example, if you love a tiger roll, which includes shrimp, kani, and avocado, you can make a filling of chopped shrimp and kani – and don’t forget to add the crispy tempura bits as a topping. Here are other protein ideas you could choose:
Scallop Tuna Salmon Crab Tofu
While most of these are typically baked, you can add some proteins raw if you prefer.
Protein seasoning / filling ingredients
This is where a ton of the flavor comes in. The rice provides a nice base and carb element, and the protein gives much of the umami, texture, and sets the tone for what the rest will be. But the seasoning is where you can really customize things and make flavors pop how you wish. In this recipe we’ll use:
cream cheese Kewpie mayonnaise soy sauce sriracha red miso yuzu juice
The cream cheese and Kewpie both add a good amount of fat and flavor to the relatively lean kani and salmon. Soy sauce and miso add much of the umami, and salt in a way that themes this dish “sushi.” Sriracha lets you add a vinegary spicy punch, very common in sushi rolls, and highly customizable how spicy you want it to be. I find yuzu adds an interesting sharpness with a unique Japanese twist you don’t get from regular lemon.
Finishing & topping ingredients
One of my favorite parts about sushi bake is the added toppings. I’m big on texture in food, and this easily adds a very customizable finish to any sushi bake. Some toppings I like to add to sushi bake are:
Eel sauce Furikake Sliced green onions Avocado Tempura bits (this is my favorite toppings because you get so much crunch!) Kewpie mayo
Tips for successful sushi bake
Here are some of my tips for making the best sushi bake at home on your first try:
This recipe works best in a glass or ceramic casserole dish because it retains heat very well, keeping your sushi bake warm during serving. You can also serve sushi bake straight from the oven in a glass or ceramic casserole dish because they’re often more aesthetically pleasing. This recipe can be used in a 9×9 square dish or a 9×13 rectangular dish. Note that the smaller 9×9 dish will give you thicker 2 1/2-inch slices and less square footage for toppings. Smaller dishes are good for people who only have a small oven for cooking. The 9×13 rectangular dish will give you 1 1/2-inch thick slices and ample room for more toppings.
You can bake the salmon ahead of time and refrigerate it until you want to assemble the sushi bake. But if you’re going to make this the day of, cook your rice first because this takes much longer than baking salmon.
This recipe uses a 2:2:1 ratio of (uncooked) rice, flaked salmon, and chopped kani. That means for 2 cups of uncooked rice, there are 2 cups of flaked salmon, and 1 cup of chopped kani. I find this is a good ratio where you get a balanced bite of all three.
Bring the cream cheese to room temperature before using it. Softened cream cheese is much easier to mix into the tender salmon and kani pieces.
Buy nori in individual snack pack sizes so each person gets their own pack by their plate. Inside each pack, you’ll find 10 sheets. You can find these at stores like Costco, H-Mart, Mistuwa, and even in American grocery stores like Albertsons. If you have leftover sushi bake, refrigerate it, and eat it within three days. This can easily be reheated in the microwave, but be warned that if you use any crispy toppers like tempura bits, they may get soggy. You can also use leftover sushi bake for easy onigiri filling for an on-the-go snack.
How to serve sushi bake
The best way to serve sushi bake is to place it in the center of a table within all of your guests’ reach. Give each person a pack or two of crispy precut and seasoned nori sheets. Each pack comes with 10 sheets, and you can easily find them at Asian and American grocery stores. Our Costco even sells a larger pack. You can hand each person their own bag, and they can serve themselves. When you first serve sushi bake, be warned the rice will be piping hot. Serve sushi bake like a pro by eating it communally: Fold the nori like a taco and eat it in one bite. It’s similar to making temaki (sushi hand rolls).
How to reheat sushi bake
It’s best to eat this all on the first go, but this sushi bake reheats really well for another meal 1 or 2 days after. If you want to try to re-crisp the crispy toppings you originally added to your sushi bake, put your baking dish into an oven preheated to about 375 °F. It should take about 10-25 minutes depending on the thickness of your sushi bake and the size of your baking dish. If you want a really fast way, you really could portion out how much sushi bake you want on a plate, then microwave it 1-3 minutes until heated through. Then just add a new layer of crispy tempura bits, crispy nori, and serve. Do this in individual servings though, otherwise a large chunk of sushi bake won’t reheat evenly in the microwave. Personally this is the way I’d do it for much faster results, and it’s pretty hard to have too many new crispy toppings added on top.
