My MADE UP Version of "Sushi Bake"

Lei's Sushi Bake 

I honestly did not use any recipe to make this. I was simply making California rolls & hand rolls for my family this evening, but we had too much rice so I used the rest of it to make "sushi bake." 

Here is how I personally make my sushi bake, but I will give you alternative ingredients you can use as well!! 

INGREDIENTS:

- Cooked sushi rice or cooked short grain rice

- Imitation crab (or real crab meat or crab sticks OR seafood of your choice) 

- Furikake (your preference of flavor... I personally use Shrimp Furikake) 

- Cream cheese: room temperature 

- Japanese mayo (regular mayonnaise is okay too)
- Sour cream

- Unagi/eel sauce OR teriyaki sauce

OPTIONAL:

- Sriracha
- Masago/Tobiko

SUSHI RICE: 

If you're too lazy to make sushi rice, then you can just buy SHORT GRAIN rice, cook it, then use it. Typically, sushi rice is made up of cooked short grain rice with a mixture of rice vinegar, mirin, and sugar (boiled together to reduce) I think I'll make a separate blog post in the future about how I personally make my sushi rice, but for now... stick with the program. =P

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DIRECTIONS:

1) Cook your short grain rice. 

- This evening I made 3 cups of rice for my family but only used 1.5 cups for the sushi bake. 

2) Preheat oven to 375'F. 

3) OPTIONAL STEP: Once the rice is done cooking and if you're making sushi rice, mix in the seasonings (read above) into the cooked rice and mix with rice paddle until well blended. 

4) Set rice aside to cool down a little. 

- Personally, I blast it in the freezer for a few minutes until I'm done preparing everything else. 

5) Chop/shred your imitation crab (or seafood of choice) and place into a bowl. It should be in small pieces enough to spread evenly but not minced. 

- I used only half of a package. When I shredded mine, it filled about 2 cups (not in liquid measurement but the cup measurement for dry ingredients)

6) Put 2 tablespoons of sour cream on the crab meat followed by a big squeeze of Japanese mayo (about a  tablespoon). Mix everything together. 

- This is assuming you are using the same amount of seafood meat I am using, which was half a package. Of course, you need to estimate how much to put... My tip is that it should be enough to moisten the meat but not drench it in sauce. 

7) If you like a little bit of spiciness, squeeze in some sriracha sauce to your liking. I did only a teaspoon.

8) Get a long baking pan and cover the entire bottom with your cooked rice. Press it tightly into the sheet. 

9) I like pouring a little unagi sauce (or teriyaki sauce) over the rice in rows. It doesn't have to cover every inch of the rice, but it tastes good with it!! 

10) Using a rubber spatula, spread your room temperature cream cheese over the rice to form a layer. 

- It should be easy to spread if it's at room temperature; if not, then your cream cheese is still too cold! 

11) Spread your crab/seafood meat mixture onto the entire rice creating another layer. 

12) Squeeze Japanese mayo on top of the crab/seafood mixture in rows or columns... Just cover it enough! 

13) Sprinkle a lot of Furikake on top of that mayo!!! I put a lot! Yum yum yum!!! 

14) Once your masterpiece is ready, POP IT IN THE OVEN for 15 minutes!!! Let it bake!!! 

15) After 15min, broil that thing on medium (or at 500'F) for 2-5min. 

- WATCH IT CAREFULLY! Some ovens broil at too high of a temperature in a shorter amount of time! So don't leave your sushi bake to burn!!! 

*Sizzle sizzle sizzle* 

(As you can see, the left side of the pan is empty because I really only made this with leftover sushi rice I had from the sushi rolls I made earlier... Haha!!) 

And then after waiting for it to bake and broil....

BAM! It's done!!! It's so beautiful!!! 

Now let me know what you guys think of my recipe ! Tag me if you make it :) 

Thanks guys!