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!

My Orange Chicken Goodness *;)

So I've looked at orange chicken recipes and tried a few of them, and I liked them! BUUUUT. I wanted to make my own adjustments according to my personal taste. I WOULD post the recipe, but I honestly don't keep track of how much of something I put when I cook. I always improvise and adjust it. So I apologize if this isn't any help. But I will list what I used :) 

For the chicken:

- Bite size chicken breasts 

- All purpose flour (or whatever flour you prefer) 

- Salt

- Pepper 

- 1 Egg

Directions:

1) Put salt & pepper into bowl with flour and stir well. The amount depends on how much you want to season the chicken. 

2) Crack an egg in a bowl and whisk well.

3) Coat all the chicken pieces in the bowl of the cracked egg until well covered. 

*** You can skip this step if you prefer to pour the whisked egg in the bowl of flour ***

3) Coat all the chicken with the flour until well covered. 

4) Deep fry in 375 or oh medium-high heat until golden crisp. 

5) Remove from the oil and drain the excess oil on a paper towel or a wire rack. 

For the orange sauce:

- About 1 cup of water

- About 1/4 cup of vinegar (white vinegar preferably, you can also use rice vinegar) 

- About 2-3 tbsp of Soy sauce 

- About 1 tsp Minced Garlic 

- *Optional: About 1tsp Minced ginger

- *Optional: Sesame oil

- One big orange (or two small ones) 

- About 2-4tbsp of Brown Sugar 

- Cornstarch diluted with water

Directions:

1) Bring the water, vinegar, and soy sauce to a boil in a pot.  

2) Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and pour in the minced garlic (and minced ginger if using) 

3) Cut the orange(s) in half and squeeze out the orange juice, making sure not to get any seeds in the sauce. 

4) Next, zest the orange peel (about 1-2 tsp or depending how you like the orange taste) in the mixture and stir lightly with everything in it. 

3) After 1-2min, dissolve the brown sugar in the pot. (Do a taste test after, making sure not to burn your tongue, and adjust with more sugar if it needs to be sweeter)

*** If it tastes a little too vinegar-y for you, dilute with more water and sugar *** 

4) Reduce to simmer once the sugar has dissolved and add in the diluted cornstarch&water to the pot. This will thicken the sauce. (It may take a few minutes before it thickens) 

Now, when the sauce is thick enough, cool it just a bit or if you really can't wait... Just put all the chicken pieces in the pot of orange sauce and MIX well!!! 

Top it off with slices of the orange and pieces of green onion for garnish! 

TAH DAH!!!