Easy Sushi Bake

This Easy Sushi Bake is a great fun dish to share. Imitation crab, avocado, mayo, Furikake and rice are layered and baked until hot. Serve by scooping a little of sushi bake and wrapping with roasted seaweed.

If sushi is perfect summer food, Sushi Bake is the one for winter time and colder days. This bubbly hot baked dish is different, fun & delicious. I didn’t know the existence of sushi bake until a couple months ago. I think it’s originated from Hawaii.

Technically, it’s not really sushi. The rice isn’t seasoned with vinegar and sugar. It’s more like a bake with rice and layered with some sushi ingredients, like avocado, imitation crab and mayo. Then, serve with roasted seaweed. But it’s has amazing flavors.

One secret ingredient to this dish is Furikake. Furikake is a Japanese rice seasoning that is usually made with seaweed, sesame seeds, dried fish, sugar and salt. It’s usually used on onigiri (Japanese rice balls). Just sprinkle this magic on rice, it gives the rice lots of flavors.

What makes this dish fun is that everyone gets to make their own little sushi at the dinner table. Grab a piece of seaweed, scoop a little bit of hot sushi bake and wrap like a little sushi roll. You get the sweet imitation crab, rich mayo, creamy avocado, good chewy rice & umami roasted seaweed. So GOOD!

I like to serve this for dinner. But it will also be a fun dish to serve as an appetizer in a party. Give this a try & enjoy! I’ll be busy packing next week and moving. If everything goes well, I’ll be back in 2 weeks. 🤞🏻

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5 from 1 vote

Easy Sushi Bake

Servings: 2 – 3 people as dinner / 6 – 8 people as appetizer

Course Appetizer, Dinner

Cuisine American, Hawaiian

Keyword easy, Hawaiian recipe, imitation crab bake, rice bake, sushi bake

Author Lokness

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked short grain rice
• 8 ounces imitation crab meat
• 5 tablespoons Kewpie (Japanese mayonnaise)
• 1 ripe avocado (thinly sliced)
• ½ tablespoon soy sauce
• Furikake (Japanese rice seasoning)
• 4 – 5 sheets nori (roasted seaweed)
• Vegetable oil

Spicy Mayonnaise:

• 1½ tablespoons Kewpie (Japanese mayonnaise)
• 6 drops Sriracha

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C). In an oven-safe baking dish that is large enough to hold about 3½-cup of food. Lightly rub or brush the baking dish with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Set aside.
• Separate the imitation crab meat with your hands. If the crab meat is too long, cut them into smaller pieces. Place them in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoon mayo. Mix well. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine 1½ tablespoons mayo with sriracha. Set aside.
• To assemble, add the hot cooked rice in the prepared baking dish and pat down lightly. Smooth out the top. Let the rice cool for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle a layer of furikake on the rice. Then, place the avocado slices in a single layer (little overlap is ok). Top with the imitation crab. Pack tightly. Gently spread the spicy mayo over the crab.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. If you have a broiler, broil for 3 more minutes until lightly golden brown. If you don’t have a broiler, turn up the heat to 450˚F (230˚C) and cook for 5 more minutes until lightly golden brown.
• While the sushi is baking, cut the sheets of nori into smaller squares.
• Remove from oven. Drizzle the soy sauce over and sprinkle with another layer of furikake. Serve the dish family-style. Scoop a little bit onto a piece of nori, wrap it like a sushi roll & eat.

Notes

1. 3-cup of cooked rice is about 1-cup of uncooked rice.
2. Short grain rice is shorter and a bit rounder than Jasmine rice or Basmarti rice. It has a bouncier texture, which is perfect for this dish. In general, I use short grain rice to go along with all Japanese recipes. If you can’t find short grain rice, medium grain rice will work too.
3. Kewpie is Japanese mayo. It’s richer than regular mayonnaise. You can get it at most Asian supermarkets. But if you can’t find it, you can use regular one.
4. Furikake is Japanese rice seasoning. It’s usually made with sesame seeds, dried fish, seaweed, sugar & salt. There’re different versions, like salmon, shrimp, egg and seaweed. It’s like usually added to onigiri (Japanese rice balls). I always go with the classic, seaweed. This is the one I used.
5. Nori is roasted seaweed. Just get any that is used for sushi.
6. The spicy mayo added extra flavors to the bake and helped to get a nice golden-brown color on top.

(Adapted from Onolicious Hawai’i)