Here’s how to create Instagram’s mouthwatering Japanese-fusion masterpiece in your own home
Filipinos love putting a little twist onto international dishes. Who doesn't love a little calamansi juice over sashimi? A little Quickmelt cheese on everything else? So it must come as no surprise that Filipinos have, yet again, reinvented a traditional Japanese favourite: sushi!
The sushi bake (or baked sushi) has only recently surfaced online. Foodies boast bites of creamy seafood toppings on a bed of sticky, Japanese rice, blow-torched to perfection and served in rectangular cuts of seaweed wrap. It's a gastronomic sensation that's quickly gone viral. Now, restaurants are adding it to their delivery menus and home chefs are making it a home business too. So why not try recreating this social media masterpiece at home? These quick and easy recipes are guaranteed to please — no blow-torch necessary!
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Classic Sushi Bake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked sushi rice
- 1 pound of crabmeat (can replace this with cooked shrimp or sauteed scallops)
- 1 pound of crab sticks, chopped
- 1 cup of Japanese mayonnaise
- 2 stalks of green onions, chopped thinly
- 2 tbsp. tobikko or roe (optional)
- Furikake (a dry, umami-rich Japanese seasoning)
- Wasabi paste or sriracha (optional)
- Sheets of seaweed
Method
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
- Mix together the crabmeat (or shrimp or scallops), crab sticks, Japanese mayonnaise, green onions, wasabi paste or sriracha, and fish roe. Set aside
- Meanwhile, press the sushi rice onto a square-shaped pan
- Sprinkle furikake onto pressed rice
- Spread the crab mixture on top
- Sprinkle more furikake on top of this
- Place in oven and bake until top is golden brown (about 5-10 minutes)
- Serve with seaweed
Spicy Tuna Sushi Bake
Ingredients
- 2 cans spicy tuna
- 2 cups sushi rice
- 4 tbsp. Japanese mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp. sriracha (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Furikake
- Cheese
- Sesame seeds (optional)
- 1 tsp. chilli powder (optional)
Method
- Cook the rice
- Prepare the tuna mixture by cooking tuna over medium heat. Add in the sriracha and Japanese mayonnaise to the tuna. Mix it in
- Add in soy sauce and chilli powder
- Drizzle with sesame oil
- Mix well and set aside
- Spread a layer of cooked Japanese rice onto a square-shaped pan
- Add the tuna mix and spread it evenly over the rice
- Grate the cheese over the layer of rice and tuna
- Sprinkle furikake over this
- Drizzle Japanese mayonnaise on top
- Add sesame seeds and chilli powder, as desired
- Bake this in the oven for at least 5 minutes (or until the cheese melts)
- Serve with nori sheets!