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Who else loves sushi?!
We love sushi so much that we drive 30 minutes across town to the best sushi place we have found. Okay, we don’t really know if it’s actually the best but we never seem to want to venture away from it.
I tried to make a vegetarian sushi once with my mom. We even used those bamboo sushi rolling mats that’s supposed to make everything easier. Nope, not doing that again. It was a mess. Everything was falling apart. It stressed me out.
Probably also the same reason I just never want to learn how to pipe frosting on a cake in any fancy way. Too. Much. Pressure.
Sushi rolls are just better eaten at a restaurant, made by a sushi chef who has had years of practice making those cute little rolls. It’s an art.
That’s when the sushi bowls come in. Because, yes, we can chop some veggies and throw everything on top of rice in a bowl and have all of the flavors of sushi but none of the stress of trying to perfectly roll it up and then slice it.
Smoked salmon sushi bowls, I LOVE YOU!
My second hesitation to making sushi at home is the raw fish – where do I even find sushi grade fish? Of course you can make a sushi with cooked fish, or even keep it vegetarian but I still wanted some kind of fish in there that didn’t require any extra effort.
Smoked salmon to the rescue!
And smoked salmon sushi bowls were born!!!!
If you have never had smoked salmon, AKA lox, it’s not a raw fish, even though it kind of looks like it. It’s smoked and sliced very thin. The nice smoky flavor is so good with all the other sushi flavors.
Fun part is that you could have friends over and have a make your own sushi bowl party! Shown above is a fun platter of all the veggies that go on top of your sushi bowl. Allow guests to customize their own bowls.
But, if you’re like me and just wanna have your sushi fix without driving 30 minutes across town and having to pay extra money for it just throw everything on top of some quick cooking rice and call it a day!
Trust me, these smoked salmon sushi bowls will keep that sushi craving at bay!
Here’s what we’ve got happening for our smoked salmon sushi bowls:
- quick cooking brown rice (can use any type you like, including sushi rice)
- smoked salmon AKA lox
- cucumber
- carrots
- toasted nori sheets, cut into strips
- avocado
- ginger sesame dressing – a little sweetness to mimic the way they sweeten sushi rice and restaurants (yes, that’s a thing)
- spicy mayo – essential!
- Toppings can include: sliced green onions, wasabi paste, pickled ginger slices, and sesame seeds
All of the flavors of a good sushi, just in a bowl. No tedious rolling. No hunting down sushi grade fish.
These beautiful smoked salmon bowls come together in 20 minutes! They make a great weeknight meal. Or like I said it would be really fun to turn them into a make your own sushi bowl party.
Yes, you really can have your sushi and eat it too.
Healthy Smoked Salmon Sushi Bowls
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Entree, fish, healthy, easy
- Cuisine: gluten free
Description
Smoked salmon sushi bowls are an easy way to eat the flavors of sushi without the mess of trying to make it into a roll. Brown rice is topped with smoked salmon, nori seaweed, sushi veggies and sauces.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice*
- Ginger sesame dressing
- 2 inches Ginger, grated
- 1 clove Garlic, pressed
- 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce (make sure it’s gluten free soy sauce, if needed. Or use tamari or coconut aminos)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- Optional: Pinch Red pepper flakes
- Spicy mayo
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sriracha
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce (gluten free, if needed. Or use tamari or coconut aminos)
- Bowls
- 12 ounces smoked salmon
- 1 to 2 ripe avocados, seeded, peeled, and sliced
- 1 seedless cucumber (AKA English cucumber), shaved into strips with veggie peeler, or julienned
- 1 to 2 carrots, shaved with a veggie peeler or julienned
- nori seaweed, cut into strips using kitchen sheers (I use toasted nori snacks)
- Optional toppings
- green onion, sliced
- pickled ginger (found in Asian section of grocery store)
- wasabi paste
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook rice: If you haven’t already made the rice do this now and allow it to cool. I used a quick cooking brown rice (10 minutes) for convenience and nutrition but you can use any kind of rice you prefer. Keep in mind that normal cooking rice usually takes 30 to 45 minutes to make so plan accordingly.
- Make ginger sesame dressing: Add all of the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust flavors as needed. Set sauce aside.
- Make the spicy mayo: Add the mayonnaise, sriracha, and soy sauce into a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust flavors as needed – add more mayo for less spice and more sriracha for more spice. Set spicy mayo aside.
- Prepare veggies and salmon: Prepare all the veggies as instructed above along with peeling the layers of the salmon apart. To cut the veggies I used a Y shaped veggie peeler to create thin strips – you could also julienne the veggies with a sharp knife or even a mandolin.
- Arrange the veggies Optional step for parties: If you are serving these sushi bowls to guests I thought it might be fun to arrange the veggies, smoked salmon, and other toppings onto a platter or cheese board and allow the guests to build their own sushi bowls. You could really have fun with this and even add more veggies or other sushi ingredients. This step is optional. If serving these bowls as a casual dinner to family you can skip that step and just build each bowl in a less fancy way.
- Build the bowls: Add some rice to a bowl top it with some smoked salmon, sliced avocado, carrots, cucumber, nori strips, and a sprinkle of green onions, plus any other toppings you wish to add. Spoon some of the ginger sesame sauce over top and drizzle some of the spicy mayo over top. Enjoy immediately.
- Leftovers: Store any leftovers in separate air tight containers. I find it best to prepare the veggies right before you eat them so I suggest only chopping as many veggies for as many servings as you need for that meal. The rice and sauces will store well in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
Rice: I use a quick cooking brown rice for nutrition and convenience. To keep this dish more authentic you could use a sushi rice or other white rice.
I did not include cooking time required for the rice since it is served cold. This would also be a good way to use up leftover rice.
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