Sushi bake is an Asian fusion dish with origins in Hawai’i. Layer sushi rice, furikake, imitation crab or fish, and mayonnaise in a casserole dish. Bake until golden brown and serve with sheets of nori. It’s like a potluck version of a California roll. Edit: This post has been updated in 2023 in order to include more accurate information about the invention of sushi bake than what has been spread on Tiktok.
What is Sushi Bake?
Sushi bake, also called Pan Sushi or Broiled Sushi, is essentially a sushi casserole. In a large baking dish, you layer sushi rice, furikake, some sort of flaked fish or imitation crab. Then you top with a sauce, mine is Kewpie mayonnaise and sour cream, and broil until golden on top. To serve, you can cut it into squares or just scoop with a spoon and use it as a filling with sheets of roasted seaweed, similar to temaki sushi.
Who Invented Sushi Bake and When?
If you Google “Who invented sushi bake?” most of the top answers will say it was invented by someone named Mimi Reyes in the Philippines in 2015, but this is absolutely false. Japanese Americans and other locals in Hawai’i have been making sushi bake for decades. I have two recipes for sushi bake in my old Japanese church cookbook which dates from 2009, and those who submitted the recipes were grandparents who certainly were making sushi bake long before then. I can remember eating sushi bake at potlucks when I was younger, and I’m 33 years old at the time of writing this post!
While I cannot find any definitive answer for who created sushi bake and where it came from, my guess is that it most likely came as a result of Japanese immigration to Hawaii, which is no surprise. So many of the Asian fusion dishes that I grew up eating in the Japanese American community seem to originate with the Asian immigrants who first came to Hawaii. Hawaii Magazine has a really great article about the immigration of various Asian ethnic groups to Hawaii, and the impact they’ve had on the evolution of Hawaiian culture.
Sushi Bake Variations
Ever since sushi bake went viral on Tiktok, there have been tons of recipe variations popping up on the internet.
Which is great!
If you’re looking for variations from BEFORE Tiktok, here is what my family has typically done. All the recipes in my old cookbook start with a bed of rice and a layer of furikake. Some include produce, like avocado and takuan, that you would find in a California roll. One has the protein and spread on top of the rice; another has the protein sandwiched in between two layers of rice and wrapped in seaweed, like a spam musubi.
My recipe uses flaky imitation crab as the filling, and a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise for the spread, similar to a California roll. However, you can easily customize the filling to your taste! You can use smoked salmon, canned salmon, canned tuna, spam, ham, Portuguese sausage, baked tofu… The list is endless.
For the spread, the mix of sour cream and mayo is pretty standard, but you can use all mayo or all sour cream if you want. This recipe puts the spread on the very top layer so that when you broil it, it gets nice and toasty on the top.
And then for veggies, I served avocado, takuan (that’s pickled daikon), and cucumber on the side. You could also use thinly sliced scrambled eggs or pickled ginger. Pretty much anything else you like in your sushi is fair game.
How to Serve and Eat Sushi Bake
Along with the veggies, I serve the sushi bake with small sheets of nori (seaweed). You can either use the sheet nori that you would use to make sushi rolls or musubi and cut it into quarters. OR you can use the Korean style roasted seaweed squares. I actually prefer the latter, as it has a yummy sesame flavor, but I happened to have some extra nori sheets that I needed to use up when I photographed this recipe.
To eat, plop a spoonful of the sushi bake onto the seaweed and add any of the sliced veggies you want. Technically when you make a hand rolled sushi, the Japanese style is to roll it into a cone shape. But often I just fold it like a taco and stuff it in my mouth.
My two year old daughter, who goes to Japanese school, saw me do this and she yelled at me for not rolling the sushi into the correct shape. Oops. Beware of the sushi police.
By the way, I scaled my recipe down to fit in an 8×8″ baking dish. This is the perfect size to feed my immediate family. Double the recipe to fit in a 9×13″ casserole dish, and you’re all set for a potluck.
More Japanese Hawaiian Recipes
Looking for more of these fusion Asian recipes? Check these out:
Sushi Bake (Broiled Pan Sushi)
Ingredients
Sushi Rice
- 2 cups Japanese short grain rice
- water to cook rice
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Broiled Sushi Filling
- 1 batch sushi rice (see above)
- 3-4 oz shredded imitation crab can sub canned salmon or other fish
- 8 oz sour cream
- 8 oz mayonnaise
- nori furikake
To Make Temaki (Hand Rolled Sushi)
- 7-10 large sheets seaweed cut in quarters
- takuan
- cucumber
- avocado
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Cook 2 cups Japanese rice in your rice cooker
- While rice is cooking, heat up rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan on the stove until the sugar is dissolved.
- When the rice is done, pour the rice vinegar solution over your rice and gently mix. Allow sushi rice to cool slightly.
Broiled Sushi Filling
- Pour sushi rice into an 8×8" baking dish and gently pat down into a flat layer.
- Sprinkle nori furikake on top of rice.
- Add shredded imitation crab (or shredded cooked fish of your choice) over the furikake.
- Mix mayonnaise and sour cream in a separate bowl. Then spread it on top of the shredded imitation crab.
- Put under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the top layer bubbles and browns.
To Make Hand Rolled Sushi
- Place a small scoop of broiled pan sushi onto a square of seaweed.
- Add toppings of your choice (e.g. sliced cucumber, avocado, takuan, etc.).
- Roll and eat! Repeat!
Notes
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9 comments
Hi Kristen !
I’m anxious to give this a whirl.
You mentioned scaling it down to feed your immediate family, I’m guessing two plus baby.
Perfect… because there’s only two of us and I don’t think this dish would be good as “leftovers”.
Would appreciate if future recipes, would indicate the number of “servings”.
THX !
Hey Doug!
Thanks for the feedback! I always have such a hard time deciding how many “servings” to put since I feel like it’ll vary wildly depending on the person, but I’ll give it my best guess in the future. For this one, it lasts my family of two adults, one toddler, and one baby four meals when made in an 8×8” dish. I’m rounding down to be safe and saying 8 servings, but if you make it and feel otherwise, definitely let me know!
Re:
…I’m rounding down to be safe and saying 8 servings, but if you make it and feel otherwise, definitely let me know!.
I’ll do that !
Based on 2-Cups of rice, I’ll guess 4 servings.
When we were younger, many moons ago,… 2 servings 😋
Re:
… I’m rounding down to be safe and saying 8 servings, but if you make it and feel otherwise, definitely let me know!
Hi Kristen !
Well… made it for lunch today.
The most difficult part spreading the topping.
The crab & furikake got mixed in the ‘spread’.
We (two senior-citizens) were only able to finish about 60% and had to dispose of the remainder.
The nori’s texture was ‘chewy’.
In Japanese restaurants, the nori is ‘crispy’.
How can I get our nori to be equally ‘crispy’ ???
Re:
… I’m rounding down to be safe and saying 8 servings, but if you make it and feel otherwise, definitely let me know!
Hi Kristen !
Well… made it for lunch today.
The most difficult part spreading the topping.
The crab & furikake got mixed in the ‘spread’.
We (two senior-citizens) were only able to finish about 60% and had to dispose of the remainder.
The nori’s texture was ‘chewy’.
In Japanese restaurants, the nori is ‘crispy’.
How can I get our nori to be equally ‘crispy’ ???
Hi Doug!
Hm, I’m wondering if it’s very cold in your kitchen. That could make the topping harder to spread. Or it could just be the brands of sour cream/mayo you get that tends to be thicker. In general, it’s not a huge deal if the topping gets mixed in with the crab and furikake, since it’ll all get mixed up eventually. I do have a video here of how I make it, if that helps:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CSFTyPjlhv7/?utm_medium=copy_link
In answer to your nori question, nori that gets wrapped over rice will always get soft, even in restaurants. Think of California rolls: the seaweed on the outside is not crispy. But it should definitely start off crispy before you wrap it. If it’s not, your pack may have just absorbed too much moisture from the air. Do you have a link to the specific nori you bought? Or was there a specific nori dish you were thinking of that was crispy? I’m curious what kind of dish you were eating that had crispy nori.
You can still save leftovers in the fridge! Imitation crab is made from cooked fish, so it’ll save, unlike fresh sushi.
Hi Again !
Viewed your instagram clip.
Your “sour cream/mayo” spread was much more ‘liquidly’ than mine.
As far as my c-h-e-w-y nori… we keep ours in the fridge.
Might that be the problem ?
Another issue may be they’re too old ?
We prepare nori-maki for New Years and Spam-Musubi whenever my tapeworms yells: FOOD !
They’re (nori) isn’t chewy so perhaps it’s time for a new pack ?
If it’s the same pack of nori from New Years, then it’s definitely time for a new pack! It’s probably stale. I also keep my leftover nori in an air tight container at room temperature.
In regards to the sour cream/mayo, I used Japanese mayonnaise. Maybe that’s what made it more fluid. I’ve also noticed some sour creams are thick and others are more liquid.
Thanks for your tips/suggestion.
Be Safe and Wear Masks !
This ‘thing’ isn’t over…. Yet.