The Gobbler: Baked Sushi

Baked Sushi is a new food craze that’s taking over the Philippines, and some parts of Hawaii, I suspect due to the huge Filipino community there.

Baked Sushi has nothing to do with the kind of sushi that you get from Japan or Japanese restaurants, for that matter, for the simple reason that it is served warm. Cooked, or baked rather, and warm. Baked Sushi became wildly popular in the Philippines due to the CoVID19 Pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued. Since people are home, with a lot of time on their hands, a lot of home cooks emerged, and after that, the advent of home entrepreneurs surged.

Because we live in the age of social media, and the Philippines did not earn the title “social media capital of the world” for nothing, pretty soon, everyone and their mothers started posting about this Baked Sushi. As an expat or an OFW living away, I started salivating over the blasted thing! So much so, that I decided to make it

The premise is easy, you take all the sushi ingredients, the most popular of which is the California Maki, and rather than rolling it, you put it in a baking dish and bake. Simple enough, right? Yep. That’s all there is to it. When I started watching YouTube videos of how to make it, I figured I could source most of the ingredients from the Japanese section in my local grocery.

There are some items that may be slightly difficult to source, especially if you are living outside of the Southeast Asia, but with a little creativity, I figured I could improvise. When I was researching the ingredients, I started mentally trying to remember which items I could source from the grocery and which items, I may have to do without.

Furikake

Furikake is a Japanese seasoning that is usually sprinkled on top of rice. It’s a mix of different things, primarily with sesame and nori (dried seaweed) bits. This was the most problematic ingredient for me, as I had no idea where to source it, and a quick google search proved futile, I would have to spend an exorbitant amount, and wait a long time, to ship it from abroad. But I wasn’t daunted. More research taught me that I could use crushed up potato chips (any flavour you prefer) as a substitute, and if you were feeling really fancy, you can add cut up nori bits to it too. So my game plan was to just use this method, and depending on how much nori costs (and the quantity I could source locally). As it turned out, Furikake was available at the Japanese section of my local Spinneys, but I balked at the price! And one pack wouldn’t nearly be enough, basing from the amount of Furikake is being added to the recipes I found. So improvised Furikake it is!

Tobiko (Fish Roe)

For me, this is optional. I knew I could source this locally, but I also knew it would be pricey. So color me surprised when I found a small jar at the food and snacks section of Ikea, and it was reasonably priced. I quickly snagged this (and thus started my Baked Sushi Plan into fruition). I also found Tobiko in Spinneys, but again, it’s a little pricey.

Other Japanese Ingredients (Layu, Nori, Japanese Mayo, Rice Vinegar and Sushi Vinegar)

I knew that the rest of the Japanese ingredients were easy to source, as I’ve seen Japanese Mayo and Nori widely available in the groceries so that wasn’t a problem. Instead of getting nori sheets to cut up, I decided to buy the pre-cut version. Sushi rice was also available in my local grocery, but again, with cost in mind, I decided to use Jasmine rice and just add a bit of extra water when cooking it, as Jasmine rice is a staple and abundant in my kitchen.

I figured I could do without Layu (Japanese chili oil) and I could substitute rice vinegar with apple cider vinegar, or plain old vinegar, but as luck would have it, both items were available in my grocery.

If you will make this, I would suggest that you hit up your local Spinneys as you would most probably find everything you need there. I did.

What is nice about this dish is that everything can be improvised or substituted. I’m guessing because this was a made-up dish that emerged during the pandemic were supplies may not all be available, home cooks made do with whatever is available in their local groceries or pantries. If you will notice below, I have made some suggestions for substitutes.

Also, different topping variants are available, like canned tuna or canned salmon and avocado, instead of the classic california maki style.

The Ingredients

Note that there are no quantities as i did not measure them when making it. I just added what felt right.

• Sushi Rice (Jasmine Rice can be a substitute)
• Rice Vinegar (apple cider vinegar or white vinegar can be a substitute)
• White Sugar (I used dark brown sugar as substitute)
• Salt
• Furikake (or improvised Furikake)
• Imitation Crab Sticks (I bought both stick and shredded form)
• Japanese Mayonnaise (regular mayonnaise can be a substitute. Canned tuna or salmon can be a substitute, or it can be another variant)
• Cream Cheese (grated cheddar cheese can be a substitute)
• Nori Sheets (for the roll, can also substitute with Lettuce)
• Tobiko (optional)
• Layu (optional. In a bind, you can use chili garlic oil, if you have it)
• Ripe mangoes (optional. Can also use avocado if ripe mangoes are out of season)
• Potato chips (only for improvised Furikake. I used the plain salt flavour, as this is my favourite one, but you can use your favourite flavour)

The Tools/Cooking Supplies

• Baking dish (I used disposable foil baking dishes because my fridge was too small to fit my baking dishes in, and I’m the idiot who forgot that my glass food containers could double up as baking dishes. If I could do this again, I would use my glass food containers, less waste! Sorry Mother Earth! I’ll do better next time)
• big Mixing bowls (at least two, one for the rice, and another for the toppings)
• Small mixing bowl
• Mixing spatulas
• Rice spoon
• Ziplock bag (for improvised Furikake, disregard if you have Furikake, or if you don’t plan on adding nori flakes to your improvised Furikake)
• Kitchen Scissors (for improvised Furikake, same comment as above)

The Process

• Cook rice and let it cool. I made two cups of uncooked rice, This yielded 6 small baking foils.
• While rice is cooking, or cooling do the improvised Furikake and toppings
• Cut up the ripe mangoes into strips
• Improvised Furikake: Crush up potato chips in its bag (don’t be like me who tried to crush up the potato chips in the ziplock, destroying the ziplock bag and hurting my hand, as potato chip shards can be really sharp) and cut up the nori sheets to small bits (i cut them up in the bowl i would use to mix the rice)

• Toppings/Filling: Mix the Tobiko (save some for garnish), shredded imitation crabsticks, Japanese mayonnaise and Cream cheese in a mixing bowl, be sure not to put too much cream cheese, as too much can be too rich and overwhelming. Set aside.

• Spicy Toppings/Fillings – Since i had the Layu, I decided to make a spicy variant by adding a few drops of Layu in the last batch of toppings

• Rice Mixture – in a small bowl, mix Rice Vinegar with sugar and salt, depending on your taste. Since I like mine sweet, I used 2 spoonfuls of brown sugar in a 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and a pinch of salt. This is more than enough for two cups of rice.
• Add the rice mixture to the cooled rice and mix
• Assembly: Flatten the rice the baking dish. Thin layers work best.
• Pre-heat your oven, i used 150c

• Add a layer of Furikake (I forgot to take a photo of that)
• Add a layer of the toppings mixture. for the first 4 dishes, I did the regular variant and for the last two dishes, I added the spicy variant
• Add a layer of mango strips, add a dollop of mayonnaise (it was supposed to be for garnish but it wasnt my strongest suit so i spread it around again) and another layer of Tobiko.

• add another layer of Furikake if desired
• bake for around 15 minutes
• While the Furikake is baking, start cutting up nori sheets in roughly around 3×2 inch strips, or big enough to roughly wrap a portion of the Baked Sushi around. I bought pre-cut nori so I didn’t have to do this step.

• Serve

The Verdict

Oh my gosh, this is soo good. I quickly demolished all six servings in two days. It was awesome!

I liked the spicy one better, so much so that I would add a drop or two of Layu to every roll I make. It was awesome. I also enjoyed adding a sprinkle of Furikake on every roll. The crunch from it makes for a good texture.

For my last serving/dish, I ran out of Nori. I read somewhere that if you can’t source Nori, you can use lettuce instead, but I was lazy to go to the grocery just for lettuce so I just grabbed a spoon and ate it like that. I added generous helpings of my leftover improvised Furikake and added more drops of Layu. It was ah-maze-balls!

I implore you to try this Baked Sushi. It really is a gastronomic experience!

Until then,

Stay wild, Moon child!

XXOO, The Gobbler

Ella