I love eating sushi but for the life of me, I can not make sushi. I have bought way too many products that promise me they are easy to use and make perfect sushi rolls. I have watch video after video of people making sushi but sushi making is not for me. The Oriental chefs who make rolls of sushi make it look so easy. I have failed sushi-making 101 and gave up.
A sushi bowl is easier to make
So many years ago before Poke bowls became popular, I learned how to make a sushi bowl without a recipe. My sushi bowl creation started with my failed sushi roll ingredients that I just tossed in a bowl. Then I discovered a Poke restaurant and I learned how to make my sushi bowl even better.
A California Roll the easy way
A sushi bowl is basically a deconstructed California Roll that is way easier to make. No more having to press the rice onto the seaweed sheets and watching it fall apart when you roll it up. A bowl of sushi takes all the flavors of a California Roll and makes things so easy. No pressing, rolling, slicing, or praying is needed. You just take the ingredients, chop them up, and mix them into something that tastes way better than sushi. The best part is the portion size. No more having to eat way too many tiny pieces of sushi.
The simple ingredients
A sushi bowl is made from ingredients that you probably have in your fridge and pantry. I like to prepare the ingredients in advance so I can quickly mix them together for a delicious lunch. The basic ingredients for this easy to make sushi bowl creation are:
+ Rice ~ I like brown rice as it is more nutritious but you can use white rice
+ Seaweed ~ I like Nori seaweed sheets but you can use any seaweed like Dulse or Wakame.
+ Avocado ~ I will use fresh avocado slices or cubes
+ Spicy mayo ~ I use chipotle mayo but you can use sriracha mayo
+ Carrots ~ My preferred is shredded carrots but I will also use chopped up baby carrots
+ Cucumber ~ chopped or thinly sliced
+ Imitation crab flakes ~ cooked shrimp or cooked fish is also tasty
+ Sesame seeds ~ black or white
+ Rice Vinegar
+ Sugar
+ Soy sauce
Fresh Seaweed
I usually use nori seaweed sheets in my sushi bowl and just shred it into small pieces. I decided to try Whole Leaf Nori Wild Atlantic Seaweed in my sushi bowl and I was amazed at how fresh it was. This seaweed was so full of flavor and had a nice chewy texture. I also tried Dulse Flakes and this seaweed was dried and it too had a nice flavor. These were not your typical pressed salty seaweed sheets as they had no salt in them. This was 100% seaweed hand-harvest from the coast of Maine.
Everything that VitaminSea makes comes from live ocean plants, not from seaweed that has washed up onshore. VitaminSea Seaweed’s products are tested annually for radioactivity and heavy metals, and the results are within safe levels.
Cook the rice and chop the cucumber
The hardest part of a sushi bowl is waiting for the rice to cook and for the cucumber to marinate. So I always keep cooked rice in my fridge so I have it for making my bowl of sushi. I will also prepare the cucumber ahead of time so it has time to soak up the delicious sauce. Making rice is easy as I use a rice cooker but you can always follow the directions on the package of rice and make it on the stove. Below is my recipe for the cucumbers if you want them to be pickled but you can also use fresh cucumber pieces.
Pickled cucumbers or cucumber salad
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a container with a lid. Place in the fridge for several hours
Layer the ingredients in a bowl
Coconut bowls
I decided to use my new bowl that is made from a coconut shell. This organic coconut bowl is so cool looking and is made from reclaimed coconut shells sourced from Southern Vietnam. Usually, coconut shells are burnt once the coconut flesh is harvested but Jungle Straws instead creates the coconut shell into an eco-friendly work of art that you can eat out of. Completely handmade, the bowls are BPA free – no chemicals or pesticides are used to grow the coconuts.
Here is how I assemble my sushi bowl:
One cup of cooked rice, cooled to room temperature
One sheet of nori seaweed ~ shredded
Shredded carrots ~ about 1/4 cup
Cucumber salad ~ about 1/4 cup
Crab flakes ~ about 8-10 pieces
Avocado slices ~ I love avocado so I use a whole small avocado
Spicy mayo ~ I drizzle it all over the ingredients
Sesame seeds ~ I just sprinkle about a teaspoon
More seaweed ~ If I have other types of seaweed in the house, I like to add dulse flakes to my sushi bowl.
Enjoy the easiest way to make sushi
See how easy it was to make sushi? You don't need any special talent to make this sushi bowl recipe and nothing is going to unroll or fall apart. Now that you know how easy it is to make a homemade sushi bowl. Now you can save money and skip the poke bowl restaurant. One bite and this may just be your new favorite meal for lunch or dinner. If you love sushi, you need to also check out how to make a Southwestern Style Sushi Burrito as this is another delicious simple way to enjoy sushi.
Make sure to Pin this on Pinterest so you can make the recipe later!
