This Sushi-Inspired Sticky Salmon Bowl is the dinner of dreams. I am talking sushi rice, sticky soy glazed salmon and creamy avocado. Doesn't get much better than this.
For the past few days, we have been blessed with some gorgeous, sunny weather. We would love to be able to make the most of it and sun bathe, but because of the current lockdown, and because we are not lucky enough to have a balcony or a garden, we have been stuck in our flat. And don't get me wrong, our flat is lovely. But it's getting hot real fast. As a result, we haven't really been all that hungry to be honest, eating mainly fresh meals such as my Roasted Sweet Potato, Quinoa and Beetroot Salad or my Spicy Salmon Sandwich. So in order to spice things up a bit, I have decided to make a sushi-inspired bowl. Because it does sound like the best meal ever.
I love easy one-bowl meals like Buddha Bowls, because there is something particularly satisfying about eating a lot of nourishing foods from a bowl. I am crazy, I know. But another thing I really like is sushi. When I was in Italy, I used to eat sushi from all-you-can-eat restaurants on an almost weekly basis, and now I am experiencing some serious withdrawal symptoms and cravings. So I decided to combine these two elements to create a beautiful, sushi-inspired bowl, very similar to a salmon poke bowl.
Now, I didn't feel confident enough to eat raw salmon. You can buy sushi-grade salmon, but I always fear that by the time it's in my fridge or in my plate, bacteria will start growing back and I will end up with food poisoning. However I didn't want to use smoked salmon, as the flavour is quite overpowering. So, in the end, I decided to make an Asian-inspired sticky salmon, using lots of soy sauce, honey and hoisin sauce. Sure, sushi is normally made with raw fish... I know. But in fairness, I have often seen sushi options with cooked fish, coated in sticky sauces. Maybe it's just something sushi-restaurants do in Italy, so I am really not claiming that this bowl is authentic. But what I can say is that it really did taste great.
Now, if you follow Once Upon A Recipe on Instagram (and, if you don't, you totally should), you'll now that I have been perfecting this recipe for a long time. I have first tried making this dish at the beginning of quarantine and I have been testing this almost every week so you don't have to! All of my tribulations, my rice not being seasoned enough or my salmon being too salty... You won't have any of that. Instead you will have this fun dinner idea that tastes just perfect. You're welcome.
The result is some perfectly seasoned sushi rice, the best sticky salmon and even a perfect spicy mayo to go with it. So if you too arecraving sushi, but like me you don't feel confident enough to handle raw fish or, even worse, to roll sushi in nori sheets, this is an easy sushi alternative that will keep your meal rotation interesting and new.
Before we dive into the recipe, I will give you a full breakdown of what you will find in this fresh salmon bowl, as well as practical ways to make substitutions and tweaks according to what you have at home or dietary requirements.
Salmon: I used two salmon fillets, however you can also go ahead and use tuna fillets. It will taste just as good! Also, please note that I cooked my salmon on a non-stick pan. This is essential, as your salmon will otherwise stick to the pan, breaking and possibly burning. If you do not have a non-stick pan, bake the salmon at 180°C for about 15 minutes and then transfer to a pan with the sticky sauce.
Sticky Sauce: the sauce for the salmon is made with light soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, water, cornstarch, ground ginger and garlic. If you want this sauce to be less salty, use tamari or low-sodium soy sauce. If you don't have honey, go ahead with agave syrup.
Sushi Rice: if you can get your hands on some sushi rice, please go ahead and use that. That's what will make the recipe feel authentic. However I tried this recipe also with basmati rice and long grain rice and it turned out very well, but of course it was less sticky. So just take this into account when making the bowl.
Spicy Mayo: the mayo is optional but extremely recommended. If you don't have any Sriracha sauce, use any hot sauce you have - tabasco and Frank's Hot Sauce are my favourite substitutions.
Garnishes: I topped this bowl with sliced avocado and spring onions. You can omit these if you don't want to, but you can also substitute them with nori sheets and sesame seeds.
It might look like a lot of work and ingredients, but with some planning ahead, you can turn this into bowl into a delicious weeknight dinner. And I guarantee, it's absolutely worth it!
Ingredients:
Serves 2
2 salmon fillets
1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 crushed garlic clove
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 heaped tsp cornflour (or cornstarch)
2 tbsp water
olive oil
For the Rice:
2oo gr sushi rice (or rice of choice)
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
For the Spicy Mayo:
3 tbsp mayo
2 tsp Sriracha (or any hot sauce you like)
Extras:
1 avocado
2 spring onions
Method:
Cook the rice according to package instructions.
To a bowl, add the sugar, rice vinegar and mirin and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the rice is cooked, drain it and mix it with the rice vinegar mixture. Mix well and then tip the rice to a plate and leave to cool.
Sticky sauce time: to a bowl, add the soy sauce, honey, crushed garlic, ground ginger and hoisin sauce. Add 2 tbsp water to a glass along with the cornstarch. Mix until you have a "slurry" with no lumps and add it to the other sticky sauce ingredients. Mix until fully combined.
Heat a couple of tablespoons in a non-stick pan (if you do not have a non-stick pan look at the "Salmon" section above with instructions to bake the fish) and then add the salmon fillets. Cook on a medium heat for about 3 minutes per side, bringing the cooking time to 12 minutes in total. If your salmon fillets are large but not thick, only cook on two sides for about 5 to 6 minutes per side.
Once the salmon is cooked, add the sticky sauce to the pan and stir it lightly with a spoon. The sauce will thicken in under two minutes. When this happens, remove from the heat.
Time to assemble the bowl: add a genrous portion of rice to the bowl and then top it with the salmon and sticky sauce. Add a few slices of avocado and sprinkle with spring onions. Quickly mix mayo and hot sauce in a small bowl and drizzle it all over the bowl.
Enjoy!
Did you try this recipe? How did it go? Let us know by leaving a comment below! Xx
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