The first Salmon Sushi Bake I ever ate was on the deck of a wooden bangka in Lucena, on the southern edge of Quezon Province in the Philippines. The boat belonged to a fisherman named Ruel Bartolome, who I had met two days earlier at the public market while I was trying, badly, to ask the price of a kilo of tuna.
Ruel laughed at my Tagalog. Then he invited me out the next morning.
How Ruel Cooked It on the Deck
He picked me up at the pier just after sunrise. The boat was small, painted a faded blue, and the engine sounded like a sewing machine giving up. We motored out maybe twenty minutes into Tayabas Bay and dropped anchor near a rocky shelf where, he said, the salmon arrived frozen on the supply runs from Manila and the locals had taken to baking it because nobody on the boat wanted to roll sushi by hand.
That last part made me laugh. It is also true to the dish’s history. Sushi bake is not a traditional Japanese thing at all. It was formalized in Metro Manila around 2015 by a Filipino nail artist named Mimi Qiu Reyes, who sold what she called the Original Baked California Roll out of her home, and then it exploded across the country in April 2020 when Manila went into lockdown and home cooks turned it into a quarantine side hustle. Ruel had learned his version from a cousin who ran one of those quarantine kitchens.
He had brought everything on board in a battered cooler. A rice cooker plugged into a tiny inverter. A foil tray. Kewpie mayo in the squeeze bottle with the baby on the label. Furikake. A block of cream cheese sweating in the morning heat. He worked on a plastic stool while the boat rocked, and he was patient about it in a way I was not.
The Part Where Patience Matters
This dish punishes rushing. Ruel taught me that twice in one morning.
The rice needs to rest after it cooks. Ten full minutes, lid on, off the heat. If you peek you let the steam out and the grains stay chalky in the middle. I peeked. He shook his head, put the lid back, and told me to wait. The second test is the vinegar fold. You drizzle the seasoned rice vinegar in while the rice is still warm, and you fold with slicing motions, not stirring motions, because stirring breaks the grains and you end up with paste. I asked him how he knew when to stop folding. He said when it shines.
The third place patience matters is the broil at the end. One minute is fine. Two minutes is glory. Three minutes is a smoke alarm. Ruel watched it through the little oven door he had wedged into the deck’s makeshift galley, and he pulled it out at the exact second the top went bronze in patches.
Bringing the Salmon Sushi Bake Home to LA
I have been making it in my own kitchen ever since. The salmon comes from the fish counter at the Japanese market on Sawtelle, where the guy behind the case now knows me well enough to ask if I want it skinned. The Kewpie is non-negotiable. Regular mayo with lemon will get you ninety percent there and you will know it is ninety. Kewpie has a tang from rice vinegar in the recipe that makes the whole topping taste like a sushi counter instead of a deli.
I bake it on Sunday evenings, mostly. The kitchen window faces west and the light comes through the avocado tree at exactly the angle that makes the rice look gold while I am pressing it into the dish. I have my cast iron going on the next burner for something else, usually, because I cannot help myself. The first time I tried this at home I overcooked the salmon. Fifteen minutes at 425 instead of twelve. It went chalky and the topping never recovered. Pull it at twelve. Trust the carryover.
What I Used
- 2 cups short-grain sushi rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
- 2.25 cups water
- 1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1.5 lb skinless salmon fillet, pin bones removed
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 8 oz imitation crab (kani), finely shredded
- 3/4 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp sriracha, plus more for drizzling
- 3 tbsp furikake, divided
- 3 stalks scallions, thinly sliced and divided
- Toasted nori sheets, sliced avocado, and cucumber ribbons for serving
A Few Honest Notes on the Method
People get superstitious about the rice-to-water ratio for sushi rice. I do not. Two and a quarter cups of water to two cups of rinsed rice has never failed me, in three different rice cookers and one stubborn saucepan. Rinse until the water actually runs clear. Not cloudy-ish. Clear.
For the topping I mix the softened cream cheese first, on its own, until it is smooth. Then the Kewpie. Then the sriracha. Then the flaked salmon and the shredded kani. If you dump it all in at once the cream cheese stays in little lumps and you fight them for the rest of the bake.
One thing I do differently from Ruel. He folded raw scallions through the topping. I keep two thirds in the mix and save a third for after the broil, so the green is bright on top. Small thing. Worth it.
How to Actually Eat It
Not with a fork. Or, fine, with a fork, but you are missing the whole point.
Set the dish in the middle of the table with a stack of toasted nori squares, a bowl of cucumber ribbons, a sliced avocado, and pickled ginger if you have it. Everybody scoops a spoonful onto a square of nori and folds it in half like a tiny taco. The contrast is the entire dish. Cool crisp nori. Warm creamy salmon. The little salty pop of the furikake. Eat it standing up if you have to. I usually do.
Ruel and I still message on Facebook. He sent me a photo last Christmas of his daughter making the same recipe in their kitchen on shore. I sent him one back, taken on my wooden table with the morning light coming in. Same dish. Different ocean. I think about that boat every time I press the rice into the pan.
Salmon Sushi Bake
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Rinse the sushi rice in a fine mesh strainer under cold water, swishing with your fingers, until the water runs clear, about 1 minute. Drain well and combine with 2.25 cups water in a rice cooker or medium saucepan. If using a saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 18 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove from heat and let rest, covered, 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment and place the salmon on top. Season both sides with the kosher salt. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the salmon flakes easily with a fork. Let it cool 5 minutes, then flake into bite-size pieces, discarding any skin.
- While the salmon cooks, transfer the warm rice to a large bowl. Drizzle the seasoned rice vinegar over the rice and fold gently with a rubber spatula, using slicing motions to keep the grains intact. Let the rice cool until just warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
- Lightly grease the 9x13 inch baking dish. Press the seasoned rice into the dish in an even layer about three-quarters of an inch thick. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the furikake evenly over the rice and press lightly to anchor it.
- In the now-empty mixing bowl, whisk the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the Kewpie mayonnaise and sriracha and whisk until uniform. Fold in the flaked salmon, shredded imitation crab, and two-thirds of the sliced scallions until evenly coated.
- Spoon the salmon mixture over the rice and spread it to the edges with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon furikake over the top.
- Bake on the center rack at 425 F for 12 to 15 minutes, until heated through and lightly bubbling. Switch the oven to broil and broil 1 to 2 minutes, watching closely, until the top is golden and lightly charred in spots.
- Let the bake rest 5 minutes. Garnish with the remaining scallions and a zigzag of extra sriracha or spicy mayo. Serve hot directly from the dish with toasted nori squares so each person can scoop a spoonful onto nori and eat it taco-style.