Woke up feeling ambitious today. Ambitious enough to try my hand at making sushi. Made some rice in the rice cooker, julienned an assortment of vegetables, picked up some sushi-grade tuna at the farmers’ market…and went to work.
And, that’s when I quickly remembered (despite my temporary memory loss) why I leave the art of making sushi to the professionals. Ugh, it never quite turns out like I envision. They make it look so easy, yet there is truly an art and a science to making sushi that this novice has clearly not mastered. 
Yet, I didn’t want all my hard work (and $$$) to go to waste. So, plan B it was. Simply turned the prepped ingredients into a sushi bowl. That works too and is much easier to pull together.
As with other grain bowls you’ve seen on the blogosphere, you’ll need:
A grain, check.
Veggies, check.
A protein, check.
A dressing, check.
“Sprinkles,” such as nuts, seeds, herbs or sprouts, check.
I went with sushi rice (as I was planning on making sushi), but short grain brown rice or black rice would be nice as well. Added a bit of furikake seasoning (sesame seed, nori and bonito mixture, read more here) to the rice that I had on hand from another cooking adventure.
I also had this idea of making tempura crunchies by deep-frying all-purpose flour mixed with sparkling water until golden brown and crunchy (not the healthiest by any means, but does add a nice crunch to the bowl).
As for the rest, lots of julienned vegetables — watermelon radish, Persian cucumbers, carrots (sautéed quickly and then finished with a splash of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds), avocado, thinly sliced jalapeño and cilantro leaves — dressed with a drizzle of spicy mayo (mayo + sriracha).
I am obsessed with watermelon radish. I want to put them in/on everything…
I don’t normally buy tuna (I usually stick to the smaller, oily fish) save for sushi-grade tuna when I’m cooking for company, so a bit of a splurge today. It’s local and super fresh, caught off the South Jersey coast. It’s like “butter”…
Click HERE and scroll down for my tried and true sushi rice recipe.
Print
Sushi Rice Bowl
- Yield: 2 bowls 1x
Ingredients
- Grain: sushi rice (short grain brown rice and/or black rice, enough for two bowls. Click the link above for my sushi rice recipe.)
- Protein: 1/2 pound sushi-grade tuna (cut into slices)
Vegetables:
- Julienned watermelon radish
- Julienned Persian cucumbers
- Julienned carrots (sautéed in olive oil briefly (1-2 minutes until crisp-tender, finished with a splash of toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, sea salt)
- Thinly sliced avocado
- Thinly sliced jalapeño peppers
- Cilantro leaves
Other toppings:
- Furikake (you can find the recipe here or nori cut into thin strips)
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Spicy mayo (mayo + sriracha, thinned with a little water)
- Tempura crunchies
For the tempura crunchies:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup seltzer/sparkling water
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
For the tempura crunchies:
- Combine the flour and water in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Fill a pot with oil. When the oil reaches 350-375F, pour some of the batter (be careful, the oil will bubble up a bit), with a spoon or measuring cup into the hot oil. After a few minutes, when golden brown and crispy, remove the batter from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Assembly
- Divide rice between bowls and top with vegetables, toppings and tuna.
- Category: Main
