Sushi Bake is an excellent and easy way to eat deconstructed sushi, ready in no time and absolutely to die for. Your family and friends will love you forever.
Course Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Main Dish
Place the salmon into a tray, season it with salt, pepper, and five-spice powder. Rub the seasoning to uniformly spread it.
Place in the preheated oven and bake at 200℃ or 400℃ for 10-15 min on the upper tray. When it is nice and slightly brown on the outside, take it out of the oven and set it aside.
With a fork, shred or flake the salmon and place it into a separate bowl/plate or keep it in the same tray and just remove the skin.
Cooking the sushi rice
Rinse the rice thoroughly and allow it to rest in a thieve for 15-20 min.
Add the rice to a pan (big enough to allow the rice to boil)* and add 550 ml water. Place on medium fire.
Cover the pan with a lid (ideally a transparent lid) and when the rice reaches boiling point turn the heat right down. Allow it to cook for 9 minutes from the boiling point.
Turn the heat off, and add the seasoned vinegar (try adding it evenly so all rice gets a splash of vinegar). Allow it to rest for 1 min.
With the help of a fork scrape the rice out in a wider pot or plate. Add the rice seasoning and mix until the seasoning gets well and homogenously mixed into the rice.
Make the sushi bake
Start layering the rice in the designated dish. Add one layer of rice topped with salmon, a good sprinkle of sushi nori made into small bits, and a generous one of scallions, peppers, sesame seeds, and avocado.
Add another layer of rice and top with more sesame seeds, scallions, and sliced avocado. Get creative with the toppings.
You may place it back in the oven for 5 minutes or not at all. I normally do not place it back in the oven as I do not see the point. Everything is perfectly good, and ready to be served.
Notes
Cooking the Sushi Rice
Make sure your pan is big enough to allow the rice to cook and expand so it should be big enough - double the size of the uncooked rice.
The water amount is paramountly important so that the rice comes out nice and fluffy rather than sticky and stodgy. I learned this at a sushi-making class a few years ago and the teacher was a UK well-known chef Akemi Yokoyama.
More tips
You may grease the oven dish with some sesame, coconut, or olive oil if you wish. This is totally optional. I only occasionally do this. I did not do this this time.
I do not always place the dish back in the oven as I do not feel this is necessary.
Salmon - if you use ready cooked you will need about 400- 500g (14-17 oz)