Whenever I order a poke bowl I always include crab salad as one of my sides. I also love crab salad sushi (though if I had to pick a favorite it would be spicy tuna, but I digress). I haven’t yet ventured into making sushi yet so I put together this delicious crab salad sushi bowl which I think will become a staple for lunch and dinner!
This crab salad sushi bowl is light and fresh because it involves a lot of raw vegetables, but with the rice addition, it’s hearty enough for a place at the dinner table as well.
Crab salad (also known as kani salad) is typically made with imitation crab and Japanese mayo. It’s rich, sweet and tangy all at the same time and, if you’re me, you’ll need to stop yourself from eating the whole thing before assembling the bowls!
Crab Salad Sushi Bowl Ingredients
- Imitation crab: This is the most important part of your salad! I find the best way to shred it is to just use two forks like you would shred chicken. I’ve seen other methods for shredding it, but I’ve personally never had much success with them. So for me, two forks is the best way to do it.
- Japanese mayo: Also known as Kewpie, Japanese mayo is made only from egg yolks (whereas regular mayo is made from the whole egg) so it’s richer and creamier. If you can get your hands on some, I’d recommend using it over regular mayo.
- Sriracha: This ingredient isn’t required, but I feel like it really adds depth to the crab salad. In such a small amount, I don’t find that it makes it too spicy.
- Soy sauce: A small amount of soy sauce takes the crab salad to new heights.
- Sushi rice: The sushi rice is, aside from the crab salad, the absolute star of the show. I like to use a rice cooker, but I’ll include directions on how to make it on the stove as well. To make sushi rice you steam regular short-grain sushi rice and then add a mixture of vinegar, sugar and salt.
- Carrot, cucumber, avocado and edamame: Julienned carrot, diced cucumber, sliced avocado and edamame round out this salad and make it crunchy and refreshing. You could add or take away any vegetable you like. The beauty is that you can completely customize it to your tastes.
- Scallions: These make an excellent garnish with some added flavor.
- Yum Yum sauce: I love this Japanese steakhouse sauce and while it’s not necessary, I love the extra flavor it brings the crab salad sushi bowl.
How to Make Crab Salad Sushi Bowls
Making these bowls is fairly straightforward. To make the crab (kani) salad, mix together the shredded imitation crab, Japanese mayo, sriracha, soy sauce and few pinches of salt.
To make the sushi rice you’ll want a 1-1.2 ratio of rice to water. That means for 1 cup of rice you’ll need an amount somewhere between 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water (precisely 200 ml). You can either make it in a rice cooker or to make it on the stove bring it up to a boil, then simmer at 15 minutes on low heat and then steam for an additional 10 minutes.
On the stove, you’ll want to combine your rice vinegar, sugar and salt and heat on extremely low heat just until the sugar and salt are melted. Once the rice is cooked, fold in the vinegar mixture until well combined.
Add your sushi rice to your bowl, top with the crab salad and any other toppings you’d like, as well as a drizzle of yum yum sauce.
Storage
I don’t find this bowl stores particularly well. Sushi rice in general gets hard in the fridge, so I generally don’t recommend making more than you can eat. All the individual components of this bowl will store fine for up to 5 days, so you could always make a larger portion of toppings and then just make your rice fresh every day.
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to post it to Instagram and tag me!
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Crab Salad Sushi Bowl
Ingredients
Crab Salad
- 8 oz imitation crab
- 1/4 cup Japanese mayo
- 1/2 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2-3 small pinches of salt
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Toppings
- 2 small carrots, julienned
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 1/2 avocado, sliced
- 1/4 cup edamame
- 2 scallions
Instructions
- First cook your rice, either in a rice cooker or on the stove. If making it on the stove, bring the rice and water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, then steam for 10 minutes. While this is cooking, add your rice vinegar, sugar and salt to a small saucepan and heat on very low heat until sugar and salt are melted. When your rice is done, fold in the vinegar mixture until well combined.
- To make the crab salad, first shred the imitation crab chunks using two forks, like you would shred chicken. Then combine the Japanese mayo, shredded imitation crab, sriracha, soy sauce and salt.
- Top the sushi bowl with 2 small carrots, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup edamame and then garnish with scallions and yum yum sauce.