Sushi Bake Recipe (The Baked California Roll Casserole)

A deconstructed California roll served hot: seasoned sushi rice pressed into a baking dish, a creamy surimi-and-Kewpie layer broiled until golden, furikake between and on top. Everyone scoops their own square onto a crisp sheet of nori and folds it like a tiny taco. Born at Hawaii potlucks, made famous from a Manila kitchen in 2020.

Ingredients

• sushi rice (short-grain), uncooked2 cups / 400 g
• water, for the rice2 cups / 475 ml (+ 2 tbsp on the stovetop)
• rice vinegar¼ cup / 60 ml
• sugar2 tbsp
• fine salt1 tsp
• surimi (seafood sticks / imitation crab)1 lb / 450 g
• Kewpie mayonnaise (or mayo + a splash of rice vinegar + a pinch of sugar)½ cup / 115 g, plus ¼ cup / 55 g for the drizzle
• full-fat cream cheese, softened½ cup / 115 g
• sriracha1 tbsp, plus 1 tbsp for the drizzle
• soy sauce1 tbsp
• green onions (spring onions), thinly sliced3
• furikake (Japanese rice seasoning — or toasted sesame + crumbled nori + salt)¼ cup / 30 g, half under, half on top
• unagi (eel) sauce, to finish2 tbsp
• roasted nori snack squares, to serve2 packs (or 3 full sheets, each cut in 6)
• cucumber, in batons, to serve½
• avocado, sliced, to serve1

Method

1. Cook the rice. Rinse 2 cups (400 g) of sushi rice in a sieve, swishing under cold water until it runs nearly clear, then drain well. Cook with 2 cups (475 ml) of water — the same 1:1 ratio as our sushi rice page below, plus 2 extra tbsp if you use a pot instead of a rice cooker: bring to a boil, drop to the lowest heat for 12–13 minutes, then rest off the heat, lid on, for 10 minutes. You want it slightly firmer than table rice; it has an oven visit ahead.
2. Season it warm. Stir ¼ cup (60 ml) of rice vinegar with 2 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp of fine salt until dissolved (10 seconds in the microwave helps). Turn the hot rice out into a wide bowl, drizzle the vinegar mixture over, and fold it through with a cutting motion — don’t stir hard, or you’ll mash the grains. This awasezu runs a little leaner than the ⅓-cup (80 ml) tier on our sushi rice page below, on purpose: the Kewpie-and-cream-cheese topping brings richness the rice shouldn’t compete with.
3. Mix the creamy layer. Pull 1 lb (450 g) of surimi (sold as seafood sticks or crab sticks in Europe) into fine shreds with your fingers — pat it dry first if it looks wet. Fold it with ½ cup (115 g) of Kewpie mayonnaise (Japanese mayo — or regular mayo whisked with a splash of rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar), ½ cup (115 g) of softened cream cheese, 1 tbsp of sriracha, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and two of the sliced green onions (spring onions) until evenly creamy.
4. Build the layers. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Press the seasoned rice into a 9×13 in (23×33 cm) baking dish in an even layer about ¾ inch (2 cm) deep — firm enough to slice later, not packed hard. Scatter half the furikake (the Japanese rice seasoning — a substitute is in the sections below) over the rice, then spread the surimi mixture to the edges like frosting a cake.
5. Bake hot and fast. Bake for 10–15 minutes, until the top colors at the peaks and the edges bubble. Everything in the dish is already fully cooked, so you are only heating it through and browning the surface — that’s also why a slower 350°F (175°C) oven for 20–25 minutes works just as well if it suits your timing. The full logic is in the sections below.
6. The broiler minute. For the taquería-gold top, switch to the broiler (the overhead grill) on high for 1–2 minutes — and do not walk away. The mayo layer goes from pale to golden-toasted to burnt in under a minute. Golden peaks with a few deep-brown tips is the target.
7. Rest, then dress. Rest the dish 5–10 minutes — the creamy layer settles and slices cleaner. Then finish like a counter pro: zigzag lines of spicy mayo (¼ cup / 55 g Kewpie + 1 tbsp sriracha), a crosshatch of unagi sauce, the remaining furikake, and the last of the green onions.
8. Serve it like tacos. Bring the dish to the table with a stack of crisp nori squares, cucumber batons and sliced avocado. Everyone scoops a spoonful of warm bake onto a nori square, adds a piece of cucumber or avocado, folds, and eats it in two bites while the seaweed still snaps. That snap is the whole point — nori goes on at the last second, never baked in the dish.
9. Store and reheat. Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge, airtight, with the nori stored separately. Reheat portions in the microwave under a damp paper towel until steaming, or covered in a 350°F (175°C) oven — once only. You can also assemble the whole dish up to 24 hours ahead, refrigerate it unbaked, and bake it straight from the fridge with a few extra minutes. Freezing turns the mayo layer grainy; don’t.

Safety & hygiene Important

• The surimi is already cooked. Surimi is fully cooked and pasteurized at the factory, so the bake only needs heating through — there is no raw-fish step in this dish, which is exactly why it’s the beginner-safest thing on a sushi table. Keep it refrigerated and use an opened pack within about 5 days.
• Adding real salmon? Hit 145°F (63°C). If you upgrade the topping with fresh salmon, bake the fillet first until it reaches 145°F (63°C) at the thickest point — the FDA’s safe minimum for fish — or until it flakes and looks opaque all the way through, then fold it in. Don’t rely on the casserole bake to cook raw fish hidden under a creamy layer.
• Cooked rice has a clock. Cooked rice can carry Bacillus cereus spores whose toxins survive reheating, so the risk is in the holding, not the oven. Don’t leave the baked dish at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour on a hot day); refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow portions and reheat until steaming hot, once.
• The broiler is the burn risk. Both kinds: the mayo top blackens in under a minute once it starts coloring, and the dish comes out searing hot. Stay at the oven for the broil, and give the ceramic a trivet and a warning at the table.

3 ways to plate it

Questions, answered