There is so much to love about life in East Tennessee. From the warmth of the people to the lush emerald green of the leafy landscape to the close proximity of so many fun places, it's a wonderful place to live. We've made ourselves right at home here and have been so excited to discover everything this hidden gem has to offer.
The local food scene features lots of delicious choices, like succulent BBQ, craveable comfort food and seasonal produce so fresh it could make you cry. And we definitely feel the soothing hand of Southern hospitality touch each and every meal we enjoy. But there's one thing we haven't found yet that compares to our dining experience in Southern California - and that's amazing sushi. Don't get me wrong, there are sushi restaurants here that do a good job of putting a decent platter together, but the flavors are just not the same as what we remember from LA, and none of the best sushi restaurants are close to our house. So we decided to do something about it, and created our Sushi Roll Bowls.
Savory, crunchy, creamy and a little spicy, these hit the spot
Since I'm not one to serve raw fish in my kitchen ( I love eating it but I don't trust myself to prepare it properly), this recipe uses surimi, which is imitation crab meat made completely from cooked fish. If you've ever had a California roll, you've had surimi. Sushi rice (or salad greens if you're feeling low-carb), a super tasty surimi salad, fresh veggies, seaweed snacks, and fun toppings are all you need to whip up this masterpiece. You could also substitute cooked salmon or shrimp for the surimi in the salad (we have, and its delicious). It's a flexible recipe that can satisfy the toughest sushi cravings any time of day.
Can't you just taste how good this is?
Once you get the general recipe down, you can totally make it your own, My kids have even made tacos out of the filling using the seaweed snacks as tortillas. You can also adjust the heat level really easily, but we do love our spicy stuff around here so as written the recipe does have a kick. No matter how you serve it up, I guarantee sushi lovers will rejoice.
Sushi Roll Bowls (serves 4)
Ingredients:
6 cups prepared sushi rice (or six cups mixed greens)
3 tsp seasoned rice vinegar, divided
1 14 oz bag of flake style surimi (imitation crab meat)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (and extra for topping)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sriracha (and extra for topping)
1/2 English seedless cucumber, chopped into quarter round pieces
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup shredded carrot
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Fried onions (in the bag or tub, the kind used for green bean casserole)
Toasted sesame seeds or Furikake (yummy sprinkles of savory goodness found on the Asian aisle of the grocery store)
2 packs of seaweed snacks
Method:
Dress prepared rice or salad greens with 1 tsp of seasoned rice vinegar. Divide evenly into four bowls (1 1/2 cup in each). Set aside.
Add surimi to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse until it looks like rough crumbles.
Mix mayonnaise, soy sauce, sesame oil and sriracha in a large bowl until combined. Add processed surimi and mix to combine.
Top rice with a couple scoops of the surimi salad, cucumbers, avocado, carrots and fried onions. Add a few pieces of seaweed snacks. Finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds or Furikake, and season with soy sauce and sriracha to taste.
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