"Sushi" Bowls

One of our favorite sushi places in college was a place called Rolls and Bowls. It was such a cool concept because you could either build your own sushi bowl or sushi roll with whatever meat/fish, veggies, and/or sauce you wanted. I used to eat here almost once a week and pretty much always got the sushi bowls because they were a lot more filling. I missed this place so much when moving away that it inspired me to create my own version of it so I could enjoy it whenever I wanted!

I love this recipe because it is so much easier than actually making sushi rolls and you can put as many toppings as you want without having to worry about it all fitting into a roll. Also, you can easily make this non-vegetarian by substituting the tofu for meat or you can make it both ways without having to make two different dishes!

Feeds 2-3 fans

The Players:

Sushi rice

• 1 cup of sushi rice*
• 2 cups of water
• 1.5 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp of sugar
• Pinch or two of salt (optional)

Marinade and extra sauce

• 6 tbs of soy sauce
• 6 tbs mushroom oyster sauce
• 1.5 tsp of chili oil
• 3 tsp of siracha
• 3 tbs schezwan sauce
• 1 garlic clove grated 
• 1 tsp grated ginger 
• 1 tbs vegetable oil for stir fry

Spicy mayo

• 3 tbs mayo
• 1/2 tbs siracha
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil

The toppings

• 1/2 a medium cucumber sliced into thin sticks
• 1 large carrot sliced into sticks
• 1 scallion sliced 
• 1 avocado cut into pieces
• 8 shiitake mushrooms de-stemmed and sliced
• 1/2 a small yellow or white onion diced
• 3 eggs scrambled (optional)
• 14 oz of firm or extra firm tofu drained and cut into small squares**
• Black sesame seeds to sprinkle on top (optional)

Chicken sushi bowl

The Game Plan:

Mix the first 5 ingredients of the marinade up in a medium bowl and place half of it in a large bowl. Add the ginger and garlic to the large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the tofu and combine gently without crumbling the tofu. Set aside. Then combine all the ingredients for the spicy mayo in a small bowl and place it in the refrigerator.

Tofu sushi bowl

Place the sushi rice and water in a medium sized pot and place it on medium hi heat and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling bring the temperature down to medium low and let it simmer until the water evaporates. Do  not stir the rice until the end! Once the rice is done, check to make sure it is cooked through. If it is not, you can always add more water if needed. When the rice is done, fold in the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt with a wooden spoon. Do not over mix and cause the rice to become mushy and do not use a metal spoon to mix the rice because it will change the flavor of the rice.

While the rice is cooking, place 1 tbs of vegetable oil in a wok on medium heat and place marinated tofu in there. Let cook for about 5 mins. Stir and try flipping the tofu over so it cooks on both sides. Add the diced onions and cook for another 5 mins. Add the shiitake mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. If the mixture looks dry you can add more of the extra sauce you set aside.

Now you are ready to assemble your bowl. Place rice in the bowl first, then tofu mixture and then toppings. Top with spicy mayo and any additional sauce you desire. I usually make sure I have extra of the marinade so I can top it with that.

* To make this healthier you can make it with brown rice or quinoa. However when I do make it this way, I omit the rice vinegar and sugar.

**You can use any type of protein you like. I have used chicken before in place of the tofu and it was super yummy.