Baked salmon sushi tacos recipe

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 10 to 30 mins
Serve: Serves 4–6
Dietary: Nut-free Pregnancy-friendly

Combine the flavours of sushi with the laid back vibe of tacos. It's so much simpler than making actual sushi (no tricky rolling here!) and a great recipe to cook when you have friends coming round.

Each serving provides (based on 6 servings) 752 kcal, 30.3g protein, 35.9g carbohydrate (of which 8.4g sugars), 52.6g fat (of which 13.2g saturates), 4.4g fibre and 4.73g salt.

By Justin Tsang

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Ingredients

For the rice

450g/1lb freshly cooked sushi rice (about 150–175g/5½–6oz uncooked weight)
150ml/5fl oz sushi seasoning liquid (also known as seasoned rice vinegar)

For the salmon

4 x 120g/4¼oz salmon fillets, skin removed
200g/7oz crabsticks, shredded
4 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
175g/6oz cream cheese
2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
3 tbsp sriracha
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp MSG
pinch salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil

For the topping

3 tbsp sriracha
handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
3 tbsp sesame seeds
handful fresh chives, thinly sliced

To serve

8 sheets nori seaweed, cut into quarters
3 avocados, peeled, stone removed and sliced
1 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
8 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp wasabi

Recipe tips

Method

Put the cooked rice in a large shallow ovenproof dish (you don't need to be precise about the size of the dish, but it should be big enough to take the rice in a layer about 2.5cm/1in deep – Justin uses a 22cm/10in round pie dish).
Pour the sushi seasoning over the rice. Gently mix in the sushi seasoning, without breaking the rice grains, for 2–4 minutes. Mix until all of the grains have been coated and the seasoning has soaked in. Gently spread out the rice to cover the entire base of the dish, but do not pack too tightly.
To make the salmon, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Put the salmon on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes. Once cooked, transfer to a plate, leave to cool slightly then use your fingers to shred the fish into large flakes.
Put all the remaining ingredients for the salmon in a large bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Add the flaked salmon and gently fold through the mixture, being careful not to break up the flakes. Spoon the mixture over the rice to cover it completely.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 minutes.
Preheat the grill to high. Remove the salmon and rice from the oven and grill for a further 2–3 minutes, or until golden brown and starting to char on top. Leave to rest for 5–10 minutes, or until slightly cooled. (Alternatively use a chef's blow torch or leave in the oven for a few more minutes.)
Once cooled, add the topping. Drizzle the salmon mixture with the sriracha from edge to edge, in a zigzag. Sprinkle the coriander on top and drizzle over the mayonnaise in a zigzag. Finally, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and chives.
To serve, put the oven dish in the middle of the table, surrounded by the nori squares, avocado, cucumber, soy sauce and wasabi in small bowls.
To eat, grab a nori square and add a spoonful of rice and salmon followed by some avocado and cucumber. Fold it over like a taco and dip it into the soy and wasabi, as you would with sushi.

Baked salmon sushi tacos