Crab Sushi Bake

Get your sushi fix with this easy Crab Sushi Bake recipe.  It’s the ultimate comfort food! This fun Asian fusion recipe has the flavors of a California Roll but it is served up in a HOT casserole. It’s a Japanese, Korean and American recipe all rolled into one delicious bite.

You are going to love the combination of the crispy crust, creamy crab, and flavored sushi rice. Once it’s wrapped up in nori (dried seaweed) with all your favorite toppings – it’s a flavor bomb. It's easy to make and perfect for a cozy night in. No fancy rolling required and its always a huge crowd pleaser.

Baked sushi with crab is an easy brunch idea, interactive meal, or party idea. Everyone always loves creating their own little masterpiece. This imitation crab casserole does not require any special skills, sushi rolling mats or even chopsticks.  Just like our Isobeyaki Mochi, you can eat it with your hands.

Jump to:

• Baked Sushi vs Traditional Sushi Benefits
• Ingredients
• How to Make Baked Sushi: Step by Step
• How to Make the Perfect Sushi Rice?
• Recipe Tips
• Topping ideas
• What to serve with a California Roll Casserole?
• How to Choose Sushi Rice
• Popular Brands of Japanese Rice
• Don't Prepare Sushi Rice in a Metal Bowl
• Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
• More Asian Snacks
• Crab Sushi Bake

Baked Sushi vs Traditional Sushi Benefits

If you a looking for a simple Asian fusion dish but without all the fuss of regular sushi – this simple sushi bake is the recipe for you.

• No fussy rolling or special tools required.
• Warm, cozy and the ultimate comfort food – especially during the change of seasons
• Can be made with easy to find ingredients.
• No sushi grade raw fish required – everything is baked.
• Fun idea for a gathering.
• Leftovers rock!
• Complete with Gluten- free and dairy free options

Ingredients

The main ingredients are Japanese short grain rice, sushi rice seasonings, imitation crab meat, mayonnaise, cream cheese, furikake, Sriracha and nori (seaweed). Let's take a moment to review what these items are and where to find them

Japanese Short Grain Rice

Japanese short grain rice also known as uruchimai (粳米) or sushi rice. It's starchier and stickier than regular rice. This stickiness allows the rice to hold its shape when rolled, shaped into sushi, or pressed into the crab sushi bake. If you try to replace sushi rice with regular long grain rice or Jasmine rice, it will fall apart and be more difficult to work with. You can purchase it at an Asian grocery store, Whole Foods or on Amazon.

Sushi Rice Seasoning

Sushi rice seasoning provides two important functions. First, it gives the sushi rice a delicious flavor. Secondly, it helps the rice stick together and hold its shape. You can add the seasoning using these three methods.

1. Rice vinegar, sugar and salt are added to the rice. This may be easiest as the ingredients are easy to source. (Rice vinegar is the type of vinegar needed for the classic sushi flavoring.)
2. Use a premade sushi seasoning rice vinegar.
3. Add a dried sushi rice mix seasoning powder like Tamanoi Sushinoko to the warm rice.

Imitation Crab Meat

Imitation Crab Meat (or fresh crab or canned crab ) work perfectly in this imitation crab casserole and in our Super Easy Crab Salad and Thai Pomelo Crab Salad Avocados. We used a gluten-free imitation crab meat because it is super convenient and less expensive.

You can find imitation crab as crab sticks or flake style like we used in our Grilled Swordfish and Crab Salsa. As you are going to chop it up for the sushi bake, either option is okay. Don’t like crab? No worries we have other budget friendly options listed in the frequent asked questions below.

Sauces and Seasonings

Mayonnaise – Hands down our favorite mayonnaise is Japanese Kewpie Mayo. However, feel free to use your favorite brand or whatever you have on hand.

Cream Cheese –Regular or light cream cheese. Alternatives listed in the frequent asked questions below.

Sriracha Chili Sauce – or a little chili sauce mixed in with the mayonnaise adds a little kick to the spicy crab sushi bake. Of course, it’s optional but why would you skip it?

Furikake (ふりかけ) is a dried savory Japanese seasoning that is usually sprinkled over rice like Tuna Mayo Rice Balls. It is usually made with roasted sesame seeds, dried seaweed, dried fish, salt, and a little sugar.

There are many different types that have different additions like dried shrimp, vegetables, or salmon. Our favorite is tomago (egg) furikake. Our family fondly refers to furikake as “Japanese Sprinkles”. They sprinkle furikake on almost everything just like you would use salt and pepper. If you cannot find the commercially prepared version at the grocery store, you can make your own homemade. (We have included directions in the recipe card for your convenience.)

Nori (Seaweed)

Nori Seaweed Sheets – we used Korean crispy seasoned seaweed snack sheets as they are the perfect size and pre-seasoned. They come in convenient small packages around 0.17 ounces.  However, you can also use dried roasted nori sheets and cut them to size – approximately 3-inch x 4-inch sections.

How to Make Baked Sushi: Step by Step

Cook and Season the Rice

• Cook Japanese short grain rice per the instructions on the package. Be sure to rinse the rice in cool water before cooking. Even though you need only half of the rice for this recipe,  we usually cook up 2 cups of Japanese rice so we can make Pepper Lunch Steak and Rice Sizzle with the leftover rice.  
• If you are cooking Japanese sushi rice on the stovetop, follow the package directions as each brand is different. You can also use a rice cooker or instant pot. For cooking Kokuho Rose sushi rice on the stovetop, the ratio is 1 cup rice to 1 and ¼ cup water. Bring to a full boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let it sit covered for another 10 minutes before fluffing.
• 1 US cup (8 oz) of raw short-grained rice is equal to approximately 3 US cups of steamed rice.
• Fluff sushi rice with a fork or a rice paddle. Add the sushi rice seasoning (Rice vinegar, sugar, and salt mixture) into the rice. Then add a little Furikake dried seasoning, if desired.

Creamy Crab Mixture

• Finely chop imitation crab meat and set aside.
• Mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl.
• Then, add the chopped crab into the cream cheese and mayonnaise mixture and stir well.

Spicy Mayonnaise

• Add mayonnaise and Sriracha chili sauce in a bowl and mix well. Make extra so that you can enjoy the spicy mayo with our Kimchi Salmon and Quick Pickles or as a dip for Japanese Sweet Potato Fries.

Layer it Up

• Grease a baking pan with oil to prevent sticking.
• Spread the seasoned sushi rice in the baking pan and press down in the pan.
• Sprinkle with dried Furikaki seasoning if desired.
• Place the cream crab mixture on top of the seasoned rice.

• Sprinkle with more dried Furikaki seasoning.
• Drizzle with ½ of the spicy mayo mixture.

• Bake at 385 degrees F (196 degrees C) for approximately 20 – 25 minutes or until the baked crab sushi is toasty and golden on the top.

Serve it Up!

• Drizzle on the other half of the spicy mayonnaise.
• Spoon a little of the warm and cozy crab sushi bake into a cut nori sheet.
• Add your favorite toppings and enjoy! Go bake for seconds and thirds because you deserve it.

How to Make the Perfect Sushi Rice?

If you want to get the best flavored and textured sushi rice, try these recipe tips.

Rinsing

1. Do a quick rinse of the rice a couple of times to remove some the excess starch and things that should not be in the rice.
2. Be sure to drain the rice well so that you get a proper rice to water ratio when cooking the rice.
3. Don’t soak the rice before cooking as this will make the rice mushy.

Cooking

1. Japanese sushi rice to water ratio depends on the brand of rice. Follow the package instructions. Kokuho Rose is 1 cup rice to 1.25 cups of water.
2. If you want to make traditional sushi rice, you can add a slice of dried kombu (Japanese kelp) on top of rice and water before cooking.
3. Cooking on the stovetop?  Bring rice to a boil with a tight-fitting lid. Then, simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. Then take off the heat and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
4. Take note of the pot and lid you are using. The lid cannot have any vet holes and the pots should not have a pouring lid. The reason being is that the steam will escape, and your rice will not cook properly.
5. Be gentle when fluffing the rice. Use a fork or a rice paddle to fluff the rice so you do not break the steamed rice grains.

Seasoning

1. Transfer rice to a non-reactive bowl BEFORE adding the sushi seasoning.
2. To properly season the rice, add a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. You can also exchange with ¼ cup seasoned sushi vinegar or ½ packet (1.32 oz) of a dried sushi rice mix seasoning powder like Tamanoi Sushinoko to approximately 2 cups of cooked Japanese Rice.
3. Add the sushi seasoning while the rice is still warm and adjust to your personal taste preference.
4. Use a wooden spoon or rice paddle to mix in the sushi seasoning. Be gentle and do not crush the rice grains.

Recipe Tips

• Did you know there is a big difference between a standard US measuring cup vs a Japanese rice cooker measuring cup? For this sushi rice recipe, we used an 8-ounce (236 ml’s) US standard measuring cup. Whereas a Japanese rice cooker cup is only6.10 ounces (180 ml’s).
• 1 US Cup of raw Japanese short-grained rice will yield about 3 cups of cooked rice. However, a Japanese rice cooker cup will only yield approximately 2 and ⅓ cups cooked rice.
• The texture of the dish will be mushy if you try to substitute sushi rice with Jasmine rice.
• It is not recommended to exchange the rice vinegar with other types of vinegar as it will taste odd.
• Use a 9 x 9 or larger baking pan for the perfect rice to creamy crab mixture ratio. We used a 11 x 8 x 2 inch (2.4 quart) oval pan.
• Baking the imitation crab sushi bake at a lower temperature (385 degrees F) allows the top to get brown and crispy and it cooks all the casserole way through, so it is warm and toasty. If you cook it at a high temperature, it gets hot, but it does not brown.

Topping ideas

Do you have a favorite topping? When you think about a classic California roll, you are probably thinking about cucumbers and avocadoes. However, there is so much more. You may want to try some of these different topping ideas to elevate your sushi game. The only requirement is that you chop or slice the toppings small, so they fit easily on top.

• Japanese pickles like Lemon Daikon Radish Refrigerator Pickles julienne sliced.
• Pickled ginger
• Green onion
• Tenkasu are essentially the little crunchy bits left over after making a batch of vegetable or Shrimp Tempura. You can buy tempura crunch tenkasu pre-packaged at Asian food stores.
• Spicy Mayo
• Roasted Sesame seeds or extra furikake.
• Tobiko or masago - flying fish roe.
• Eel Sauce or Unagi Sauce (うなぎのたれ) is a sweet and salty made with mirin, sake, sugar, and soy sauce.
• Avocado
• Cucumbers

What to serve with a California Roll Casserole?

Now let’s have a little fun! One of the perks of crab sushi bake recipe is that it can be served as an appetizer or a satisfying main dish when complemented with some easy side dish ideas.

1. Simple green salad or try our Sesame Burdock Root Salad.
2. Grilled Shishito Peppers or your favorite Japanese pickles.
3. Miso soup
4. Add some lower carb options like Asian Beef Roll Ups or even Japanese Egg Roll Tomagoyaki.
5. Steamed edamame (steamed soybean pods) are delicious drizzled with a little sesame oil and salt.
6. Don’t forget about dessert! Matcha Banana Strawberry Ice Cream Cups are healthy and always a crowd pleaser.

How to Choose Sushi Rice

Short grain Japanese sushi rice is best for making a sushi bake as it has a slight sweet flavor and sticky texture that holds together well. When choosing the best Japanese rice, please check the expiration date for freshness. The goal is to choose a rice that is sweet, shiny, has no broken rice pieces and has a delightful fragrance. 

Popular Brands of Japanese Rice

Did you know that for many years Japan did not export any rice? The purpose of the ban was important for food security purposes and maintenance of Japanese Culture. Since then, the ban has been lifted on some of their exports. However, some of the prized rice farmers keep the rice in Japan.

If you are living in the US, California produces most of the Japanese rice used to make sushi. There are many different brands available in the US. Here are a few on the better rated options.

1. Lundberg Organic California Sushi Rice is a short, grained Japanese rice. We like it because it is organic.
2. Nishiki, Botan and Kokuho Rose are a bit less expensive. They have a slightly sweet flavor and sticky texture that holds together well. As this baked sushi recipe is not the traditional type of sushi, we choose to use the less expensive Kokuho Rose rice.
3. Tamaki and Tamanishiki are premium brands, but they can be very expensive.

Don't Prepare Sushi Rice in a Metal Bowl

Here we go!  Full on science nerdy moment - but this is important!

Have ever wondered why you see Japanese sushi chefs mix sushi rice in a wooden bowl or basket?  Please do not use a metal bowl because the vinegar in the sushi rice can react with the metal. It may result in metallic tasting and possibly cause the rice to change colors. This is because vinegar is an acidic ingredient. When vinegar comes in contact with reactive metals, such as aluminum or copper, it can cause a chemical reaction that alters the taste and appearance of the food.

Instead, please mix your rice in a non-reactive wooden, glass or ceramic bowl. This also applies to the utensils used to mix the seasoning in the rice. Please use a wooden spoon, plastic spatula, or rice paddle (also called Shamoji) to mix the rice in with the vinegar mixture.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

More Asian Snacks