Sushi Deconstructed

I love sushi. By that I mean I love a good California roll, add some cream cheese and turn it into a Philadelphia roll and I'm pretty happy, happier still if you add some spicy seafood sauce.  According to my husband and evidently all of Asia this is not sushi.  His definition involves raw fish, sometimes things are still moving, and not a bit of cream cheese to be seen. SO what does a white girl with chopsticks do?  I've made California rolls at home and it's messy and frankly a lot of work but recently when I was cruising pinterest I came across a recipe for a California roll bowl. Brilliant!

I took the recipe I found and tweaked it to fit my taste and what I could find.  You would think sushi in Asia would be easy...nothing is easy.  I will share the basic recipe and then you can make it yours, that's the best thing about cooking, it's not an exact science. So with no further ado...here it is!

Deconstructed Sushi Bowl

8 oz Lump Crab Meat
1 Avocado
1/2 Cup Carrot match stick sliced thinly
1 Cup Cucumber
3Tbsp soy sauce
2 cups of Sushi Rice
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbsp Sugar
5 Tbsp rice vinegar
Nori cut into thin strips

Rinse the rice in cool water and put in a pot with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand for 15 minutes. In the meantime bring 3 Tbsp of rice vinegar to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved.

In a bowl mix the veggies and the crab.  Once the rice has cooled down pour the vinegar mixture over the rice and toss.  Divide the  rice into 4 bowls and then top with the veggie/crab mixture.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Mix the remaining vinegar and the soy sauce together and drizzle over the bowl. sprinkle the nori strips on the top.

**This recipe makes 4 good sized servings.  I was the only one eating this when I made it so I  only cut up part of the avocado so that I could save the rest and not have to look at a brown avocado. I also did the soy sauce a little different...I put a little soy sauce on my rice prior to topping it with the veggies.  I also made some  spicy seafood sauce (recipe to follow) and drizzled that on top.   I didn't do  it, because I couldn't find any, but some chunks of cream cheese would be yummy mixed in as well.

Spicy Seafood Sauce

1/4 cup of mayonnaise
Sriracha to taste...I like it pretty spicy so I add a lot, but whatever works for you.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  I would love to hear if you tried it and what you changed to make it yours!