One of the latest things I’ve seen circulating the internet is crispy rice salads. They can be made many different ways, with basically unlimited variations. And the more recipes I see, the more appealing they’ve become. So I decided to put together my own version of it. It’s basically a poke bowl, but without the sashimi, and made with crispy rice.
Making sushi rice at home was surprisingly easy, even without a rice cooker. I think it may be a game changer for future recipes. Not that I’ll be making sushi, but it now feels way easier to make recipes that use sticky rice. Before, if a recipe required sticky rice, I would just write it off as being a bit too complex to make at home. Perhaps just a weird mental block of mine!
For this recipe, you can use fresh or leftover sticky rice, and you fry up the sticky rice a lot like you would make fried rice. But you can just lay it down like a patty almost, and just cook the rice on both sides. And the sticky rice makes it stick together in larger chunks. You use sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to fry it up, and it’s done when it’s crispy. That’s the base of the bowl.
Then, you add shelled edamame, shredded carrots, chopped cucumber, avocado, and a spicy kewpie mayo drizzle. You can garnish with sesame seeds as well. This would definitely be great with salmon sashimi like a proper poke bowl, but… that is beyond my cooking capabilities. I’m not even sure where you buy that. So, one step at a time. Nailing sticky rice and a kewpie drizzle is a solid first step in my book.
The sticky rice probably doesn’t get as “crispy” as some of the crispy rice salads of the internet, but having it be crispy in parts, warm, and doctored up with the soy sauce and rice vinegar really felt like a big upgrade for the whole bowl.
This ended up being one of my favorite meals I’ve made in a while! Which is unsurprising, but it felt like an achievement to make something that I’d previously have though I’d need to just get from a restaurant. And it was incredibly easy to pull together – it was just a matter of having all the right ingredients. But making a bowl that tasted just like a restaurant? That felt like a level unlocked.
(Also… I need it to be known that I did enjoy this bowl entirely with chopsticks. But it is near impossible to get a bite on your chopsticks with your right hand while attempting to photograph with with your left.)
Print
Total Time:
Print
PinIngredients
For the bowl:
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- sushi rice, prepared – either leftover or fresh
- chopped cucumber
- chopped avocado
- shelled edamame
- shredded carrots
- sesame seeds (optional)
For dressing:
- 2 tbsp kewpie mayo
- 2 tsp Sriracha
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
Instructions
Prepare sushi rice according to package instructions. Then, heat up sesame oil in a pan and then press your rice into the pan. Drizzle with soy sauce and rice vinegar. Once the rice is getting crispy on the bottom, flip it (in chunks is fine) and continue frying until crispy on both sides.
Once crispy, place in your bowl. Add in your chopped cucumber, shredded carrots, edamame, and avocado.
To prepare the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients. Then, drizzle on top of your bowl. Enjoy!