Teriyaki Salmon Sushi Sandwiches: A Fun Twist on Sushi

My family loves eating and making sushi. We also love getting creative with different maki roll fillings inspired by travels (like fried oyster maki rolls) or by things we have around the kitchen. As much as we enjoy the process of making sushi, it’s not always an ideal weeknight dinner because it can be a bit laborious.

My husband is much savvier with Instagram than I am, and he stumbled across an interesting technique that takes all of the ingredients you would use to make sushi, but turns it into a DIY project that comes together very quickly at the dinner table. We call them sushi sandwiches and they can be personalized with any ingredients you like.

The sheet of nori is folded up into quadrants, so you want to make sure you have at least four different ingredients for your sandwiches with rice being one of the four. Utilizing what we had on hand, our sushi sandwiches consisted of skewered teriyaki salmon cubes, steamed sushi rice, cucumbers and avocado.

Teriyaki sauce is a slightly thickened sweet and salty Japanese sauce that pairs extremely well with fish, poultry and beef. It’s also a great sauce to drizzle on Asian noodles and poke bowls! You can purchase teriyaki sauce, but making it is so simple and it keeps forever in the fridge. Because it contains brown sugar and mirin (a sweetened rice wine) it can burn easily, so it’s great for quick cooking items or when used as a glaze towards the end of the cooking process.

Other sushi sandwich ideas include:

• Spicy raw tuna or cooked shrimp
• Crispy fried or tempura shrimp
• Crab or surimi (imitation crab)
• Pan seared or broiled tofu
• Shredded raw carrot
• Shredded red cabbage
• Mixed greens
• Thinly sliced ripe mango

Because the seasoned rice and nori are always going to be the constants in a sushi sandwich, here are some tips on variables and information to help make the process more approachable.   

Sushi Rice

Sushi rice, aka sticky rice, is a short grain rice that contains more the type of starch that makes the grains stick together when cooked. There are many different brands to chose from, but we always by the Nishiki brand from our grocery store simply because it’s well priced and delicious. There are different techniques to making sushi rice, but we just follow the directions on the back of the package and it turns out great every time. I personally love that we don’t have to rinse the rice… only soak it for 15 minutes prior to cooking. Once the rice is done cooking and resting, use a wooden spoon to lightly fluff the rice and gently stir in the vinegar seasoning while it’s hot.

Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

In order to make your cooked short grain rice taste like sushi rice, it needs to be seasoned with a mixture of rice vinegar, salt and sugar called sushi-su. This emulates the slightly funky flavor of the rice that was used to ferment the fish ages ago. You can make your own sushi-su (heat together 1 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons fine sea salt until dissolved and allow to cool) which will last forever in your pantry, or purchase already seasoned rice vinegar which is what we do in my house. Season the hot rice like you would season anything else; it should be flavorful and well balanced to your liking. Be sure to let your sushi rice cool down to warm or room temperature before using, otherwise the hot rice will shrivel your nori.

Nori

These are sheets of toasted seaweed made from a type of red algae called porphyra. They are used to make maki rolls that have a distinct ocean, plant-like flavor and contain many vitamins and minerals. Nori ranges in quality, so look for the packages that say sushi nori, or nori that is very dark in color. For the sandwiches, use a chef’s knife or scissors to cut a line right down the middle of the sheet, stopping at the center.  

Once you have your seasoned sushi rice ready to go, and all of your other ingredients prepped, it’s time to have fun and assemble! Put everything on your kitchen island or dining room table and let everyone create their own personal folded sandwiches.

Here’s how it’s done:

To assemble:

1. Lay a sheet of the cut nori on your work surface or plate with the cut portion facing you.
2. On the bottom right corner, place a spoonful of the steamed, seasoned rice.
3. On the top right corner, lay down several slices of cucumber or any other items of your liking.
4. On the top left corner, place a cube or two of the salmon that’s been flaked apart, or any protein of your choice.
5. On the bottom left corner, lay down several slices of avocado.

Note: Add wasabi and/or pickled ginger to any and all layers as you like, and more than one quadrant can contain rice. Make them however you like!

To fold:

1. Fold the rice quadrant over the cucumbers.

2. Fold the rice-cucumber quadrant over the salmon.

3. Lastly, fold the rice-cucumber-salmon quadrant over the avocado.

The folded sushi sandwiches and a side of soy sauce for dipping are plenty on their own as a complete meal, but who doesn’t love a side of dumplings or edamame?

Teriyaki Salmon Sushi Sandwiches

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 8 sushi sandwiches; 4 servings

Active time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Inactive time: 30 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 25 minutes

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup mirin

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 clove garlic, pressed or grated

1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

Three 5- to 6-ounce salmon fillets, boneless and skinless

6-inch bamboo skewers

Pan spray

1 tablespoon furikake

8 sheets nori

1/2 seedless cucumber, halved and thinly sliced

1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced

Steamed sushi rice (cooked according to the package directions)

Seasoned rice wine vinegar to taste

Wasabi and pickled ginger to taste

Soy sauce for dipping

1. To make the teriyaki sauce, measure together the soy sauce, water, mirin, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan, and bring to a boil.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water to dissolve the starch. Whisk the mixture into the sauce and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and gently simmer until reduced enough to coat a spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Tip: This sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated.

3. Cut the salmon into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes and place in a baking dish. Pour the cooled teriyaki over the salmon and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes but up to 2 hours, refrigerated. Note: You can leave the fillets whole instead of cubing them, but I like the skewer presentation! Cubing the salmon also allows more surface area for marinating.

4. Preheat the oven to 450°.

5. Line a sheet tray with foil and spray the foil to prevent the fish from sticking.

6. Thread 2 to 3 pieces of salmon on each skewer and place on the prepared tray. Roast the skewers until the salmon is just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.

7. While the salmon is cooking, pour the excess marinade into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the salmon comes out of the oven, brush several times with the teriyaki sauce, and sprinkle with furikake. Note: Furikake is a savory seasoning made with sesame seeds, nori and kelp powder, but every brand is a bit different. It’s great on sushi rice, sprinkled on top of Asian noodle dishes and yummy on popcorn.

8. To prepare the sheets of nori, use a chef’s knife or scissors to cut a line right down the middle of the sheet stopping at the center.

9. Gently fluff your steamed sushi rice using a wooden spoon and season, to taste, with a drizzle or two of the seasoned rice wine vinegar. Allow the rice to cool to warm or room temperature. If it’s too hot it will make the nori shrivel up.

10. Now you’re ready to assemble:

• Lay a sheet of the cut nori on your work surface with the cut portion facing you.
• On the bottom right corner, place a spoonful of the steamed, seasoned rice.
• On the top right corner, lay down several slices of cucumber.
• On the top left corner, place a cube or two of the salmon that’s been flaked apart.
• On the bottom left corner, lay down several slices of avocado.
• Add wasabi and/or pickled ginger to any and all layers as you like!

11. To fold up the sushi sandwich:

• Fold the rice quadrant over the cucumbers.
• Fold the rice-cucumber quadrant over the salmon.
• Lastly, fold the rice-cucumber-salmon quadrant over the avocado.

12. Dip in soy sauce and enjoy!

Are you ready to take your sushi adventures to the next level? Don’t miss out on our Next Level Sushi Workshop on Saturday, April 20 from 6-8:30pm where you’ll learn how to make rainbow rolls, caterpillar rolls and spicy tuna hand rolls!