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Salmon Crispy Rice 🔥 I like torching these salmon bites, slightly (aburi style?) because the depth it adds is heavenly! If you me, you know that know that I am obsessed with crispy rice. It is obviously inspired by Nobu, their tuna crispy rice is my go to order. One of my favorite things about it is that it is so versatile, you can pretty much top it with your favorite fish or proteins and play around with different toppings.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Salmon Crispy Rice
This recipe is absolutely amazing. The crunch of the rice and then there’s the sauce – it just really elevates this recipe and takes it to a whole new level. What’s fun about this recipe is that you can adjust it to your liking, you can top the crispy rice with pretty much anything your heart desires.
Prep Like a Pro
If you have everything ready to go, these Salmon Crispy Rice Bites will be smooth sailing!
Gather
- Sushi Rice: 1 cup
- Water: 1 ¾ cup
- Kombu Strip: 1, optional, but recommended
- Salt
- Cane Sugar: 1 tbsp + ½ tbsp
- Rice Vinegar: 2 tbsp
- Avocado Oil
- Japanese Mayo: 3 tbsp
- Tamari: 1 tsp + 3 tbsp
- Sriracha: 2 tbsp
- Sesame Oil: ½ tsp
- Mirin: 1 tbsp
- Salsa macha: 1 tbsp
Chop, Grate, Juice
- Sushi Grade Salmon: 10 oz, finely chopped
- Serrano: 1½ total – ½ chopped + 1 thinly sliced for topping the salmon crispy rice
- Scallion: 1, green part only, sliced
- Lemon: 1, juiced
- Orange: 1 juiced
- Scallion: 1, chopped
- Fresh Ginger: 1 tsp grated
🫶 And that is it, subscribe for more!
Substitutions
- Salmon → You can use any fish of your choice, such as toro, ahi, or yellowtail instead of salmon.
- Avocado Oil → Swap your avocado oil for olive oil instead if you’d prefer.
- Serrano → Use any peppers of your choice instead of Serrano.
- Salsa Macha → You can use chili oil instead of salsa macha. You can also adjust the amount to your desired level of heat.
🔥Chef Nadia’s Tip🔥
- Always use sushi rice! You can find sushi rice as Calrose, japonica, Japanese sushi rice or California sushi rice.
- I have found that using a rice cooker yields the best results when making salmon crispy rice.
- Pack the rice pretty tightly before freezing to prevent it from falling apart.
- Once it is in the oil, don’t touch the rice until ready to turn. Very important step!
The Perfect Pairings
To pair with these Salmon Crispy Rice bites, a bright and fresh Cucumbertini is just what you need. Miso Black Cod is a great choice for your main, it is so easy and pairs really well. For your side, a Crispy Shiitake Salad and then for dessert, a Berry Panna Cotta is light, refreshing and creamy which is a great way to end your night!
Salmon Crispy Rice: Questions Answered
I use Rösle Kitchen Torch.
Locally, I get it at AJ’s, but if you can’t find it there, you can also find it at Riviera Seafood Club online.
The one I use is a 6½ x 9½ baking sheet.
It makes a more durable and crispy coating that is less prone to becoming soggy or chewy.
Salmon Crispy Rice
Equipment
- rice cooker, Optional (But Recommended)
- small bowl
- 2 Baking Sheet 6½ X 9½
- parchment paper
- plastic wrap
- medium bowl
- pan
- piping bag, or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off
- torch
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1 ¾ cup water
- 1 kombu strip, optional, but recommended
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cane sugar
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- avocado oil, for frying
Sauce
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ½ orange, juiced
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, freshly grated
- 1 tbsp salsa macha, or chili crisp
- 3 tbsp tamari, or soy sauce
Salmon Mixture
- 10 oz salmon, sushi-grade
- 3 tbsp Japanese mayo
- 1 ½ Serranos, divided, ½ chopped and 1 whole sliced thin
- 1 scallion, green part only, sliced
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sriracha
- 1 tsp tamari, or soy sauce
- ½ tsp sesame oil
Instructions
Rice
- Wash your rice well and then cook in a rice cooker with the water, kombu and pinch of salt.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and rice vinegar well. Mix that and the potato starch into the cooked rice.
- Place parchment paper onto a container and press in the rice, packing it down tightly.
- Cover that with the plastic wrap and then place another baking sheet on top. Place that in freezer for about 2 hours. The idea is for it to be pretty hard but not frozen solid.
Sauce
- Mix together the lemon juice, orange juice, mirin, scallion, ginger, salsa macha, and tamari. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.
Salmon Crispy Rice
- When the rice is ready, chop the salmon really small and add to a bowl. Mix in the mayo, scallions, sugar, sriracha, tamari, sesame oil and ½ of a chopped Serrano.
- Wetting your knife blade between cuts to ensure clean cuts, slice your rice into bite sized squares.
- Preheat a pan with avocado oil, about 1¼ inch of oil. Once the wooden spoon bubbles it's ready.
- Fry your rice squares, making sure they're far enough from each other so they don’t touch, on medium high for 9-11 minutes or until edges start to look pretty golden brown. Then, flip and cook for another 9 minutes or so.
- Pipe the salmon mixture onto the rice and lightly torch. Top with an a Serrano slice and a drizzle of sauce. And that's it!
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi there!
In some of your other recipes you also add potato starch to the rice, what does the potato starch do, make it more crispy? Also is the kombu just for flavor as well?
Hi Linda! So the potato starch is added because it makes the crispy rice more durable and actually helps it crispy up. The bites are also less prone to becoming soggy or chewy. With the kombu strip, it’s simply for taste. It add a umami flavor to the rice a little bit, it’s totally optional though. Hope that helps!