Homemade Sushi Stacks

Hello, friends. I have a recipe for you all today, that is a bit out of the norm for me and maybe for you…but extremely wonderful, all the same. Have you noticed how popular sushi has become lately? There are sushi shops hopping up all over. The local Smith’s grocery store near my home has a sushi bar that is fantastic. I often grab a container while I’m grocery shopping to enjoy for lunch. So yummy!  Now, make no mistake I am not a “raw fish” kind of girl, and the sushi I’m referring to is not accompanied with raw fish. Just wanted to make you aware of that before we proceed.  🙂

I’ve wanted to learn how to make homemade sushi for a while now. On Mother’s Day, MyHandsomeHusband offered to make it for dinner. Such a nice offer, yes? I’m sure when he submitted this fine offer, he didn’t anticipate it taking all of 7 hours to bring his promise to fruition. He googled how to make sushi rice, watched You Tube videos on how to roll sushi, sliced vegetables into beautiful thin strips, made gourmet sauces from scratch and rolled and rolled sushi into a fine deliciousness.

Have I mentioned that he’s pretty darn great? I think I may have, a time of two before!

We had a wonderful meal of it and then Adam promptly vowed to never make it again (at least for a few months!) It was just so time-consuming! Good heavens. Delicious, but way too involved.

Thankfully, my sister-in-law Mary came across a Facebook video that showed a cool way to make these fun Sushi Stacks that are just as delicious (maybe even more so!) as sushi that is rolled or purchased at the store. We have been making them all summer long at Bear Lake and enjoying them with our family. They are perfect party food, as everyone can make their own tailored to their own specific tastes. It is much less time-consuming than rolling the sushi. Much, much less time-consuming! That is something to be happy about, yes? We usually make ours with seasoned sushi rice, cucumber, avocado, sriracha mayo and shrimp. However, you can add anything you like. Mango and crab are some ingredients I’m hoping to try in the future.

Anyhow gang. That’s the story on how these Sushi Stacks came to be one of our latest, favorite things to make. Hope some of you get a chance to try them!

Let me show you how to make it happen!

1. Grab some sushi or jasmine rice and cook according to package directions. You’ll need 7 cups cooked rice, which is about 3 cups dry.
2. When the rice has cooked, scoop 7 loosely packed cups into a large mixing bowl.
3. Into a glass measuring cup place 1/3 C rice wine vinegar, 2 Tb sugar and 2 tsp sesame oil. Stir it together…

and pour it over the rice. Stir it well to combine and allow the rice to come to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Please note that the rice doesn’t keep well once it has been seasoned. You’ll want to be sure to use it within 24 hours.

4. Place 1 C yoshida’s sauce and 3 Tb brown sugar into a medium sized sauce pan. Stir it well and bring it to a simmer. Allow it to cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to thicken up a bit. Should only take 5 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools down. Remove it from the heat and set it aside.

5. Peel and chop 1 large cucumber.

6. Mix 1 C mayonnaise (I use Best Foods Light) and 3 Tb sriracha chili sauce. Set aside.

7. Chop 1 1/2 pounds of cooked shrimp into small pieces. If you are using frozen shrimp that has been thawed, be sure to pat it dry with paper towels. You want to be sure it’s not at all wet.

8. Grab 4 ripe avocados, slice them open, remove the pits and scoop the flesh from the peel. Place it in a bowl, sprinkle with some salt and mash them up.

9. You’ll want some crispy onions (I found these in the produce section at Walmart)…

and some toasted sesame seeds as well.

10. When you are ready to serve, set everything out on your counter and allow each person to assemble their own stack.

11. To assemble a sushi stack take a large plastic or metal measuring cup (a 1 cup or 1 1/2 cup size works great). Spray the inside of the cup with cooking spray. Scoop some rice into the cup. Grab a smaller measuring cup (a 1/2 cup size works well) and spray the outside of it with cooking spray. Press the rice down with the smaller cup.

12. Sprinkle cucumber over the rice and spread some sriracha mayo over the top. Carefully press the smaller cup over the top to flatten it out.

13. Scoop some shrimp on top and spread some avocado over the top. Press the ingredients down with the smaller cup.

14. Take a serving plate and place it over the top of the measuring cup. Invert the plate and tap the bottom of it several times to help loosen the ingredients. Remove the cup and view your beautiful sushi stack of wonder. 🙂

15. Drizzle some of the sweet Yoshida’s sauce over the top. Doesn’t that look heavenly!

Yum!

16. Sprinkle with crispy onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Here’s the handy printable…