Sushi and sashimi always make a real treat for seafood lovers. While they may be the kind of foods you rather enjoy at a Japanese restaurant, at home, you can make this Salmon Sashimi Bowl with Ikura (鮭いくら丼).
A bowl of steamed rice, topped with pure luxury from the ocean, this Japanese rice bowl turns out to be one of the easiest dishes imaginable.
Satisfy Your Sushi Cravings!
These days you can enjoy fresh sashimi-grade seafood without a trip to a sushi restaurant or Japanese grocery store. You just need to know where to source them or have them delivered straight to your home.
When my family has a craving for sushi, I often resolve it by making this Salmon Sashimi Bowl. It’s extremely quick, refreshing, yet fancy. The robust flavor of fresh salmon and rich saltiness of ikura roe, when enjoyed with the tender sweet rice, you know you’re in for a heavenly indulgence. Best of all, enjoying seafood at home is so much more economical than eating out.
The sashimi bowl is, of course, more of a concept than a real recipe. What you need to do is to cook rice, assemble all the ingredients, and serve.
Quick and Easy Meal Ready in 10 Minutes!
As long as you have the rice cooked in advance, it really doesn’t take much to prepare:
- Make sure the rice is cooked ahead (whether scheduled in your rice cooker or ready to reheat from the freezer). Otherwise, just make steamed rice using your method. The rice cooking time is not counted for the total preparation time.
- Slice salmon. Read my tips below.
- Serve steamed rice, and let it cool off slightly. Meanwhile, you can set up other toppings.
- Assemble salmon sashimi, ikura, shiso leaves, and shredded nori on top. Serve with soy sauce!
Where to Get Sashimi-Grade Salmon and Ikura (Salmon Roe)
If you live near a Japanese grocery store, I recommend checking out their sashimi selections. Here, where I live, Japanese grocery stores Nijiya and Suruki in San Mateo are my go-to stores.
Don’t live near a Japanese grocery store? You have the option of shopping at online sashimi stores in the US, such as Catalina Offshore. More information after the recipe card in the post.
Sashimi Slicing Tips
There are a few tips for slicing salmon sashimi that has worked for us.
- Place the salmon block in the freezer for 5-10 min before slicing. This will firm up the flesh so it’s easier to slice.
- You don’t need a sashimi knife but make sure to use a really sharp knife. Do not use a serrated knife to slice sashimi.
- The simplest way to slice salmon sashimi is to cut the fish vertically. Pulling the knife towards you, start the cut from the base of the knife to the tip. This method is called hira-zukuri.
Steamed Rice or Vinegared Sushi Rice
Considering this rice bowl is served with sashimi, you may wonder if we have to use “sushi rice”, which is steamed rice that’s seasoned with sweet vinegar or sushi vinegar.
In Japan, we serve simple steamed rice whenever a dish is called “Donburi (丼ぶり)” or “Don (丼)” for short. However, when the sashimi is served over the rice and it’s called “sushi”, then the steamed rice is always seasoned.
Having said that, you’re the one who decides when cooking and eating at home. For this “Salmon and Ikura Donburi” recipe, I served it with plain steamed rice. But feel free to serve with sushi rice. You can find my sushi rice tutorial here.
Use Sashimi/Sushi-Grade Salmon
Use only sashimi-grade salmon for raw consumption. Some salmon contains parasites and here are the FDA guidelines for destroying the parasites:
Freezing and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours are sufficient to kill parasites.
FDA guidelines
I hope this quick and easy Salmon Sashimi Bowl inspires you! If you’re not a salmon fan, try it with your other favorite raw fish such as tuna, hamachi, or sweet crab meat.
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Salmon Sashimi Bowl (Donburi) with Ikura
Ingredients
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- 5 oz sashimi-grade salmon
- 3 Tbsp ikura (salmon roe)
For the Toppings (optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- With a very sharp knife, slice 5 oz sashimi-grade salmon. Remove the stems of 2 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba).
- Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into individual (large) donburi bowls and let it cool slightly. You do not want the hot rice to cook the sashimi. Then, layer the slices of salmon on the rice like flower petals until you cover half of the rice. Place one shiso leaf in each bowl to cover the other half of the rice. Divide 3 Tbsp ikura (salmon roe) and add on top of each leaf. Garnish the bowls with 2 Tbsp shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori). Serve soy sauce in a small dish and put wasabi on the side. Mix the sauce and drizzle on top of the Salmon Sashimi Bowl to enjoy!
Nutrition
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 7, 2011. New images have been added in September 2020.