ramyaramesh3007This Blackened Salmon Rice Bowl is made with vegan salmon, creamy avocado slices, sushi rice and topped with toasted sesame seeds and vegan mayo.
When Emily Mariko’s Salmon Rice bowl went viral, I was astonished at how such an unique combination of ingredients could work in a dish. The original recipe had salmon paired with leftover rice topped with an interesting duo of sriracha and mayo. These are all then ‘mashed’ together and joined by avocado, kimchi and nori sheets that are used to wrap these ingredients in to consume them like ‘little sushi’ bites.
In all honesty, I didn’t like the combination of flavours the first time I tried it – it was too much and I couldn’t stomach the idea of eating rice mixed with sriracha.
But what I did love was the concept of adapting sushi to become a deconstructed sushi rice bowl. In this recipe, I’ve paired leftover sushi rice with blackened ‘honey salmon’, creamy avocado slices, vegan mayo and toasted sesame seeds. Simple, but that’s exactly what we need to enjoy the flavours of our vegan salmon.
What is the Vegan Salmon made of?
While I could have tried to be innovative like other creators who replicate the exact looks of a salmon fish (which is amazing and inspiring in every way), my mind always goes back to simplicity. When I’m craving a Salmon Rice Bowl, I want it to be (1) flavourful; and (2) not time consuming to create. As a working adult, easy vegan recipes really save the day.
I used tofu for this vegan salmon – one of the most accessible and affordable protein sources for a vegan. It gets its pinkish colour from beetroot powder and umami-ness from nori sheets. It can be marinated overnight for a nice flavour burst but if you’re pressed for time, you can marinate it for about 30 minutes.
You can check out my other easy tofu recipes – Miso Glazed Tofu, Korean BBQ Popcorn Tofu Bites, Sweet & Sour Tofu.
Ingredients You Need
- Firm Tofu – extra firm tofu works as well. You can freeze the tofu, thaw it in the microwaves for about 2 minutes and drain the excess water.
- Beetroot Powder – for the pretty pink colour
- Flavour bombs – garlic powder, red miso, vegetarian oyster sauce
- Umami – roasted nori sheets
And yes…this vegan salmon is absolutely 100% gluten free! (just check if your veg oyster/mushroom sauce & miso contain any gluten).
Vegan Honey Salmon Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 400 g firm tofu
- 1/2 tbsp red miso
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1/2 tsp beetroot powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp vegan oyster sauce
- nori sheets (handful)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Frying
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- neutral oil
Sushi Rice Bowl
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1/2 avocado
- vegan mayo
- black sesame seeds
- white sesame seeds
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- nori sheets
Instructions
- Cut up firm tofu into 2cm by 2cm squares.
- Blend together the ingredients needed for the marinade – red miso, mirin, beetroot powder, garlic powder, vegan oyster sauce, nori sheets and water.
- Pour marinade over tofu to coat evenly and marinate for 30 minutes to overnight.
- Heat up some oil in a frying pan. Coat the tofu in cornstarch and fry until crispy. The colour should be pink.
- If you are baking it, preheat the oven to 220 C and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crispy.
- Pour over the leftover marinade over the fried tofu pieces drizzle 1 tsp maple syrup. Give it a good mix!
- You can also have the vegan salmon on its own without the marinade poured over. Just skip that step and add 1 tsp of maple syrup before combining them.
- Assemble your sushi rice bowl. Start with rice, followed by salmon, avocado, soy sauce, sesame oil, vegan mayo and lastly toasted sesame seeds.
This was absolutely amazing! I made it for my family (who all eat meat) and they loved it! It is so nice to have a recipe for a “salmon” dish that I can eat. I ended up not having the beetroot powder but it was still great! Highly recommend making this!
Hi Haley! Extremely delighted to hear this, thank you for trying my recipe and being kind enough to leave a nice review! <3