sriracha shrimp sushi bowls

sushi night at home!

First things first so I know you all read this: A quickie 30-minute marinade on the shrimp will be good, but a 4- to 24-hour marinade will be fantastic. If you can, plan ahead!

And as usual, click here for the WTC recipe index, and scroll allll the way down for a printer-friendly PDF of this recipe!

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Now that I’ve spilled the beans about baby #3, we can talk pregnancy cravings! I never ever order cucumber avocado rolls, but I've been getting them at least twice a week lately. Which is a good thing, because they are the only way that I’m able to convince my body to consume vegetables right now.

These sushi bowls are the perfect way to have sushi night at home, at a quarter of the price, and without the effort of actually rolling sushi rolls.

I’m really hoping that you guys will be able to find sushi rice for this recipe — it makes a big difference. It’s sticky and soft and the perfect canvas for all of these flavors. But if you can’t — duh, any rice or grain, or cauliflower rice, works!

We’re making shrimp sushi bowls. For the shrimp marinade, I used ingredients that I think most of you will already have on hand. It is seriously delicious, and it does double duty since it’s also our sauce!

Sticky sushi rice, saucy shrimp, creamy avocado, tangy cucumbers. Every single bite has so much flavor and texture. I can't wait for y'all to make this one! 

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this is a great time to practice intuitive cooking

I'd like to challenge you all to something this week: Keep the measuring cups and spoons in the drawer and measure with your eyeballs and your heart (EXCEPT for when cooking your rice — measure your rice and water). When you're measuring the shrimp and cucumber marinades, add all of the ingredients in the order listed so you can measure them against each other, and just eyeball it. 

For the shrimp marinade, soy sauce will be the leading ingredient. Add about the same amount of honey and sriracha. Less vinegar. Now stick your finger in there and taste it. Want it spicier? More sriracha. Too spicy?! Add more of everything but the sriracha. Want it tangier? More vinegar. Have some sesame oil hanging out in the pantry? Cool — throw some in there, if you like it. 

You get the drift. Make it your own. Congratulations — you're a recipe developer!

While we're on the subject: A reminder that whenever you’re cooking (as long as you’re not baking), if you don’t have or don’t like an ingredient, you can pretty much always just leave it out. For instance, in the marinade for the shrimp: Don’t have rice vinegar or any of the subs I list below the recipe? Leave it out. No biggie. Will it taste the same as my recipe? Not exactly. Will it be delicious? Definitely. 

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how to buy shrimp

Fresh or frozen?

99% of the time, I buy my shrimp frozen. When shrimp are caught at sea, they are immediately thrown into a freezer right on the boat, since the boat is often days from home. So typically when you buy "fresh" shrimp, it’s actually been thawed out at the store! If you’re curious, you can always ask the person behind the fish counter — they’ll be honest. If the “fresh” shrimp have been previously frozen, frozen shrimp you thaw yourself will actually be fresher.

If you’re on the hunt for (actually fresh) fresh shrimp, your best bet is to head to a fishmonger, AKA a shop that exclusively sells fish. Call ahead and ask if it’s fresh or previously frozen.

Either way, try to buy those suckers peeled, deveined, and ideally with the tails off (though these can be hard to find).

What does that number on the bag mean?

When you buy shrimp, the packaging always has a number on it such as "21/25." That means there are 21-25 shrimp per pound. 

The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp. The lower the number, the bigger the shrimp. 

I loathe tiny shrimpers. I think the texture sucks and that they taste fishy, so I don't recommend going any higher than 35 or so per pound. Nothing icks me out more than "bay shrimp," which are those teeny tiny ones that are probably like 200 per pound. Blegh. 

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Before you get intimidated, this may *look* like a lot of ingredients, but the same things are repeated several times throughout the different components!

sriracha shrimp sushi bowls 

Serves 4 to 6

~30-35 minutes (though like I said up top — the shrimp is most delicious when it marinates for anywhere from 4 to 24 hours!)

Tools:

• Large bowl

• Saucepan

• Another large bowl or a Ziploc

• Tupperware/storage container

• Skillet

Sriracha Shrimp:

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

• 1/4 cup honey

• 3 tablespoons sriracha (1 tablespoon if feeding spice-averse people)

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 

• 2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (preferably 21-25 per pound)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or unsalted butter

Sushi Rice:

• 2 cups sushi rice

• 2 1/2 cups water (plus more for pre-rinsing the rice)

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Marinated Cucumbers:

• 1 English cucumber

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Other Toppings:

• Pickled sushi ginger

• 2 large avocados, small diced

• Sesame seeds (I used black and white but honestly, they don’t add a ton of flavor, they’re just to make things look bougie, so you can def skip this)

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey, 3 tablespoons sriracha (less if feeding spice-averse people), and 3 tablespoons rice vinegar. Whisk until smooth.

Place 2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp in a separate large bowl or ziploc. Cover with about 1/4 cup of the marinade and toss to coat. Marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. (FYI, save the rest of that marinade — you’ll use it as the sauce when compiling your bowls!)

When you’re 30 minutes out from dinnertime:

Start by rinsing and cooking the rice: Add 2 cups dry sushi rice to a large saucepan (or whatever you use to cook rice) and cover with water. Use your hand to slosh the water and rice around then carefully drain off the water. There’s no real technique here — just hold your hand over the pot so that the rice doesn’t fall into the drain along with the water. Repeat this process until the water is no longer murky.

Add 2 1/2 cups water to the saucepan and bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot for 15 to 17 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat, leave the lid on, and let the rice continue to steam for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, gently stir 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt into the rice.

Meanwhile, make the marinated cucumbers: Peel 1 English cucumber like a zebra (AKA make it look striped), cut it in half vertically and scoop out/discard the guts. Thinly slice and place in a Tupperware container (let’s make it easy for if you have leftovers!). Stir in 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Marinate at room temperature if eating right away, or marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Finally, let’s cook the shrimp! Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat for several minutes. Melt 1 tablespoon butter or oil. Pour off (and discard) as much of the marinade as possible, then add the shrimp to the skillet in an even layer. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until opaque all over. Serve immediately so they don’t overcook!

To build your bowls: Start with a layer of sushi rice then throw on piles of the shrimp, marinated cucumbers, diced avocado, and pickled ginger. If you’ve got ‘em, sprinkle sesame seeds over top. Pour your desired amount of sauce over top and GET IN THERE.

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Notes:

• Make it ahead/leftovers are a great thing: Prepare and marinate the shrimp and cucumbers up to 24 hours in advance. Ideally, you’ll cook the rice and shrimp at go-time, but both will reheat well if you need to just knock all of the cooking out earlier in the day, or if end up with leftovers! To reheat the rice, place it in a bowl and stick an ice cube in the center of it. Cover the bowl loosely with parchment paper and reheat in the microwave in 45-second intervals until warmed through. Reheat the shrimp in the microwave in 10-second intervals until heated through.

• Vegetarian: Just nix the shrimp and make it a cucumber avocado bowl night! Or add some edamame! Or tofu!

• Save time: Cook the sushi rice as directed, if possible — it’s seriously so good. But you could also grab some microwavable rice if you’re tight on time.

• Df/gf: Opt for oil over butter for df. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for gf.

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Substitutions:

• Low-sodium soy sauce: Regular soy sauce, coconut aminos, tamari

• Honey: Brown sugar or maple syrup (throughout!) — or omit

• Sriracha: Sambal Oelek is the ideal sub. You could also use another hot sauce that you love or omit.

• Rice vinegar: Lime juice or any clear vinegar throughout the recipe, or omit

• Shrimp: Diced chicken breast; you’ll cook it the exact same way but it’ll take a few more minutes. You could also sub it for a cup of edamame! You can marinate and cook it the same way as the shrimp. You could marinate literally ANY meat with this marinade, cook it using your favorite method, and it will be delightful here.

• Olive oil/unsalted butter: They can be used interchangeably. You could also use another neutral-flavored cooking oil if you’re out of both.

• Sushi rice: Any rice or grain, or cauliflower rice

• Kosher salt: Sea salt — but use less!

• English cucumber: Any cucumber your grocery store or farmer’s market has. You could also dice up and “marinate” some bell pepper in lieu of the cucumber. It won’t soak up the marinade as well as cucumber would, but will still add a delicious and nutrient-rich crunch! Or you can just skip the cucumber salad portion.

Sriracha Shrimp Sushi Bowls

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