Name: Chirashi Sushi Bowl (Chirashizushi)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ingredients: Cooked and shelled edamame beans, wakame or nori seaweed, thinly sliced, shredded or julienne carrot and daikon (Japanese radish), thinly sliced sushi grade raw seafood or bits of cooked seafood; Seasoned mushrooms, cucumber and omelet (recipes below); Garnishes: Wasabi, pickled ginger, shiso leaves or microgreens, sliced scallions, sesame seeds, tobiko, lotus root, edible flowers such as shiso or thyme flowers (the Japanese love a beautiful dish!); 1.5 c Short grain white or brown rice, cooked according to package.; 3 tbsp Rice Vinegar; 2 tbsp Sugar; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 c Cucumbers, sliced very thin in rounds; 1/4 c Rice Vinegar; 1 tsp Sugar; 1 c Shiitake Mushroom, sliced 1/4"; 2 tbsp Mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine) or 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp water; 1 tbsp Soy Sauce; 1 tsp Vegetable Oil; 2 Eggs; 1 tsp Sugar; pinch Salt; 2 tbsp Mirin or 2 tsp each sugar and water; 2 tbsp Soy Sauce; 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar; 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil; 1 tbsp Green Tea or water

Chirashi Sushi Bowl (aka Superfood Bowl)

Healthy Minimal Recipe For Chirashi Sushi With Fish And Rice

A Chirashi sushi bowl recipe (often Chirashizushi in Japanese restaurants) is my second healthy eating meal for January. This recipe is so easy to customize that it’s great for families with picky eaters. Rice topped with beautifully arranged ingredients make a delicious and colorful dish for company or a perfect one bowl meal for movie night at home.

There are a few theories behind the origin of Chirashi, the seasoned rice dish with delectable ingredients scattered over the top. The word itself means to scatter. Some say it was during the 1600’s when Japanese people were ordered to live frugal lives including plain rice. To hide their seafood and vegetables the people would put them at the bottom of their bowl, hiding them from enforcement officials with a heap of plain rice. Once the diner had a safe or private place to eat, they would turn their bowl upside down and secretly enjoy their luxurious dinner. The less exciting but very practical theory is that Chirashi was created to use up the less attractive pieces of fish leftover from making sashimi and ngiri. Restaurant versions favor raw fish but home cooks often use bits of cooked seafood.

So with that bit of history, you can see how versatile this dish is! This easy sushi dish is a fantastic way to use up leftover bits of cooked or raw seafood and vegetables from the week.

In a true Japanese Chirashi, the ingredients are all prepared separately with their own marinade or seasoning. This can make the dish quite time consuming but my version is simplified with a dressing to lightly pour over the artfully arranged ingredients once they have adorned the rice. I have included the cucumber salad, seasoned mushrooms and Japanese omelet recipes because they are easy and add much to the variety of flavours.

Traditional Sushi Ingredients For An Easy One Bowl Meal

Traditional toppings include seaweed, cucumber, raw or cooked fish, crab, octopus or prawns, tobiko, egg (japanese omelet), seasoned mushrooms, shiso or microgreens, shredded or finely sliced carrot and daikon, edamame, lotus root and more. You can go crazy and use it all or just choose your favourite few. Get creative and add really anything at all, just slice it small or thin and arrange it attractively.

Please don’t be daunted by all the ingredients, I’ve included a long list so you can choose your favourites, I don’t expect anyone to use all of them. Start cooking your rice and you can make the toppings while it cooks or make the toppings ahead of time. Assembling a Chirashi bowl is just like assembling a salad. Go all out with luxury or keep it minimal and just choose 2 veggies, 1 or 2 proteins and a garnish and you’ve got a healthy and delicious dish. Happy, healthy eating my friends! Kanpai!

PS. If you like this recipe, you might also like my Tuna Nicoise Salad recipe or the Mexican Tuna Ceviche recipe and if you’re looking for some delicious, healthy muffin or shake recipes, check out The Nourished Blonde’s recipe section.

Healthy Chirashi Sushi Bowl With Seafood And Vegetables

5 from 10 votes

Chirashi Sushi Bowl (Chirashizushi)

A delicious and beautiful dish full of superfoods and easy to customize for picky eaters. This healthy bowl is also a fun way to use up small amounts of leftover seafood and vegetables and very easy to make. Traditionally made with white sushi rice but for a healthy alternative, substitute short grain brown rice. To take it up a notch, you can add the sweet rice vinegar seasoning to the rice but this is optional. This is also easily made vegetarian by omitting the seafood and utilizing the edamame or omelet for protein.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main, Seafood, Vegetarian

Cuisine Asian, canadian, Japanese

Keyword Bowl, Chirashi, Easy, Easy Recipe, Healthy, Rice, Sushi, Sustainable Seafood

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sabrina Currie

Ingredients

Chirashi Sushi Toppings And Garnishes

Cooked and shelled edamame beans, wakame or nori seaweed, thinly sliced, shredded or julienne carrot and daikon (Japanese radish), thinly sliced sushi grade raw seafood or bits of cooked seafood
Seasoned mushrooms, cucumber and omelet (recipes below)
Garnishes: Wasabi, pickled ginger, shiso leaves or microgreens, sliced scallions, sesame seeds, tobiko, lotus root, edible flowers such as shiso or thyme flowers (the Japanese love a beautiful dish!)

Seasoned Sushi Rice

1.5 c Short grain white or brown rice, cooked according to package.
3 tbsp Rice Vinegar
2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

Cucumber Salad

1 c Cucumbers, sliced very thin in rounds
1/4 c Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Sugar

Sweet Seasoned Shiitake Mushrooms

1 c Shiitake Mushroom, sliced 1/4"
2 tbsp Mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine) or 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp water
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Vegetable Oil

Japanese Omelet

2 Eggs
1 tsp Sugar
pinch Salt

Chirashi Sushi Dressing

2 tbsp Mirin or 2 tsp each sugar and water
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Green Tea or water

Instructions