Baked Salmon Roll

i don’t understand why good sushi places in town have to be obnoxiously loud. one sushi place blasts music as loud as a clothing store, while the other is well-known for their customers doing drunken karaokes after one too many sake bombs. one of these sushi places has a roll called Baked Salmon. it’s a baked sushi stuffed with salmon, crab, CREAM CHEESE (!!!), and broiled in a teriyaki sauce. the sushi place is way across town and they run strange business hours (they’re the ones with the obnoxious karaoke)! so i decided to make my own little version. if you’ve ever made sushi at home then you’d know that it’s pretty time-consuming and you’d most likely end up spending more money on the ingredients than just going to your sushi place & ordering your favorite rolls. but eating this sushi in your own home without a drunken guy belting out a Guns N’ Roses song is pretty relaxing… and quite tasty!

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg salmon (julienned)

1/4 cube of cream cheese (sliced thinly)

1 1/2 cups cooked sushi rice

2 sheets of roasted nori

3 tbsp of Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki sauce (plus more for topping)

sushi mat (cover in saran wrap for easier cleanup)

DIRECTIONS

1. marinade salmon in Island Soyaki for 15 minutes

2. cut 2 sheets of nori in half

3. place nori (shiny side up) on sushi mat & cover thinly with sushi rice (soak hands in water to avoid rice from sticking to fingers)

4. flip over rice covered nori & place salmon & cream cheese

5. roll sushi using sushi mat

6. place salmon pieces on top of rolled sushi & spoon extra Soyaki over salmon

7. bake 400 for 10 mins; broil for an additional 3-5 mins (or until salmon is toasted)

8. let sit 2-3 minutes before slicing to desired width