The ULTIMATE Fried Sushi Recipe (Made In Under 15 Minutes)

This fried sushi recipe combines all the best parts of a traditional sushi roll, like sushi rice, tender surimi, fresh avocado, and crisp cucumbers. Then, it's battered, breaded, and fried to crispy golden perfection for a crunch that is just downright delicious. Plus, it's so, so easy to make. In fact, you can have these deep fried sushi rolls prepped and ready to eat in under 15 minutes!

The Best Fried Sushi

If you love sushi - like I do - your mind is about to be blown by this fried sushi recipe. 

I mean, it's definitely not your average sushi roll. This fried sushi recipe combines simple sushi elements to make the roll, and then it's coated in a sriracha and soy sauce egg mixture, followed by panko breadcrumbs. Then, the sushi gets deep fried for just a few minutes until it's incredibly crispy and crunchy.

Think of the best tempura roll you've ever had - this deep fried sushi is like that but 10x times. Seriously, it's that good!

Something else I love about this fried sushi recipe is the steps are super easy to follow. Even if you've never made homemade sushi before, you'll have no problem making this recipe. Sounds pretty great, right?

Honestly, it's so quick and easy that you can even make this potato mochi or these Chinese green beans to eat with the sushi without breaking a sweat. But with that said, this fried sushi is so darn good you could totally eat it on its own. 

Ingredients

This fried sushi recipe is actually made with some pretty basic ingredients. Honestly, if you regularly make Japanese recipes, you may already have everything you need at home! 

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make the sushi roll:

• 1 cup cooked sushi rice
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt, to taste
• 1 Nori Seaweed Sheet
• 2 sticks of Surimi, sliced into sticks
• ½ small avocado, sliced into sticks
• ½ small cucumber, sliced into sticks

And here's what you'll need for the crunchy breading:

• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 tbsp spicy mayonnaise (mayo with sriracha)
• 1 small egg
• ½ tbsp oyster sauce 
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• Vegetable Oil, for deep frying

Not that bad, right?

Speaking of ingredients, these fried sushi rolls are made with pre-cooked sushi rice. If you don't have it cooked already, just whip some up really quick - this Instant Pot sushi rice recipe is usually the one I use to make mine. It only takes 15 minutes to make it like that, so you'll be rolling your sushi in no time!

Ingredient Substitutions and Suggestions

The ingredients listed above are my go-to way to make these fried sushi rolls. With that said, my wife and I make this recipe a ton, and we like to switch it up from time to time. So, with that said, I've listed some ways we like to switch up these deep-fried sushi rolls. 

First off, in case you didn't know, another name for surimi is imitation crab or crab stick. This fried sushi roll tastes delicious with it, but you can substitute it with things like cooked shrimp, salmon, tuna, or even real crab meat.

You could even substitute the fish out completely if you want to make a vegetarian roll. I suggest either using some crispy tofu or some marinated tempeh in place of the fish if you do.

Also, for the filling, I like to use spicy mayonnaise, but you can also use regular mayo, kewpie mayo, or cream cheese instead. Using cream cheese is especially great if you want to make a California roll!

How to Make Fried Sushi

Now, as I mentioned earlier, you can have this fried sushi roll on the table for dinner in under 15 minutes! And don't worry if you've never made sushi before because each step is so simple and easy to follow.

Basically, you roll out the sushi rice, layer the sushi ingredients on top, and then roll 'em up. After that, all that's left to do is batter the sushi roll and fry it to perfection. Making sushi has never been easier!

Anyway, let's not waste any more time; let's get cooking.

Step 1: Make The Sushi Rice

First, if you haven't done so already, make sure you cook the sushi rice. Then, you can take out a bowl - or measuring cup - and combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in it. Next, you'll want to put the cooked rice in a bowl, pour the rice vinegar mixture over the rice, and give it a stir to coat the rice.

Now that the rice is good to go, you can place a sushi mat or bamboo mat on a flat working surface. Then, you'll want to cover the mat with plastic wrap, spread the rice over the bamboo mat, and cover the rice with another piece of plastic wrap.

After that, you can use a rolling pin to roll the rice until you have a rectangle that is slightly larger than your Nori sheet.

Step 2: Build The Sushi Roll

Once the rice is rolled out to a thin layer, you can place the nori sheet shiny side up on top of the rice.

Next, you'll want to spread the spicy mayonnaise in a strip down the center of the nori sheet. Follow that up by placing the surimi, cucumber, and avocado on top of the spicy mayonnaise, and then you can add the oyster sauce on top of the veggies. 

Now that the sushi roll is assembled, you're going to roll the sushi firmly into a tight roll. 

Step 3: Make The Batter

So, now that you have the sushi rolled, it's time to make the flavorful batter.

First, take out a dish that will be big enough to hold the roll. Then, you can add the egg, soy sauce, and sriracha to the dish - if you want a little spice - and beat them together to combine. After you've taken care of that, you can put all of the breadcrumbs in a separate dish - just make sure it's one that's big enough to hold the sushi. 

Now you can coat the sushi on all sides in the egg mixture and roll it through the breadcrumbs so that it's completely covered all the way around the roll.

Step 4: Deep Fry The Sushi

Now it's time to fry the sushi!

To start, you'll want to heat 2 inches of oil in a large skillet over high heat and place a few paper towels on a plate. Also, just so you know, you can also use a deep fryer to make the fried rolls if you have one.

Anyway, once the oil is hot, you can add the entire sushi roll to it and fry it for a few minutes until it's golden brown. Then, once it's fried, you can transfer the roll to the plate lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil from it.

Step 5: Slice and Serve

Lastly, you're going to transfer the sushi roll to a cutting board and slice it with a sharp knife. Oh, and a little pro tip here is to make sure you coat the knife with some rice vinegar to prevent it from sticking to the sushi. 

Now you can finally serve your sliced fried rolls with some soy sauce, eel sauce, wasabi paste, or sushi ginger.

Enjoy!

How To Store Fried Sushi

This recipe for fried sushi makes 1 large roll, so it's perfect as a large dinner for one or a small dinner for two.

Now, your fried sushi is definitely best when it's eaten immediately, and it's so delicious I doubt you'll even have leftovers. However, if you do, you can store your leftover sushi in the fridge in an airtight container for 24 hours.

Then, whenever you want to eat it the next day, it's terrific cold, so you can take it out of the fridge and dig right in!

FAQS About This Fried Sushi Recipe

What is fried sushi called?

Fried sushi has a few different names like tempura rolls, Godzilla rolls, uramaki rolls, and deep fried maki. Honestly, there are a ton of different types of fried sushi rolls depending on the filling in the roll and the bread crumbs on the outside.

What is fried sushi made of?

Fried sushi is made of the same ingredients you'd put in a traditional sushi roll. Then, it gets coated in an egg batter and rolled in breadcrumbs to give the sushi even more flavor and a deliciously crunchy crust.

Can you fry up sushi?

Yes, you can absolutely fry up sushi. If you follow this recipe, you can make fried sushi at home that tastes like it's from a restaurant!

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make fried sushi! 

I know I'm biased, but this has to be one of the best fried sushi recipes you'll find. It's just so simple, yet the results are anything but that. There's seriously nothing like frying sushi, and after you give it a try, it'll be hard to eat sushi any other way.

Anyway, I hope you like this recipe as much as I/we do.

As always, if you give it a try, leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts!

More Asian Inspired Recipes

If you liked this easy sushi recipe, we have a bunch of other asian-inspired recipes you can try next!

Here are some of our reader's favorites:

• Sushi bake
• Spicy ramen
• Beef ramen
  
• Hibachi fried rice
• Miso ramen

Oh, and for even more deliciousness, don't forget to follow us along on Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram. We post new tasty recipes daily on them. 

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