The yummiest, restaurant-level spicy salmon sushi pizza recipe! The combination of crispy Panko-fried rice patties and creamy, spicy salmon topping is just plain irresistible. Our own personal fave!
We love anything crispy or anything salmon. And this spicy salmon sushi pizza has both! Talk about a two-in-one package. The fried rice patty base is crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside. The spicy salmon topping is just bursting with amazing textures and flavours. It's a dish that basically anyone will like!
We like to serve this as an appetizer, especially for special events or dinner parties. Such a great bite-sized food to pair with wine in a social setting. Or you can just eat it as a side or as a whole meal if you want!
What is sushi pizza?
Sushi pizza is actually a Canadian dish (YAY Canada!) that is a fusion of pizza with sushi! The base is usually a circular-shaped crispy fried rice patty as the "pizza crust" and is often topped with salmon, crab meat, tuna, avocado or a combination of these ingredients. The topping is often seasoned with mayonnaise or Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie) and other Asian-oriented seasonings. It is an extremely popular dish in Canada, and every sushi restaurant in Montreal where we live has sushi pizza in their menu.
If you're craving other Japanese fusion dishes, check out our other recipes:
- Sushi Tacos with Crispy Fried Seaweed Shells
- Japanese Creamy Masago Pasta with Poached Eggs
- Spicy Salmon Crispy Rice
- Fried Spam Musubi Rice Dog
- Spicy Furikake Air-Fried Potatoes
Ingredients for sushi pizza
Most of the ingredients you'll need to make this dish is pretty simple and relatively easy to get. Some of them are even pantry staples!
Fried rice patty ingredients
- Cooked medium-grain white rice
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Egg
- Panko breadcrumbs
Spicy salmon ingredients
- Sashimi-grade or tartare-grade salmon
- Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie)
- ABC chili sauce
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Lemon juice
- Green onion
- Tobiko or flying fish roe
How to make spicy salmon sushi pizza
Though it looks fancy and more like a restaurant dish than homemade, it's actually quite easy to make! You only need to know a few tips and tricks to make the fried rice patty, but other than that the topping is basically chopping and mixing!
How to make the crispy fried rice patty
- Scoop about 1/4 cup of cooked white rice and shape into a thin disk, about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch in thickness. We used a flat-bottomed measuring cup of this size to help mold the rice patties, but you can use any circular, flat-bottomed kitchen tools you have at your disposal. It also helps to oil the dish you use to mold to make it easier.
- Line a large plate with cling wrap and place the rice patty disks on the plate. Cover with another cling wrap and freeze for at least 3 hours.
- After 3 hours in the freezer, the rice patty disks should be frozen and can be easily removed from the plate, as a result of lining it with cling wrap. Each individual rice patty disk should also be easily manipulated as one solid block.
- To prepare for the breading of the rice patty disks, you will need a mixture of all-purpose flour and salt in a deep dish, a bowl of egg beaten until smooth, and a deep dish of Panko breadcrumbs. Just make sure each dish is large enough for you to dip the rice patty disk in. For each rice patty disk, dredge in flour evenly (dust off any excess), dip into the egg mixture and coat evenly, and finally dredge in the Panko breadcrumbs and make sure it is evenly coated.
- To fry the breaded rice patty disks, heat about 2 cups of oil (or just enough oil to shallow fry the rice patty disks) over medium high heat in a frying pan. To verify if the oil is ready, you can dip the tip of a wooden chopstick or a wooden spoon in the oil. The oil is ready if you see many bubbles forming at the tip of the chopstick. You can also check if the oil is ready by dropping a bit of Panko into the oil. If the breadcrumb bubbles and floats right away, then the oil is ready. Gently drop the breaded rice patty disks into the oil and fry one side for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Flip and fry for 1 minute or until golden brown. Remove from oil and let the rice patty disks rest on drying rack. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on each rice patty disk while hot.
How to make the spicy salmon
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped salmon, Japanese mayonnaise, chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice, green onion, and tobiko and mix well.
Assembling the dish
- To assemble, scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon of the spicy salmon mix and spread evenly on top of a fried rice patty disk. Top with more tobiko and chopped green onions. Depending on the exact amount of salmon you have, adjust the amount of spicy salmon mix to distribute evenly for each fried rice patty disk. Enjoy and serve with wasabi, soy sauce or spicy mayonnaise!
Tips for the best sushi pizza
- Make sure each rice patty disk is not thicker than 1/2 inch
- Make sure the rice patty disks are completely frozen before breading them to make it easier to handle for breading
- Work fast when breading the rice patty disks to avoid them defrosting
- Panko breadcrumbs for a thicker, crunchier exterior
- Use tartare-grade or sashimi-grade salmon
- Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand) for the spicy salmon mixture for a deeper flavour
- We recommend using ABC chili sauce for a hint of sweetness, but if you're using other chili sauce, make sure to add a little bit of sugar into the spicy salmon mixture
FAQ's
You can use any type of Asian white rice, although we recommend using short-grain or medium-grain Japanese rice for better texture.
You can buy Panko breadcrumbs in Asian supermarkets. Most if not all Japanese, Korean, and Chinese supermarkets carry Panko. In North America, many regular supermarkets now also carry Panko breadcrumbs.
You should use tartare-grade or sashimi-grade salmon. You can also tartare-grade or sashimi-grade tuna or even scallop if you prefer it.
We also like to use cooked lobster, cooked crab, or imitation crab for protein.
It is a mayonnaise made with only the yolks of eggs and with apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar. This makes it more rich and fatty, and has some acidic notes compared to regular mayonnaise.
Spicy Salmon Sushi Pizza
Ingredients
Sushi Pizza Base (Crispy Fried Rice Patty)
- 1 cup cooked white rice short-grain or medium-grain rice
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups canola or vegetable oil
Spicy Salmon Topping
- 300 grams tartare-grade or sashimi-grade salmon skin removed, cut into little cubes
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie)
- 2 tsp ABC chili sauce or chili sauce of your choice
- 1 green onion green part only, chopped
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp flying fish roe or tobiko
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
Sushi Pizza Base (Crispy Fried Rice Patty)
- Scoop about 1/4 cup of cooked white rice and shape into a flat disk, about 3 inches diameter and 1/2 inch thick. To make it easier to shape, use an oiled circular ramekin or any other flat-bottomed container of similar size. Lay the rice patty disks on a cling wrap-lined plate. Repeat the steps until all 1 cup of rice is used to yield 4 rice patty disks. Cover the plate of rice patty disks with another sheet of cling wrap and freeze for at least 3 hours. They are ready to be used once they are completely frozen and each rice patty disk can be easily manipulated as one solid block.
- Prepare the breading station by pouring 1/4 cup all-purpose flour into a shallow bowl, 1 egg beaten in another, and 3/4 cup of Panko breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl. For each rice patty disk, dredge evenly in all-purpose flour first and dust off excess flour. Then, dip in beaten egg until well coated and finally dredge evenly in Panko breadcrumbs. You can press the rice disk onto the Panko tu make sure they stick well and you get an even coating all around the rice patty disk. Repeat the steps to coat all 4 rice patty disks.
- Heat about 2 cups of canola or vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium high heat, or just enough oil to shallow fry. To verify if the oil is ready, drop one piece of Panko in the oil. If it bubbles and floats to the surface immediately, then the oil is ready. Gently drop each breaded rice patty disk into the oil and fry one side for about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Flip and fry the other side for 1 minute or until all sides are golden brown. Remove from oil and let rice disks rest on a drying rack. Sprinkle a little bit of salt onto each rice disk while they are still hot.
Spicy Salmon Topping
- In a large bowl, add the 300 g of cubed tartare-grade or sashimi-grade salmon, 2 tbsp of Japanese mayonnaise, 2 tsp of chili sauce, chopped green onion, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp flying fish roe, 1 tsp lemon juice and combine well.
Assembly
- To assemble the sushi pizza, scoop about 1 heaping tbsp of the spicy salmon mix and spread on top of a fried rice patty. Repeat this step for the other rice patty disks. Top with some more flying fish roe and chopped green onions.
I still can't believe sushi pizza is a Canadian thing LOL
I am looooving the pictures with instructions!!
Oh, I've been meaning to ask, where can you get sushi-grade/tartar grade salmon?
Because Im sure the salmon filet at PA is not sushi grade hahaha
Yay for Canada 😀 You can get sushi-grade salmon at any local fish market! You should also try your grocery store, as we've seen some big chain such as Metro and IGA now carrying packaged sushi-grade fishes 🙂