Love Sushi? Try a Bowl of Sushi With These Chicken Katsu Bowls

Do you dream of creating delicious sushi at home, but feel intimidated by the years of training required to perfect the craft? Me too. (Don’t worry these chicken katsu bowls are easy).

I’ll get straight into the full recipe below after the brief introduction, so that you don’t have to scroll down to get the details. However, after the recipe there’s info and variations that are worth reading, so make sure to check that out.

While making restaurant-quality sushi may be a challenge, there’s no need to give up on your sushi dreams. Instead, try making a sushi bowl  (or poke bowl), a deconstructed version of the classic dish that’s just as tasty and much easier to make. It is basically a bowl of sushi! These have chicken katsu in them, which is schnitzel, so we will call these chicken katsu bowls.

At the heart of sushi is seasoned rice, which can be topped with a variety of ingredients ,  chicken, vegetables, and more. In the West, we’re most familiar with nori rolls, but making those can be tricky.

With a bowl of sushi, you get all the deliciousness of sushi without the fuss. So let’s get started on this easy, yet impressive chicken katsu bowls recipe that will have you feeling like a sushi pro in no time.

Make the sushi rice well ahead of time so that it has time to cool down until fully cold. I try to make it in the morning of the day I want to serve a bowl of sushi for dinner. However there has been times I’ve forgotten and come dinner time I make the rice and ladle it into bowls and put them in the freezer to cool quickly.

You definitely have to buy Japanese sushi rice for this one. If you use other rice it won’t have the same taste or appeal.

About the katsu: chicken katsu is the Japanese version of chicken schnitzel. They are very similar, and you can use any chicken schnitzel you like in your chicken katsu bowl. If you get a good quality chicken schnitzel from your butcher, that will taste better than supermarket ones. If you make it yourself, use panko breadcrumbs to be closer to traditional katsu.

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Chicken Katsu Bowls

Yield: 4 bowls

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Ingredients

• For the sushi rice:
• 2 cups uncooked Japanese sushi rice
• 2 tbs sake
• 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbs mirin
• 1 piece of kombu (optional)
• For the toppings:
• 500g chicken schnitzel
• 2 medium Lebanese cucumbers
• 2 medium avocadoes
• 2 medium carrots
• 400g frozen edamame (in their pods)
• One packet of snack nori
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 8 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
• 2 tsp furikake (or sesame seeds)

Instructions

1. Make the rice: Wash the rice: Place the rice in a bowl and pour cold water in, swish it around a few times, then drain. Do this two more times.
2. Put the rice in a saucepan and add in 4 cups of cold water. If using the piece of kombu, add it into the rice now.
3. Place on the stove on medium heat and bring to the boil. As soon as it has boiled, turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook uncovered for 15mins.
4. After 15 mins, most of the water should’ve been absorbed. Taste a grain of rice. If it is soft, it is done. If it it still a bit hard and chewy, add ½ cup water, stir the rice with a fork, and let it cook for 5 more mins then taste again.
5. When the rice is done, turn off the heat. If you used kombu, remove it now and discard.
6. Now add in the sake, rice wine vinegar and mirin. Stir with a fork (this separates individual grains of rice and prevents clumping). Cover and leave to cool until completely cold.
7. Prepare the vegetables: Meanwhile, in a bowl, pour boiling water over edamame, stand for 1 min then drain, and rinse with cold water. Pop the edamame out of their pods, and discard the pods.
8. Cut the cucumber and avocado into strips and grate the carrot.
9. For the chicken schnitzel: You can either use store bought chicken schnitzel or make your own. Fry the schnitzel in a pan with some oil until cooked through. Slice.
10. Serve: When you’re ready to serve, get four bowls ready and place 1 cup cooked rice in each bowl. Sprinkle with soy sauce and furikake (or sesame seeds).
11. Top with some chicken schnitzel. Arrange some carrot, cucumber, avocado, and edamame over the rice as well.
12. Tear a couple of pieces of snack nori into pieces and arrange in the bowls. Add 2 tbs mayonnaise into each bowls as well.
13. Sprinkle a little bit more furikake (or sesame seeds) over the top.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 1004Total Fat 55gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 43gCholesterol 161mgSodium 1146mgCarbohydrates 78gFiber 15gSugar 15gProtein 50g

Where Did Sushi Bowls Come From?

The concept of a bowl of sushi originates from chirashi-zushi, which means “scattered sushi.” It’s a traditional dish in Japan made by spreading flavoured sushi rice in a bowl or box and topping it with a variety of ingredients like sashimi, vegetables, egg, and pickles. It’s especially common during festivals or family gatherings because it’s easier to make in larger quantities than sushi.

Chirashi sushi has been enjoyed for centuries and was likely developed as a simpler, more practical alternative to nigiri or nori rolls (handrolls), as there is no shaping, rolling, or assembling required.

In recent years, sushi bowls have taken off globally, especially in Western countries, as part of a broader movement toward bowl-based meals. There’s also crossover with Hawaiian poke bowls, which traditionally include marinated raw fish over rice, and have influenced the modern bowl of sushi trend.

A poke bowl is a Hawaiian dish that has its own unique identity and cultural roots. Traditionally, poke (pronounced “poh-kay”) refers to diced raw fish, usually ahi tuna, that’s marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and other seasonings. In its classic form, poke was eaten on its own or with a bit of rice by Native Hawaiians long before it became a global food trend.

Modern poke bowls are a fusion of this traditional Hawaiian dish and Japanese inspired ingredients, typically served over a base of rice (or sometimes greens or noodles) and topped with marinated fish, edamame, avocado, seaweed, cucumber, sesame seeds, and spicy mayo or soy sauce.

There are also Nourish Bowls, (or Buddha Bowls or Macro Bowls). Nourish bowls look similar to sushi bowls at first glance, but they are a more modern, Western concept focused on balance and nutrition. Often made with grains like quinoa or brown rice, roasted vegetables, legumes, leafy greens, and healthy fats like avocado or tahini, nourish bowls aren’t tied to a specific cuisine, they’re more of a wellness trend. While sushi bowls tend to follow Japanese flavour profiles, nourish bowls can draw inspiration from many global styles.

Think of sushi bowls as a traditional, umami-rich, deconstructed sushi roll and it is a cousin of the flexible, plant-forward nourish bowl, and the poke bowl is somewhere in between.

Variations for your bowl of sushi dreams:

• Instead of chicken schnitzel, here are some other ideas for the main stage of your bowl of sushi:

tofu (this is good recipe)
soft boiled eggs or poached eggs
Japanese omelette (try this Tamagoyaki recipe)
Miso Glazed Eggplant (check out this one)
canned tuna mixed with mayo
canned salmon mixed with mayo
canned crab mixed with mayo
salmon rubbed with dukkah, oil and chilli sauce and pan fried
teriyaki chicken
miso or bulgogi beef
California (crab sticks, avocado, tobiko, cucumber)
pork schnitzel (tonkatsu)
fresh salmon
cooked, peeled prawns
smoked salmon or hot smoked salmon

• Add wasabi if you enjoy it
• Make wasabi mayo : mix 2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise with ½ tsp wasabi
• Make miso mayo : mix 2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise with 1 tsp miso paste

Notes

• The rice. I buy sushi rice from the supermarket or from a local Asian grocer. Do not use any other type in your chicken katsu bowls. This is vital.
• You can buy edamame frozen in most supermarkets. You can buy them pre-podded if you prefer, then you can just add them straight into your bowl, they defrost very quickly. However I prefer the taste of the one I pod myself.
• Chicken schnitzel : buy free range from a good quality butcher if you can or make your own.
• Furikake is sold at my local supermarket, it is a Japanese seasoning blend ,  usually a mix of nori and sesame seeds and salt and flavours. There’s also Shichimi Togarashi, which is a different Japanese seasoning blend, similar to furikake but with added chilli flakes. Either have a try of these on your rice, or just use sesame seeds in your chicken katsu bowls.