Sushi Donuts: a 2000-year-old tradition has “evolved”

Name: sushi donut
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 pack of nigiri (at your local market/sushi restaurant) or get these two nigiri ingredients separately:; 1 cup sushi rice or brown rice (cooked); 1/4 lb. sushi grade salmon or tuna; 1 avocado; 1 cucumber; black and white sesame seeds (or pick either one for strikingly white food or black food); wasabi and gari (ginger); toasted sesame oil (for coating the pan); low sodium soy sauce (for dipping)

by Kristina Reynolds

What are sushi donuts?

Sushi is a traditional food that has been around for thousands of years and the process of making sushi has been a serious Japanese tradition. However, with sushi becoming mainstream internationally, chefs have been looking to make the classic dish even more exciting…cue the sushi donut.

A sushi donut is a sushi roll assembled into the shape of a donut (like how a sushi burrito is sushi in the shape of a burrito). It’s typically made of a small donut-shaped base of sushi rice topped with the same ingredients found in American-style sushi. Although it is usually small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and can constitute a healthy meal, a rare table-sized 66,982 calorie monstrosity topped with everything from bacon to other rolls of sushi has been known to exist…

Sushi donuts have been filling Instagram feeds since early 2016, but have not been served to the public until later that year. Sam Murphy (@sobeautifullyreal on Instagram) and Andy Nguyen (co-founder of Project Poke) have been credited with inventing these vibrant, eye-catching savory bites.

Where can I get it?

Various restaurants have tried their hand at making these donut-shaped rolls. Here are several of them that have done it successfully over the years.

Dallas, TX: Poke Bop

sushi donuts dallas texas — photo: Poke Bop on Instagram

New York, NY: Poketeria

sushi donut new york nyc — photo: Poketeria on Facebook

Los Angeles, CA (Fountain Valley): Project Poke

sushi donut los angeles fountain valley california — photo: Project Poke on Instagram

Portland, OR: Wasabi Sushi PDX

sushi donut portland — photo: Wasabi Sushi PDX on Facebook

Tampa, FL: SoHo Sushi

sushi burrito tampa florida — photo: SoHo Sushi on Facebook

Looking for more places that serve sushi donuts? You can find them on Glutto right here.

How can I make it?

Sushi donuts can be pretty easy to make if you use this hack/recipe instead of making it from scratch. Feel free to save it for later on Glutto as well.

sushi donut

Ingredients

1 pack of nigiri (at your local market/sushi restaurant) or get these two nigiri ingredients separately:
1 cup sushi rice or brown rice (cooked)
1/4 lb. sushi grade salmon or tuna
1 avocado
1 cucumber
black and white sesame seeds (or pick either one for strikingly white food or black food)
wasabi and gari (ginger)
toasted sesame oil (for coating the pan)
low sodium soy sauce (for dipping)

Instructions

If you have store-bought nigiri, separate the fish from the rice. If you bought separate ingredients, slice the sushi grade fish into small thin pieces.
lightly oil the donut pan
fill the donut pan with cooked rice and pack it tightly to form a donut shape; set aside
slice the avocado and cucumber into thin slices that are half the length of the rice donuts
remove the donut shaped rice from the pan
on one side of the rice donuts, drape an overlapping layer of sliced fish, avocado and cucumber; top the other side with sesame seeds
garnish plate with wasabi and gari (ginger)
dip in soy sauce and enjoy

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Kristina Reynolds

Kristina Reynolds is the Founder & CEO of Glutto and an alumna of the University of California, San Diego. She writes articles & posts for Glutto Digest with insights from fellow industry experts. Furthermore, she is the author of The Fittest Food Lovers: How EVERY BODY Can be Incredibly Fit and Still Enjoy Food, a collaborative philanthropic book with proceeds going to charities that fight world hunger.