Sushi Bake (Filipino Potluck Style)

Method

1. Rinse the rice until the water runs less cloudy and drain. Cook with the measured water or the packet’s absorption ratio, then rest covered for 10 minutes. Dissolve sugar and salt in the rice vinegar. Have the topping ingredients ready so cooked rice is not left warm while other work begins.
2. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Bake the salmon on a lined tray for about 10–12 minutes, depending on thickness, until it reaches 63°C. Remove skin and check carefully for bones, then flake. Use cooked imitation crab, not raw crab meat.
3. Mix salmon, shredded kani, mayonnaise, cream cheese and optional chilli sauce. Leave some salmon flakes intact. The topping should be spreadable but not runny. Check furikake and kani labels because seasoning and saltiness vary.
4. Fold the vinegar mixture gently through the hot rice without mashing it. Spread rice about 2 cm deep in a 20 cm square ovenproof dish and press lightly, not into a dense brick. Sprinkle with half the furikake.
5. Spread the seafood topping evenly over the rice and add the remaining furikake. Bake for 12–15 minutes until hot throughout; the centre should reach 74°C for the assembled casserole. Briefly grill the top only after the centre is hot, watching so mayonnaise does not burn.
6. Rest for 5 minutes. Spoon portions into the nori sheets with cucumber at the table rather than wrapping them in advance, which makes the nori soggy. Offer any extra sauce separately, not as an unmeasured heavy layer over the entire bake.
7. Divide leftovers into shallow portions and refrigerate quickly, ideally within 1 hour for rice. Use within 24 hours and reheat only once until steaming throughout, 74°C. Do not keep the rice tray warm at room temperature for an extended potluck service.