Sushi Donuts

I usually make deep fried donuts and not baked so haven't had much use for my donut pan. Sue found a photo on Pinterest of sushi donuts so we thought that would be a fun way to get some use out of the pan. Sushi donuts are the perfect appie to bring to your next family get together or party. (Also, they happen to be gluten free too!) They may be a little fussy to prepare but they can be made a day ahead so the clean up can be out of the way too. The topping possibilities are endless - if you can slice it super thin you can use it - and the filling ideas are pretty open too! 

Sushi Donuts

Ingredients

Sushi Rice

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

scant 1 Tbsp coarse salt

2 Tbsp sugar

3 cups uncooked sushi rice

water (to cook according to package directions)

Filling

mashed avocado

Topping Ideas

toasted seaweed

toasted sesame seeds / black sesame seeds

cucumber

radish 

imitation crab

smoked salmon

avocado

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, salt, and sugar. Set aside. 

Cook the 3 cups of rice according to the package directions. Remove from heat when cooked and transfer rice to a large bowl. Stirring constantly, slowly add the vinegar mixture until fully incorporated. Let cool for at least 20 minutes. 

Line a donut pan with saran wrap and place a small bowl of water on your work space. Place a scoop of the rice into one of the donut pan holes and use your fingers to very firmly press the rice into the pan. (Dip your fingers into the bowl of water to prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers)

Repeat until the pan is full. 

Carefully spoon the mashed avocado into the pan on top of the rice. Be careful not to fill too full! You can put it in a Ziplock bag and snip the corner off to pipe it in for a less messy way to fill them. 

Place another scoop of rice on top and very firmly press it down on top of the avocado to fill the pan. Repeat with the entire pan. Chill the pan in the fridge for about half an hour - to make sure the rice is firmly chilled and will stick together. (Longer may be necessary.) 

When sushi donuts are chilled, gently flip them onto a serving tray and remove the plastic wrap. 

Top with your favorite toppings. The secret is to slice your topping very, very thin so they will mold to the shape of the donut. 

I believe we got 12 donuts from the amounts listed above but I'm not totally sure! Sorry about that. I am posting this quite a while after we actually made them so I can't remember. (Oops)

Have fun decorating with your favorite toppings. I found the toasted seaweed was the easiest to work with as it stuck really well to the rice and was easy to cut into shapes with scissors. 

You could do a wasabi or sriracha mayo for the filling if you want something a bit spicier, or some finally diced crab in mayo. Anything creamy would work.  

A great opportunity to let out your inner artist. 

Have fun with textures and colors and feel free to put on as much or as little topping as you like! Completely up to you! Serve with soy sauce/gluten free soy sauce, wasabi, ginger... all the usual sushi accompaniments. 

As mentioned above, you can make these a day ahead of time but be sure to keep them covered so the rice doesn't dry out.