Salmon Sushi Bowls (Low FODMAP)

My sweet friend Caley is SO supportive of my Sami Homemaker blog, even though she can’t really eat anything on it! Caley follows a low FODMAP diet, which means she can’t eat things like garlic or onions or really anything related to them (which is in a LOT of things), or even some cheeses, fruits, veggies, grains or sweeteners. So I really wanted to make something that is delicious for everyone, but that Caley could enjoy too! Instead of trying to replace the items she can’t eat with things that she can, I wanted to focus on things that naturally would be low FODMAP. Enter this delicious salmon bowl! A lot of the elements are super simple, but you’ll get incredible flavor from the moist salmon, vinegary rice, crunchy oshinko pickles, the gingery vinaigrette and my favorite, the seaweed strips!

The recipe below includes instructions on how to make sushi rice in an Instant Pot and the salmon in an air fryer. But don’t be concerned if you don’t have those things! Sushi rice can just as easily be made in a regular pot according to package instructions. Once the rice is cooked, no matter how you do that, you can still season it with the rice vinegar/salt/sugar mix I have outlined in the recipe below. But you also don’t have to! It’s delicious straight from the pot, but I really like the extra kick from the seasoning. The air fryer is a super quick way to make salmon reliably. But if you don’t have an air fryer, again – don’t fret! Instead, bake your salmon filet skin side down in the oven at 450F for about 12-15 minutes, until it is cooked to your liking.

The toppings for this salmon bowl will include homemade oshinko – which is a MUST. It adds an amazing crunch element to the bowl and adds so much flavor. Daikon is easy to find at the grocery store (I can always find it at Wegmans and usually at my local Shoprite too!) You can also buy oshinko already made online or at many Asian grocery stores. If you do decide to make it at home, it’s really easy! Just slice up your daikon, cover with the pickling liquid and let it sit in your fridge for at least 4 hours. This recipe makes a LOT of oshinko because most daikon radishes are about 1 lb. This recipe makes oshinko with the whole daikon because it’s a delicious snack that I love to keep in the fridge to snack on or to add to dishes like this. Plus, I really like to pile it on to this rice bowl, so the more, the better!

One note on the oshinko – you really want to make sure you are tasting it throughout the pickling process. If you don’t wash enough salt off of the daikon before adding the pickling liquid, or if you let it sit too long in the salt, it can get VERY salty. If that happens, don’t worry about it! It’s an easy fix. To help prevent it, make sure you taste the daikon while you are rinsing the salt off. The daikon should definitely taste salty since it’s been soaking in it, but it shouldn’t be painfully salty. If you are making funny faces while trying it, keep rinsing. Then, once you add your pickling liquid, let the daikon sit in the fridge for about 3.5 hours. If the daikon still tastes too salty after pickling in the sweet liquid for that long, drain some of the pickling liquid (about 1/2) and replace it with water (or any extra pickling liquid if you have some). After about 30 minutes to an hour in that solution, it should be all fixed and ready to go.

When you’re getting ready to eat, you’ll make your rice and salmon, as well as prep your vinaigrette and any additional toppings. For your vinaigrette, start with about 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger. This is enough ginger for me, you can taste it but it’s more subtle, but Jared likes a bit more. Do it based on your tastes! This bowl is great with more crunchy veggies (like cucumbers and carrots), salad, seaweed strips, wasabi, and avocado. But add whatever you like best! The recipe may seem like a lot of elements, but it’s all very easy and comes together super quickly! Just make sure you start those pickles in advance, even a day or two before if you like!

Print Recipe

Salmon Sushi Bowls

These salmon bowls are filled with sushi rice, air fried salmon, homemade oshinko (pickled daikon), cucumbers, carrots, seaweed strips, and topped with a flavorful vinaigrette. And all low FODMAP approved!

Prep Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Pickling Time4 hours hrs

Total Time5 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: low fodmap, salmon, sushi

Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

• Instant Pot
• Air fryer
• Pickling Jar

Ingredients

For the Instant Pot Sushi Rice:

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1.5 tsp salt

For the air fried salmon:

• 4 filets salmon room temperature
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil or other neutral oil like olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the oshinko:

• 1 lb daikon You are going to end up with a lot of extra oshinko, but it’s hard to find a daikon that weighs less than this. The extra keeps well in the fridge so I just make a lot and use the extra on other dishes!
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp turmeric optional, this is just for the traditional yellow color

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger or more to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil or other neutral oil
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
• 1.5 tsp soy sauce

Other optional toppings:

• Sliced seaweed snacks
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced avocado
• Wasabi

Instructions

For the oshinko:

• Peel the daikon. Then, using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut the daikon into 1/3 inch rounds. Cut those rounds into thin strips.
• Place the daikon strips into a colander with the salt. Toss to coat. Let the daikon sit in the colander for 45 minutes to drain.
• Meanwhile, make the pickling liquid by combining the water, sugar, rice vinegar and turmeric (optional) in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and set aside in the refrigerator to cool.
• Once the daikon has sat for 45 minutes, rinse it a few times with water to remove the excess salt. The salt has been drained off enough when the daikon still tastes salty, but isn’t like a salt bomb.
• Once the daikon is finished rinsing, dry the daikon and transfer it to a pickling jar. Pour the cooled pickling liquid over top and close the jar. Let the pickles sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours before using.

For the Instant Pot sushi rice:

• Add the rice and water to the Instant Pot and close. Make sure the Instant Pot is set to not release the steam.
• Cook the rice on the rice setting – low pressure for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally, by letting the rice sit in the instant pot for 8-10 minutes after the timer has gone off.
• While the rice cooks, combine the rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar in a small bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. (The rice also tastes great straight out of the Instant Pot because it’s nice and sticky, so you can opt to not season it at all or just add a bit of salt).
• When the rice is ready, transfer it to a large bowl and pour the rice vinegar mixture over top. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix the rice until the vinegar mix is fully distributed.
• If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can also just cook this rice according to package instructions. It will take longer, so make sure you start it in advance of when you want to eat.

For the air fryer salmon:

• While the rice is releasing pressure, preheat your air fryer to 390F.
• Dry the salmon off gently with a paper towel so it can get nice and crispy in the air fryer.
• Cover both sides of the salmon with the grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil) and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you happen to have Japanese shichimi pepper seasoning, I love to use this in place of ground peppercorns.
• Place the salmon in the fryer basket of the air fryer and let cook for about 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your filet.
• Check the doneness of the salmon with your fork to make sure it’s cooked to your liking.
• If you don’t have an air fryer, you can follow the instruction in the blog post above for baking the salmon in the oven.

For the vinaigrette:

• While the salmon cooks, make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients and whisk to combine.

To assemble:

• Your rice and salmon should be ready around the same time if you are using the air fryer and instant pot. Once everything is prepared, add some rice to the bottom of a plate or wide bowl. Top with the salmon and oshinko and any additional toppings you want to add. Then top off the bowl with a drizzle of the vinaigrette. I like to focus the vinaigrette onto the sliced veggies, since they are unseasoned. I love to add lots of seaweed strips because then each bite is a make your own sushi adventure!