Cucumber Sushi Boats
on Apr 21, 2022, Updated Jan 05, 2024
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My viral 🥒 Cucumber Sushi Boats with spicy mayo are one of my favorite recipes on my page and have been a huge hit with my followers. My videos showcasing this recipe went viral years ago on all my social media platforms and continue to impress everyone who tries them. Not only are they easy to prep, but they make for the perfect lunch or dinner if you want something ✨ that’s lighter but filling.
Why You’ll Love Cucumber Sushi Boats
These cucumber sushi boats are the best combination of seasoned 🍤 shrimp, jasmine rice, and spicy mayo, making them such a flavorful dish. The mix of textures, from the crispy shrimp to the tender rice and cool cucumber, is nothing short of perfection. Also, the boats are super easy to customize to your liking, easy to prepare, and have a quick cooking time, making them a convenient option. With a beautiful presentation and a well-balanced combination of ingredients, these cucumber sushi boats are sure to be a yummy and healthy addition to your meal rotations.
How to Prepare Cucumber Sushi Boats
🍚 Cook the jasmine rice with a pinch of salt in a rice cooker as per package instructions.
🥒 Wash and pat dry an English cucumber (you can also use mini cucumbers), cut it in half, and then split each half down the middle to create 4 boat-like pieces.
🥄 Scoop out the inside of each cucumber piece to create boats. Pat the inside with a paper towel.
💦 Fill each cucumber boat with the cooked rice, pressing it down with wet fingers to prevent sticking.
🍤 In a separate bowl, season thawed, peeled, and deveined shrimp with a tablespoon of oil and desired seasonings.
🔥 Heat oil in a pan on medium-high heat, and then cook shrimp for 1-2 minutes on each side until curled up and developing a crust.
🌶️ Remove shrimp from the pan, dice them finely, mix with spicy mayo to taste, and place the mixture on top of the rice-filled cucumber sushi boats.
⛵ Alternatively, you can place whole shrimp on the cucumber boats and drizzle spicy mayo on top.
🥵 Optionally, add extra spicy mayo on top for more flavor. Enjoy your delicious cucumber sushi boats!
Nonna’s Tip
You can use any protein you like such as salmon, grilled chicken, or tofu. You can even make tuna or salmon poke and add it on top.
Variations and Substitutions for Cucumber Sushi Boats
Cucumber sushi boats are so much fun! Don’t forget to let me know in the comments how you make these your own!
- Feel free to either put the 🍤 shrimp on the cucumber boats whole or dice them up.
- You could drizzle teriyaki sauce over the shrimp instead of or in addition to the spicy mayo.
- You can use 🥒 small cucumbers for the cucumber sushi boats, instead of a long English one like I did. For the small cucumbers, you just won’t cut them in half, and you’ll have two ‘boats’ per cucumber.
- Consider also toping the boats with 🥑 avocado slices for added creaminess.
- Using sushi rice will give you a stickier texture, closer to that of actual sushi if that is the consistency you’d like.
- For a vegetarian option, use cubed and pan-seared tofu seasoned with your favorite spices instead of shrimp.
Similar Recipes
Egg White Cucumber Rolls
15 mins
Shrimp Cucumber Rolls
15 mins
Cucumber and Avocado Rolls
15 mins
Salmon Cucumber Rolls
15 mins
Best Served With
- Mixed Greens Salad: A light salad with a citrus or vinaigrette dressing
- Steamed Vegetables: Serve with a side of steamed broccoli, asparagus, or Asian-style green beans
- Asian Slaw: A crunchy and flavorful Asian slaw with sesame dressing
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This is the salt that I have used for years in all my cooking!
This is my favorite set. I have had mine for 10 years and need a new one. Highly recommend!
This cutting board is not only aesthetically pleasing but will last you for years and years!
This knife is my most used tool in the kitchen. The love I have for this knife is unmatched.
This is the exact set that I have and use at home every single day! You have to be SUPER Gentle with it and don's use it on high heat, no cooking spray's on it, gentle wash with a soft sponge, and absolutely no metal utensils.
Common Questions
You can use any protein you like such as salmon, grilled chicken, or tofu. You can even make tuna or salmon poke and add it on top.
Feel free to use cajun seasoning or any seafood seasoning you enjoy for the shrimp. Sear it in a touch of oil for 1-2 minutes on the stove.
Cook the rice as per the package directions. I like to cook my rice in a rice cooker with a big pinch of salt so that it has a better flavor. If you want to season the rice with rice vinegar you are more than welcome to.
You can use sushi rice or jasmine rice. If you don’t want to use rice you can absolutely add cream cheese to the bottom, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice as well.
Cucumber sushi boats are best served FRESH.
These don’t store well, so I recommend preparing only as much as you can eat at one time.
Cucumber Sushi Boats
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber, cut and scooped
- 1 cup cooked rice, sushi rice or jasmine rice
- 10 tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon spicy mayo, to taste
Instructions
- Cook 1/2 cup of dry rice as per the package instructions. I used 1/2 cup of jasmine rice. I placed it in my rice cooker with 1 cup of water and a big pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Wash and pat dry the cucumber. Cut the cucumber in half. Now, take each halve and cut it making sure to split it down the middle. With a small spoon, scoop out the inside of each piece so that it looks like a boat. You should have 4 boats in total.
- NOTE: you can also use mini cucumbers as well. Simply cut each one down the middle, scoop it out, and fill as many as you like.
- Pat the inside of the cucumber with a paper towel as cucumber holds a lot of water. With a spoon, add the cooked rice into each boat. Wet your fingers a bit so that the rice doesn’t stick to your hands. Press the rice down with your fingers.
- In a separate bowl, add the thawed, peeled, and deveined shrimp and pat it dry with a paper towel. Add a tablespoon of oil and the seasonings.
- In a pan, on medium-high heat add a touch more oil and let it heat up well. The shrimp should sizzle once you place it in the pan. Cook the shrimp for 1-2 minutes on each side or until they curl up and are starting to develop a crust.
- Remove the shrimp from the pan, dice them finely and mix with spicy mayo (to taste) and add the mixture on top of the rice-filled cucumber boats.
- NOTE: Alternatively, you can place the whole shrimp on the cucumber boat without cutting it and drizzle with spicy mayo on top. If you want my spicy mayo recipe, you can find it HERE
- Add extra spicy mayo on top and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
how many calories? x 🙂
Hi Amy,
I didn’t calculate as I currently don’t count calories but please do plug in your ingredients into a calorie counting app like my fitness pal.