This mango salmon roll has it all. The light and refreshing sweetness of ripe mango. That creamy smoothness of avocado. The fatty perfection of salmon. That crunchy satisfaction of cucumber and a well-fried tempura. And some days, these mango salmon rolls are one of the things holding my marriage together.

I love my husband. But as everyone with small children knows, life can be taxing and tiring. We argue, bicker, huff and puff. But no matter what, there is one thing that my husband and I 100% agree on 100% of the time.

That is simply this: mango salmon rolls are the best food invention. Ever.

And they are definitely an invention. Despite being classed as ‘sushi’ and served in Japanese restaurants across the States, they aren’t a traditional Japanese food at all. So what are they?

What is a Mango Salmon Sushi Roll?

I’ve found variations of the mango salmon sushi roll served at restaurants across the US, London, in Spain, and even in Israel. It typically consists of a couple crucial ingredients: mango, salmon, rice, and nori. But almost everything else is fair game.

Some mango salmon sushi rolls have shrimp tempura in the middle. Others have the imitation crab that you usually find in California rolls. I’ve even had one with soft shell crab in the middle.

There’s also variation in the veggies used. Avocado is a popular one. So is cucumber. Carrots may make an appearance also.

As for anything else? Well, don’t be surprised if you order a roll and find cream cheese in the center. It happens.

And it’s actually not surprising when you consider what sushi is in the modern age.

To quote a quote by the sushi historian Eric C. Rath:

Sushi is an “anonymous cuisine,” a shape-shifter that, responding to forces more powerful than human genius, “keeps evolving silently in new ways that few can predict.”

And thank God for that. Because as much as I enjoy the traditional sushi, nothing hits the spot quite like a roll of mango salmon sushi.

Where is the Mango Salmon Roll From?

Some variation of the mango salmon sushi roll typically shows up on the menus in Japanese restaurants. But don’t let the “sushi” part fool you. Nor the fact that it’s got “sashimi” in it.

The mango salmon sushi roll is a Western invention. Specifically, American.

It’s so American, in fact, that you’ll find it in sushi restaurants from LA to NY, but you’d be hard-pressed to find it in Japan.

Even in Korea, it was only in the 2000s that I discovered an American Japanese restaurant serving the roll. I don’t need to tell you that that sushi joint and I are well acquainted. The owners even gifted me a box of diapers when I got pregnant with my son. That’s how much time I spent cramming their sushi rolls in my belly.

Like spaghetti and meatballs and General Tso’s Chicken, Americanized sushi rolls like the mango salmon sushi roll are pure bastardized deliciousness. An inventive creation birthed by innovative and resourceful Japanese sushi chefs catering to the tastes of a new market.

So every time you eat a bit of this ever popular example of early fusion cuisine, thank the universe that we have so many delicious cultures and the creative genius to combine them.

Why Make it at Home?

I’m not going to lie – there is a learning curve to making sushi at home. The first time you do it, it’s not going to look like the sushi rolls they serve you in restaurants.

But it is so worth learning to make at home.

Why? For starters, we’re not all lucky enough to live in a city where mango salmon rolls are readily available. In that case, the roll you get is the roll you make.

But even if you live in a country where you can readily get your hands on a mango salmon roll, I still recommend making it at home. Here’s why: you can splurge. No matter how good a restaurant is, they aren’t going to cut you the thickest slabs of salmon sashimi. They aren’t going to load up on avocados and double the mango slices.

Especially with this current shrinkflation happening. I swear, since the pandemic, I’ve witnessed the sushi rolls getting smaller and smaller. There’s some creative arranging and more tempura flakes sprinkled atop and around. But I know the truth – you’re giving me less of the good stuff!

And we all want the good stuff. It’s really easy to spoil yourself at home and ~~customize~~ maximize all the specific ingredient you love.

On top of all that, it’s so, so cost effective. In London, a mango salmon roll is typically around £15-£18 per roll at a restaurant. At home, it costs us £4.66 per roll (here is the calculation).

Plus, it’s actually pretty easy to make and absolutely delicious.

In fact, once you’ve tried this mango salmon roll recipe, you may never order it at a restaurant again. You’ve been warned.

Mango Salmon Roll Ingredients

To make these mango salmon sushi rolls, you’ll need:

5 cups cooked rice
5 nori sheets
10 nobashi prawns
450-500 grams of salmon sashimi
2 big, ripe mangos
1 avocado
1 large cucumber
1 cup ice cold water
1 egg (chilled)
1 cup flour
1 cup cornstarch (or flour)
750mL – 1000mL neutral oil
5 tbsp sushi rice seasoning or rice vinegar, salt, and sugar

The above is enough for 5 generously endowed mango salmon sushi rolls. You may even have a little bit rice and/or salmon leftover – we usually do.

But it’s better to have and not need than to be halfway through making your last mango sushi roll and run out. I speak from experience.

Tips for the Best Mango Salmon Rolls

Choose the best ingredients. English cucumbers are best. They’re longer, thinner and they have smaller seeds. The best kind of mango to use are ripe – but not too ripe. A ripe mango will have a bit of rosiness to it and smell sweet. They should also yield a little when you gently squeeze them but not feel too mushy.

Ziploc is your friend. While rolling the sushi, little bits of rice will get stuck on your sushi mat and eventually drive you mad. To prevent this, place the mat in a plastic bag.

If rice gets stuck to it, use a damp paper towel to wipe it off and keep rolling. It makes life and cleanup a lot easier.

No sushi mat? No problem. Rip off a square of saran wrap (slightly bigger than a nori sheet) and use that instead. It’s not as sturdy but it will do. Plus, it makes it possible to prepare the rolls in a sort of factory line, if you’re making this recipe with a partner or a friend. Pros and cons, right?

Which side of seaweed to use for sushi? Every nori sheet has two sides: a shiny side and a rougher side.

Feeling the nori sheet is the best way to be sure which is which. One side will feel rougher than the other. The rough side is where you want to apply the rice. This applies to both inside out rolls and regular sushi rolls. The rice sticks better to the rough side. Plus, it just makes sense to keep the shiny side up – it’s prettier.

How to Make Mango Salmon Sushi Rolls

There are 5 steps to making mango salmon rolls. Done alone, it takes me around 75 to 90 minutes.

But if you divide and conquer, you can cut that time by half. For example, I handle the sushi rice and the rolling. My husband usually cuts the salmon and does the tempura prawns. We prep the vegetables together.

These steps aren’t step-by-step – they can happen concurrently. So if you have help at hand, make use of it! Here’s exactly what to do…

Make Sushi Rice

The first step is to cook the rice if you don’t have enough leftover sushi rice (short-grain rice). Just 2 cups of rice will produce a little more than 5 cups of rice.

Make sure to wash it 3 to 5 times. It’s ready to be cooked when the water runs mostly clear.

The rice takes around 15 minutes to cook. Which is a good amount of time to prep the other ingredients.

Once it’s cooked, scoop out 5 cups of rice into a big mixing bowl and let cool for around 5 to 10 minutes.

When it’s cool, season it with:

Sushi rice seasoning: 1 tbsp per 1 cup rice OR
A mixture of: 3 tbsp rice vinegar + 1.5 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp salt

Mix well and set aside.

Cut the Salmon

Slightly frozen salmon is much easier to cut than completely defrosted salmon. I highly recommend you start the slicing when the salmon is about halfway defrosted.

Using a sharp knife, cut the salmon crosswise into slim strips to place on top of the sushi rolls.

Fry the Shrimp Tempura

Shrimp tempura is an essential part of this mango salmon roll. It’s a fairly quick process, taking around 10 to 15 minutes. But there are important steps to follow. I’m outlining them below but if you want a deeper dive into shrimp tempura ingredients and procedure, check out my easy tempura prawn recipe.

Set up a tempura station. Everything comes together quick so it’s best to be prepared. You can make a tempura station with 3 plates:

1 with the uncooked prawns
1 with a cup of cornstarch or flour to coat the prawns in before dipping them in batter
1 to place the prawns on after frying

Prepare the prawns. To start making the prawn tempura, first prep the shrimp by peeling them up to the tail. Place them on a plate with paper towels over and underneath to soak up any moisture.

Heat the oil. Then, heat 750mL to 1000mL oil in a wok to 350ºF. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a wooden chopstick into the oil. Once that produces little bubbles around the wood, the oil is ready for frying.

Make shrimp tempura batter. For shrimp tempura batter, you’ll need:

3/4 cup ice cold water
1 egg (chilled)
1 cup flour

First whisk the egg into the icy cold water. Add the flour and stir in until just blended. Use chopsticks rather than a whisk since you don’t want to over-mix it.

Fry the prawns. Pick up each prawn by the tail. First, coat it in cornstarch or flour. Second, dip it into the batter and let the excess drop off. Then place it into the hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Immediately place on a wire rack or paper towels to soak up excess oil.

Slice The Vegetables

Cucumber. Start by peeling the cucumber. Then cut the cucumber into small strips. You can also use a mandoline slicer.

The only part of the cucumber that we’ll be using is the hard outer part in between the peel and seeds. Try to avoid getting the juicier seedy core as the excess moisture can make the sushi rolls wet and hard to roll properly.

Mangoes. Cut the mango into long and wide slices. I use a peeler to peel off the outer skin and then use either a peeler or a knife to slice slivers of mango all the way down to the seed.

Avocado. I usually do the avocado last, right before I’m about to start rolling the sushi because they oxidize fairly quickly and nobody wants brown avocados in their sushi. Plus, the prep is easy.

Cut the avocado in half, cut thin slices length-wise and then use a spoon to scoop it out.

Assemble

Now it’s time to roll the rolls.

1. Start by placing a nori sheet on top of your sushi mat, with the shiny side down and the rough side facing up. Spread the rice all around the top of the nori. You can do it with your hands. A spoon spatula is even better – it scoops and it spreads well.

2. Sprinkle it with sesame seeds. A combination of black and regular is best for both aesthetics and nutrition.

3. Now turn the nori sheet over so the side with the rice is now on the sushi mat and the shiny side is facing up.

Note: Sometimes, I forget this part and start adding the ingredients. It happens often when I’m hungry. If you do this too – no problem at all. It holds, cuts, and tastes the same. The only difference is aesthetic, which doesn’t even matter since we’ll be putting salmon and mango on top.

Add the sushi roll fillings – prawn tempura, avocado, cucumber.

4. Then roll it up. You want to roll it so that all the filling ingredients are firmly wrapped. When the top of the rice on one side touches the seaweed on the other side, gently press down so it sticks. And then continue to roll it up, gently but firmly applying pressure on the roll.

And boom – you have a completed sushi roll. Repeat steps 1 to 4 until you’ve completed all the rolls.

5. Top the rolls with alternating slices of mango and salmon until all the rolls are covered.

6. Cut into bite-sized slices and serve immediately.

What do you serve mango salmon rolls with?

Just some soy sauce and wasabi to dip is perfect. If you want a little extra, you can also whip up some sriracha mayo sauce to dab on the rolls.

We also get a 20-pack of nobashi prawns and only use 10 prawn tempuras for the mango salmon rolls. Which leaves 10 tempura prawns for a side dish.

What’s the difference between Japanese vs American sushi?

Japanese sushi is a lot more simple. There’s rice, fish, and nori. Maybe a dab of wasabi, salt, truffle oil or other seasoning. But that’s about it.

Western sushi, which includes the mango salmon roll, is a lot more…MORE. There’s tempura! Avocado! Sriracha mayo! All encased in a convenient nori sheet so you get all that in each bite.

There are also other quirky differences, which usually have interesting histories behind them. For example, the inside-out roll is not traditionally Japanese. It actually was designed to appeal to Westerners, who might be put off by the look and feel of seaweed on the outside of the roll.

In a similar manner, avocado started featuring in sushi a couple decades ago when a creative Japanese chef had trouble finding toro, a fatty cut of tuna, for his sushi. So he substituted the readily-available-in-California avocado instead. And the rest is history.

Where do you buy sushi ingredients?

I’m based in the UK and the place I always order sushi and prawns from is FreshestFish.co.uk. Their stuff is fresh and good quality, they deliver, and they’re pretty affordable.

As for the rest, the nori sheets are from Sainsbury’s and as for the sushi rice, I order the 5KG bag of Yutaka Koshi Premium Grade Japanese Short Grain Rice from Amazon.

How much do salmon mango rolls cost to make?

Mango salmon rolls are pretty expensive at restaurants. But here’s how much it costs us to make them at home:

500g salmon: £10
1 pack nori sheets: £2.00
370g rice: £1.20
10 prawns: £6.50
1 avocado: £0.83
1 cucumber: £0.85
2 mangoes: £1.90

In total, it costs us £23.28 to make 5 rolls of mango salmon sushi at home. That comes to £4.66 per roll.