Salmon rice bowl: hack or wack?

Anina-Jeannette Williams, Staff Reporter

Tik Tok has been somewhat of a revolution for the younger generations as it has paved the way for communication to advance and spread. Many new ideas and creations are pulled from creators on the platform, and recent trends are constantly established.

 

One of the newest trends that recently had the food lovers on Tik Tok eager to try is Emily Mariko’s salmon rice bowl hack. The hack provides a healthy and nutritional alternative by using simple and common ingredients.

A recreation of Emily Mariko’s viral salmon rice bowl, this hack is a must try. It incorporates many different flavor combinations that work so well with this simple and quick meal. (Photo provided by: Anina-Jeannette Williams)

So many of the recipes that I’ve found from both Mariko herself and other videos and articles online vary based upon the ingredients they chose to use. With this in mind, I wanted to try and make this recipe as accurate as possible.

 

For this recipe, Mariko uses leftover rice and salmon; however, I felt like I could make it with new versions of both, which I think worked better. I used plain white jasmine rice and unseasoned salmon filets as I wanted most of the flavor to come from the upcoming added ingredients. 

 

Once the rice and salmon were cooking, I shredded the salmon and combined the two into a shallow bowl. 

 

I then moved on to the condiments: soy sauce, kewpie mayo, and sriracha. The soy sauce added a hint of a sour taste. Then follows the addition of the kewpie mayo and then the sriracha. The kewpie mayo is known for its sweetness and is typically used for spicy sushi when combined with the sriracha, a combination and flavor that I love. The mixture is quite sweet and savory. I squeezed the mayo and then the sriracha in a zigzag pattern across the plate – how much is entirely up to you.

 

I started off with the pre-cut avocado slices that I had already sliced while the rice and salmon were cooking. I aligned them into a row, then added the roasted seaweed and aligned it next to it. Next, I then added all of the garnishes. 

 

While this is optional, I added a side of kimchi to the dish. This addition added an umami flavor to the plate and really helped bring together all of the different flavors.

 

Even though I prefer my salmon raw and in a more sushi-type concept, this salmon rice bowl was both appetizing and delicious. It is a great idea, effortless, and one of the least time-consuming food hacks I’ve seen on Tik Tok. I would definitely love to remake this again one day, and I might even experiment with many other [hopefully] delicious ingredients. This is definitely a food hack.