Over the past few weeks, I have been casually scrolling through Tik Tok, and have been bombarded with so many videos about new food trends. One new food trend that I had seen everywhere is called the Salmon Rice Bowl. I knew I had to try it!
This trend started earlier this fall and was first posted by a young California Bay Area lifestyle blogger Emily Mariko. Since then, she has continued to post this recipe, along with other videos of her cooking. She begins by taking some leftover salmon and flaking it apart and putting it on top of some leftover rice. She then microwaves it and drizzles kewpie mayo and sriracha on top and mixes it all together. The dish is served with nori and avocado to make a sushi roll-esque creation.
Sourced from: The Today Show
Emily Mariko and her salmon rice bowl
As Emily Mariko is from the Bay Area of California, salmon is a species that is considered local. She reiterates this by documenting her local farmers market hauls, which is where she purchases her salmon. This dish falls under Eating with the Ecosystem's place-based approach in Emily Mariko's case, but what if someone in New England wanted to try out the trend?
With this question in mind, I decided I wanted to give it a shot! I first needed to figure out what fish I wanted to use in place of Salmon since we don’t have local salmon here. After looking through Eating with the Ecosystem's 'what's local' page, I decided to use haddock. I knew that I liked it, and that it would have a great flaky consistency for this recipe.
I then had to go and purchase the piece of fish I would use. For this, I went to a small local seafood market in the town I grew up near called West Boylston Seafood. My experience here was just lovely! I was able to speak to the owner, and he was able to give me a tour of the species they had and was so open to telling me about where everything came from. He also let me take some photos! Here are some that I shot that day:
When in the store, there were so many local options. After pursuing the cases, I decided upon a piece of oven-ready haddock that was adorned with bread crumbs and spices. The owner mentioned that a lot of the inventory they had had just came in that day from Boston, so I was thrilled to find something like that!
Oven-ready haddock.
At the market, there were so many options, but I think I gravitated more towards the oven-ready option, as I am a college student with minimal time and space to cook elaborately, so this was perfect for me!
After purchasing my haddock, the business also provided me with a sheet on how long to cook the fish for, along with the other species they had in stock, which was super helpful. I gave my thanks and proceeded to go home to try the dish!
Haddock in the air fryer.
Once I arrived at home, I immediately got to work! I started off by placing the haddock into the air fryer, as I knew that it would save me time, rather than using the oven. I placed the haddock in the basket, and cooked it at 400 degrees F for 18 minutes, checking on it periodically.
While the haddock was cooking, I wanted to get my rice ready. Again, as a college student, I do not have access to many appliances, such as a rice cooker, so I had decided to use some 'Boil-in-a-Bag' rice that I already had in my pantry. I followed the instructions on the packing, and let the rice cook for about 20 minutes. If you have a rice cooker at home, or actually know how to make rice properly (...unlike me), then feel free to do whatever method you like for this step!
To kill some time while everything was cooking, I pulled out the condiments I planned to use to top off the bowl. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any kewpie mayo (a Japanese mayo) for this recipe, but I found that using regular mayo and some soy sauce works very well. I retrieved my mayo, sriracha, and soy sauce from the fridge, along with the toppings I planned to use.
As a college student, I really wanted to work with what I already had, as I didn't want to waste any food, so instead of using avocado like Emily Mariko does in her original recipe, I decided to garnish the bowl with some sliced baby cucumbers. Again, this part is solely based on personal preference. Add whatever you like to your bowl!
Haddock, rice, mayo, siracha, and seasoning; premixed.
After about 18 minutes, both the rice and the haddock were finished cooking. I pulled out the haddock and placed it on a cutting board to flake apart with a fork. I then pulled the rice bag out of the water, drained it, and poured it into a bowl to be fluffed up with a form.
Now that all the hard work was finished, it was time for the fun part: the assembling of the bowl! I first layered my fluffed up rice on the bottom of the bowl. I then took the haddock that I had previously flaked and poured it right on top of the rice. I popped open all the condiments and just went to town with them! The more the better! I drizzled them on also sprinkled on some 'Everything but the Bagel' seasoning, because that always makes everything better! To be artsy, I lined the sliced cucumbers around the edge of the bowl, grabbed my chopsticks and seaweed wrappers and Voila!
Finished haddock and rice bowl!
I could not wait to dig in! I took a nori wrapper and took some of everything to make the perfect bite! This recipe was so good, and honestly, as someone who has tried the original recipe, I think I liked this one better (shhhhh...)! The haddock had a much better flavor and the texture was on par for this recipe.
Although trends are fun and they are always great to try, sometimes putting a spin on them can be just as satisfying! By incorporating a place-based approach to the seafood component of the recipe, I was able to create a delicious meal, while promoting a sustainable practice to seafood consumption! Easy recipe, great food, and it's local?! That's a win in my book!
Recipe
Ingredients
6 oz filet of Haddock (or any local species that flakes when cooked!)
1 serving of rice
Cooking method personal preference
Sriracha
Mayonnaise
Soy Sauce
Everything but the Bagel seasoning
1 Packet of nori (seaweed) wrappers
Steps
Air fry haddock at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes
Boil rice according to instructions on the package
Thinly slice cucumbers / avocado / other topping preferences
Fluff up rice and place into a bowl
Once haddock is finished, flake using a fork
Place haddock over the rice and combine
Drizzle mayo, sriracha, and soy sauce on top and combine
Sprinkle 'Everything but the Bagel' seasoning on top
Garnish with sliced veggies
Eat using nori wrappers