Yep, I Made the TikTok Salmon Rice Bowl and Still Can't Believe I Put an Ice Cube in the Microwave

Emily Mariko's salmon sushi bowl has gone viral on TikTok, so naturally we decided to make the dish to see if it's worth the hype.

By Tierney Bricker Oct 16, 2021 12:00 PMTags
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I was today years old when I placed an ice cube atop my mashed salmon and rice and put it in the microwave like it was a cup of Kraft Easy Mac. Such is the power of a TikTok trend gone mainstream.

I'm 32 years old, which means I am undoubtedly and unabashedly a millennial. I part my hair to the side. I used to torture my soccer-toned calves by squeezing them into skinny jeans. I rocked two to three Abercrombie and Fitch polos—at a time. I used to pay 10 cents per text message. Well, my parents did. But you get the picture. All this to say I am not a cool millennial, so I firmly live on Instagram, seeing TikTok as a dangerous, lawless land filled with mini-mics (why do you hold them?), white girls awkwardly dancing (Hi, I can see that by looking in a mirror!) and random challenges that your Aunt Carol will end up taking part of. Except she will post it on Facebook.

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Still, I am not impervious to trends! Which is how I came across Emily Mariko's salmon sushi bowl. And just like my basic bitch self can resist the siren call of alll things pumpkin spice as soon as the calendar strikes Sept. 1—I have some restraint/feel bad dancing on summer's grave too early—I knew I would be making this dish. Even if it meant putting a freaking ice cube on my leftover food and zapping it. 

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Posted on Sept. 21, the video, titled "Best lunch of the week!", has been viewed 8.1 million times, which means Emily's salmon bowl has more viewers than Dancing With the Stars.

Remarkably, this is the first video of Emily's I had ever seen, so I decided to watch a few more. Three hours later...I was obsessed with her, her kitchen, her hair, her "yum, this is so good!" face. All of it is very much a nonchalant vibe I aspire to. And all of her recipes seem very easy to follow, perfect for a busy, on-the-go gal like me! (And by that I mean, I keep busy catching up on reality TV and I literally go to sleep, that's about it.)

So, it was decided: I was making my first TikTok recipe. 

I'm not going to bore you with a step-by-step tutorial because, hello, you can literally just play "Simon Says" with Emily's video. This isn't rocket science. 

But you do need to procure a few ingredients, including salmon (full disclosure: I bought mine pre-made at Whole Foods, which I usually never do!), white rice (mine was of the jasmine variety, and, prepare to start cursing at me in your head, this is the part where I tell you I usually use cauliflower rice because I was never a big fan of the grain. Like, why eat rice when I could eat pasta, you feel me?), soy sauce (or coconut aminos, which I used because darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream), siracha (calm down heathens, I used the OG), nori or dried seaweed, avocado (optional but not extra), kimchi, and Kewpie mayo.

Oh, what a journey Kewpie mayo and I went on. Short story shorter: You usually can only find it at a Japanese market, which I did not have time to go to this week. So, I Googled a recipe, made do with what I had in my pantry and created some from scratch instead. It was edible!

After getting all of the goods, I invited my little sister over to be my guinea pig. "I'm scared!" she whispered, staring at the waiting ice cubes, as I mashed the salmon. 

"It's basically a deconstructed sushi roll," I responded, an imaginary light bulb turning on above my head.

Tierney Bricker

The recipe itself takes, like, five minutes if you are working with pre-cooked salmon and rice, though the only hold-up for us was figuring out how long we should cook the bowl for. We settled on 45 seconds and were amazed the ice cubes did not melt. 

Next up was my favorite part: Drizzling all the sauces. Whenever I do this, I imagine I am on Top Chef and it is the final seconds before Padma runs in and says, "Hands up, knives down," as I rush to finish my plate. Stakes!

After adding some avo (yes, we're on nickname basis, it's cool) and putting the kimchi in a separate dish for ~the aesthetic~, we were ready to try the bowl that has taken social media by storm.

We both assembled little rolls with the nori, stuffing it with everything to make sure we got the perfect first bite. We pretended they were wine glasses and did a little cheers. We took a bite at the same time. We awkwardly watched each other chew, eyes simultaneously growing wide with delight.

Tierney Bricker

"Holy s--t, that is really good," I said. "I could eat this every day," my sister replied. We continued exchanging glowing reviews as we devoured our bowls. Quite literally, Everything mixed together takes you, as Guy Fieri would say, on a road rockin' trip down to Flavortown. 

But the best part is that it's as easy as it is delicious. Perfect for a WFH lunch option for me and a nutritious kid-friendly alternative for my sister, who has two children. It has the range. 

So will I make it again? Duh. Just don't expect to see me document it on TikTok anytime soon. 

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