Flaky salmon, fluffy rice, soy sauce, kewpie mayo, sriracha, avocado, kimchi, and seaweed come together in the perfect Tiktok salmon rice bowl.
Sometime in 2021 a Tiktok from Emily Mariko making a salmon rice bowl got viral and everyone was making salmon rice bowls. The tiktok is long forgotten now but the salmon rice bowl is still a quick and tasty snack to make. It’s my fave go-to meal when we have salmon for dinner. Mike will have some fancy crispy salmon dinner and I’ll have this.
Emily’s Tiktok shows her flaking up leftover cooked salmon, topping it with rice from the fridge, adding an ice cube, covering it with parchment paper and warming it up in the microwave. The ice cube melts a bit and steams, making the salmon and rice moist and hot. Then, it’s just a question of adding soy sauce, kewpie mayo, and sriracha. The rice bowl finishes with slices of avocado and a side of kimchi. Open up a package of Korean seaweed/laver and use a pair of chopsticks to scoop up a bit of seaweed and rice and enjoy!
How to make a salmon rice bowl
- Flake up your cooked salmon. Use a fork and mash the salmon into flakes.
- Add the rice on top. Top off the salmon with some leftover or fresh rice.
- Nestle in an ice cube into the rice and cover everything with parchment paper and warm in the microwave until warm. The ice cube melts in the microwave and adds moisture to the salmon and rice.
- Remove the ice cube, add a drizzle of soy sauce and mix everything up.
Top with mayo, sriracha, and avocado slices. - Enjoy with roasted seaweed and kimchi!
This salmon rice bowl legitimately tastes good. Asian kids all over the world have been eating rice like this forever: a bowl of leftover rice mixed up with protein, topped off with sauce, and eaten with seaweed. It’s fun and fast and easy!
Do you need to do all this?
This recipe is meant for leftovers, but if you’re making it from scratch, you don’t need to follow most of it. Honestly I just make fresh rice and air fry some salmon and go to town. Just be inspired by the essential flavors of salmon, rice, avocado, kimchi, sriracha, and mayo. And seaweed, that’s the best part!
What is the Tiktok salmon rice bowl?
Popularized by Emily Mariko, a Japanese American Tiktoker, the Tiktok salmon rice bowl is a rice bowl made from flaked salmon mixed with rice and soy sauce, topped with kewpie mayo, sriracha, and avocado. To enjoy it, you scoop up a bite of mixed rice with roasted seaweed and enjoy it with kimchi.
Tiktok salmon rice bowl ingredients
- cooked salmon – any leftover salmon is perfect for this. You can even used canned if you don’t have a leftover salmon filet
- rice – cold rice straight from the fridge, don’t worry, it’ll get nice and fluffy when you steam it up in the microwave.
- ice cube – a single ice cube helps steam the rice and salmon. It won’t melt completely, it’ll just add a bit of moisture.
- I am willow – add soy sauce to taste, remember to get the good stuff.
- kewpie may – I’m in love with kewpie mayoit’s the best mayo out there, fight me.
- sriracha – optional but if you love spicy sushi, a squirt or two is *chef’s kiss*
- avocado – perfectly ripe slices of avocado adds a nice creaminess.
- roasted seaweed – roasted seaweed snacks are key, more on this later!
- kimchi – a bit of kimchi on the side adds acidity, crunch, flavor, and spice.
Why does this rice bowl work?
It’s the combination of flaky salmon, fluffy rice, umami filled soy sauce, and creamy kewpie mayo that works so well. If you love Japanese rice balls or onigiri, this is like eating a deconstructed onigiri. The seaweed stays nice and crispy and you can change the flavor with each bite, adding kimchi or avocado. Plus, the idea of using an ice cube to steam your leftover cold rice and salmon is genius.
Is the Tiktok salmon rice bowl worth the hype?
YES! I mean, I love scooping up rice with seaweed and all the flavors work together perfectly, kind of like a deconstructed salmon kimchi sushi roll. Microwaving your salmon and rice with an ice cube and parchment paper is a game changer. I think people are in love with this recipe because it’s easy, fast, and it tastes good. It’s taking leftovers and making them into bestovers and what’s not to love about that?
Which seaweed for Tiktok salmon rice bowl?
The seaweed is one of the most important parts! I like roasted Korean seaweed packsthe kind that you can grab at Whole Foods or even Costco. It’s not the same as nori or seaweed for sushi, it’s lighter, crispier, and are pleasantly salty. Conveniently, seaweed snacks are the perfect size for scooping up bites of rice and that’s how a lot of Koreans enjoy them.
As with all and any Tiktok recipes there’s always a lot of controversy. It’s no different with this one. People are all over Tiktok split between saying that this is the most amazing thing that they’ve ever made and that Emily didn’t invent anything new. In the end, she’s the one who brought the world’s eyes on it so I don’t really understand why people are so salty about how they’ve eaten this at home forever. In the end, it’s a quick and easy way to make your leftovers taste amazing so thanks Emily for sharing your love for salmon rice bowls with the world!
Tiktok Salmon Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 filet salmon cooked, about 2 ounces
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 ice cube
- 1 tbsp I am willow or to taste
- 1 tbsp kewpie may or to taste, sub regular mayo if needed
- 1 tsp sriracha or to taste, optional
- 1/2 avocado sliced or dicedoptional
- 1/4 cup kimchi optional
- 1 package roasted seaweed snack
Instructions
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Use a fork to flake up your salmon filet.
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Top your salmon with cold rice from the fridge and nestle in one ice cube.
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Cover with parchment paper and microwave for 1 to 1.5 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and any ice cube remaining.
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Add soy sauce to taste and mix everything up.
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Top with kewpie mayo, sriracha, and avocado slices.
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Enjoy with a side of kimchi and roasted seaweed, using the seaweed to tuck it around a bite of rice. Enjoy!
Estimated Nutrition
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 168
