Wait, what? Pizza?? It’s 8am! “Edison, what are you eating?” (shock brings out the stupid questions in me) “Aw, just some pizza Mom.” “What pizza? Where did you get it??” “Oh, just from outside.” (we did indeed have pizza for dinner last night. The dots are starting to connect.) “What do you mean, WHERE outside??” (I can’t stop with the double question marks guys, it was a very distressing moment) “Oh, don’t worry Mom, not on the ground. It was on the fire thing!” (He means the fire pit. This is not encouraging.) “Edison, when you leave food outside overnight it gets bugs on it.” (Said with an admirable measure of calm, if I do say so myself.) He says reassuringly, “Oh don’t worry Mom, I ate all the bugs.” GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH Okay, before you call the cops, I feel like I need to provide evidence that I actually DO feed my children healthy, bug-free meals, ones that are nourishing, especially after hospital visits… Only 2 stitches and at least 4 hours of uninterrupted PJ Masks shows in the ER. Who won, here, exactly? I think Edison did. I always use frozen salmon. I’m just fancy like that. (Just kidding, I am cheap and never plan ahead.) Salmon is a great last minute weeknight dinner because it thaws lightning-fast. I always take the vacuum sealed bags and toss them in a bowl of water, and voila, 30 minutes later, thawed salmon ready to go. From there, it’s just a quick marinade in some pantry ingredients (plus garlic and ginger), searing the heck out of it, and then adding the rice, spicy mayo, and toppings. It looks like a lot, but it really comes together fast, especially when you make it all the time like I do. You can also switch out the toppings for whatever you have on hand. No cucumber? Swap for shredded carrots! No green onions? Finely dice a red onion! No avocado? Add in some shredded green lettuce! It’s completely customizable. Salmon marinade Rice & Sriracha mayo ingredients
Salmon Bowl Toppings
Adding baking soda and cornstarch to the marinade for this salmon makes the salmon get SUPER crispy when you sear it in the hot pan. The edges get all fizzy and reactive and the cornstarch makes it viscous and thick so the marinade sticks to the salmon…it’s a beautiful thing! Add in some soy sauce and honey. Then a squirt or two of sriracha. You can use any hot sauce you like! I know sriracha can be hard to come by these days! If you are out, don’t steal any off the tables from your local restaurants. Just use Tobasco people, calm down. Or add a pinch of cayenne pepper! Now it’s time to add in some garlic and ginger. Have you ever used a spoon to peel your ginger? SO much easier than a peeler. Mince it up and add to the bowl. Next chop up your salmon. I like to chop each filet into 3-4 pieces. Here she is! You can let this salmon marinate for as little as 10-15 minutes. Or you can marinate for up to an hour! Don’t go longer than that. Salmon is delicate, and too long of a marinade will start to break down and “cook” the fish. It will turn out mushy, no thank you. Now let’s make the rice. Rinse your rice until the water runs clear (or don’t. I often skip this when I’m in a hurry and nobody died. Rinsing rice makes it a little bit less gummy.) While your rice is cooking, make a simple mixture of rice vinegar and sugar. If you let it sit for a few minutes, the sugar will dissolve completely, if you are ready to pour it on the rice and you still see granules, microwave it for a few seconds until it is dissolved. Pour the rice vinegar and sugar mixture over the sushi rice and fold it in. Stir together some mayo, sriracha, and a splash of rice vinegar for more bite. I love to slather this stuff on EV-ER-Y-THING. Prep all your other ingredients at this point: slice the cucumber, microwave the edamame, slice the avocado, chop the cilantro and green onions. Have you ever cooked with edamame? It’s relatively new for me. I LOVE it. So easy to just throw a steam bag in the microwave and snack on it. Now it’s time to sear the salmon! Turn the burner up to “screaming hot.” It’s somewhere just below high heat. Let the pan heat up by itself with no oil for a good 1-2 minutes. I like to sear the salmon in sesame oil. It does have a strong flavor, so if you are not into it, use any vegetable oil! Or you can use a combo of vegetable and sesame oil, I do that a lot. Don’t crowd the pan with salmon, otherwise the pieces will steam each other and they won’t get crisp. It needs space to get blackened. Once your salmon is ready, it’s time to plate and serve! Drizzle that sriracha mayo over the top, then garnish each plate with black sesame seeds and rice seasoning. Have you ever had this stuff? It’s so good. It has seaweed, sesame seeds, sugar and salt. I’m not like, the HUGEST fan of seaweed, but this is a small enough accent that it’s perfect. Adds just the right umami touch.
Don’t crowd the salmon! When you sear the pieces of salmon, they shouldn’t be touching, or they’ll steam. Sear them in batches so there’s space between them and they can get browned and a little crispy. Dissolve the sugar in vinegar. Sweet and tangy rice is delicious, but not if the sugar is still grainy. Make sure to either leave it in the vinegar for a while or warm the mixture up in the microwave to speed up the process. Want extra-saucy salmon? Instead of throwing the marinade away, add it to the hot pan after searing, and cook for 1-2 minutes until thickened. Then top the salmon with it! Hit the easy button. To make this weeknight dinner even more stress-free, use jarred minced garlic and ginger from a tube instead of fresh. I promise it will still be delicious (and save your sanity).
Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad » If you want to jazz up the cucumbers in your salmon bowl, use this recipe! I could eat this all day. My Favorite Coleslaw (With Lemon and Fresh Herbs) » a light, bright, herby salad option 10 Minute Sautéed Zucchini and Squash Side Dish » I love summer squash with these flavors, so this is a great recipe to add more non starchy veggies in about 10 minutes How to make Riced Cauliflower » use this to replace the sushi rice if you want to lighten things up or add more fiber to your salmon bowl Traditional Tejano Pinto Beans (Slow Cooker Mexican Beans) » if you need more bulk to make these salmon bowls stretch further, make the most delicious pot of beans ever to go alongside them Mexican Street Corn Dip (Elote) » perfect, AMAZING combo of sweet corn and savory tart cheese Lemon Kale Salad from Ahead of Thyme EASY Air Fryer Zucchini Fries (Extra Crispy!!!) from Platings and Pairings
The key here is to store them all separately! Kind of a pain, but keeping everything together will make for some very soggy leftovers, ew. So definitely keep your toppings and mayo separate. You could probably store your rice and salmon together, but I prefer to even separate those. Make sure everything is in airtight containers. To reheat, warm up the rice and salmon in the microwave, or my favorite way, warm just the rice and do a quick pan-sear of the salmon. Once both are ready, add your toppings and sriracha mayo as desired!
Can you freeze salmon bowls?
Honestly, I think in the refrigerator is your best bet for storage since there are so many elements of the salmon bowls that won’t do well in the freezer. Like, don’t even bother trying to freeze any of the leftover veggies or Sriracha mayo because it will not work. You’ll just end up with a soggy mess that you’ll need to toss out. Rice, however, does freeze quite well. Transfer any cooled rice to a freezer ziplock bag, try to get as much air out as possible, and seal. It will last in the freezer about 2-3 months. Add a little water when reheating. Salmon also freezes, but I find that the texture and flavor of the fish suffers slightly, especially over time. I try to only cook roughly what I think we’ll eat and then store any leftovers in the fridge to be eaten in the next day or two. If you do freeze, I recommend portioning the fish by wrapping each filet tightly in plastic wrap and then placing all the filets in freezer ziplock bags. The salmon will be also be good for 2-3 months. To reheat, let the rice and the salmon thaw in the fridge overnight. Warm the rice in the microwave til hot. For the salmon, let come to room temp on the counter, then either do a quick pan-fry or warm in a 325 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.
