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Smoked Salmon Bowl

This delightful rice bowl has everything but the kitchen sink: smoked salmon, crunchy cucumbers, sweet, tangy pickled onions, creamy avocado, shredded carrots, green onions, spicy Asian microgreens, and a lush soft-boiled egg. It’s a magnificent combination of flavors, colors, and textures topped with a tangy sesame ginger vinaigrette. Keep things simple with store-bought salmon and pre-shredded carrots (we won’t tell). Serve at room temperature for a light, fresh dinner perfect for summer’s muggiest nights — or bring it to work for lunch and make all your coworkers jealous.

Smoked Salmon Bowl

Servings: 2

Ingredients

    For the sesame ginger vinaigrette:
  • 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  • 2 Tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • ½ small shallot
  • ⅓ cup avocado oil
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp black sesame seeds
    • For the salmon bowl:
  • 1 cup sushi rice
  • 4 oz smoked salmon
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 2 oz Asian microgreens mix
  • ¼ cup pickled red onion
  • ¼ cup grated carrot
  • 1 Tbsp sliced scallion
  • ½ cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
  • 2 soft-boiled eggs, cut in half
  • 6 Tbsp sesame ginger vinaigrette
  • 2 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted
  • Flake salt, to taste
For the instant pot sushi rice:
  • 1 cup short-grain white rice (sushi rice)
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Pinch of kosher salt
For the pickled red onions:
  • 1 large red onion, julienned
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • ¾ cups water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp peppercorns
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp coriander seeds

Directions

  1. To make the vinaigrette: In a blender, combine all the ingredients — except the black pepper and sesame seeds — and whirl them up until they’re well emulsified. The vinaigrette should coat the back of a spoon.
  2. Stir in the black pepper and sesame seeds, and set aside. You can keep the leftovers tightly covered in the fridge for up to two weeks.
  3. To make the salmon bowls: Divide the cooked sushi rice between two serving bowls.
  4. Continue dividing and layering the ingredients on top of the rice, including the salmon, avocado, microgreens, red onion, carrot, scallions, and cucumber.
  5. Tuck the egg halves in next to the other ingredients, yolk side up so that you can show off the sunny color.
  6. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over each bowl, and then sprinkle them with toasted sesame seeds and flake salt to taste.
Instant Pot sushi rice
  1. In a mesh strainer, rinse the sushi rice under cold water, swishing your hand through it in a circular motion, until the water runs clear. Set it aside and let it drain for 30 minutes. Note: this step rinses off some of the starches, so your rice cooks more consistently.
  2. Transfer the rice to the bowl of your Instant Pot. Add the water and stir to mix the rice and water.
  3. Close and lock the Instant Pot, and hit the rice button.
  4. While the rice cooks, combine the vinegar, mirin, sugar, and salt in a small bowl and whisk together until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Add the vinegar mixture by pouring it over a spatula — moving the spatula from side to side, so that the liquid sprinkles evenly over the rice. Use the spatula to cut the mixture into the rice, allowing the grains to stay intact.
  6. Allow the rice to cool until you can barely feel any heat coming off it. It helps to flip it (not mix it!) a few times while it’s cooling.
  7. Serve it while it is still lukewarm. If you have leftover rice, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for no more than a day.
Pickled red onions
  1. Place the red onions in a clean 1-quart mason jar.
  2. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and mustard seeds in a small non-reactive pot and bring it to a boil.
  3. Remove the brine from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
  4. Pour the brine over onions, allow them to cool completely, and then store them in the refrigerator. Pickles will keep for up to two weeks.
How to boil an egg
  1. Always start with cold, refrigerated eggs.
  2. Place the eggs in a pot and fill it with cold tap water, covering the eggs by about 1 inch.
  3. Bring the water to a rolling boil for 10 seconds, remove the pot from the heat, and cover it.
  4. If you want a:
    1. a. Soft white and runny yolk, remove the eggs from the water after 2 minutes.
    2. b. Semi-firm white and runny yolk, remove the eggs from the water after 4 minutes.
    3. c. Set white and creamy yolk, remove the eggs from the water after 6 minutes.
    4. d. Set white and set yolk, remove the eggs from the water after 8 minutes.
    5. e. Hard white and hard yolk, remove the eggs from the water after 12 minutes.
  5. While the eggs are cooking, set up an ice bath with half ice and half water.
  6. When the eggs are done cooking, gently put them in the ice bath — this will stop the cooking process and cool them down enough to handle.
  7. To peel the egg, gently crack the egg all over. Dip the egg in water to separate the membrane and white, and then start peeling from the air pocket at the base of the egg.