David Chang’s Salmon Rice Bowl Recipe Is Damn Delicious

David Chang, the globetrotting, industry-defining, chef, cookbook author, and host, loves food. And he can’t wait to share his particular joy of cooking with his son, Hugo. But Hugo just turned one. So, right now Chang is focused on preparing Hugo meals that he’ll actually eat — and not make too much of a mess out of.

“That’s basically it,” Chang tells Fatherly. “I cook the majority of the meals. I cook most of Hugo’s meals. I try to cook meals where he can eat the same thing we’re eating”That’s proven a bit tricky as of late. Chang says Hugo doesn’t want anything he makes anymore. “All he wants to eat is rice. Bananas, avocado, all the things he used to like — he doesn’t care,” he says. “He pours every drink on the table and the floor. That’s where I’m at.”

It’s funny to imagine Chang, he of the Momofuku restaurant dynasty, the man who had a big hand in redefining eating out — and just eating in general — in America, unable to please a diner. But what father hasn’t fallen to the whims of a picky toddler? And one of Changs favorite meals to prepare for himself, his wife, and Hugo, is this easy-to-make salmon rice bowl recipe. The salmon is cured with salt, the rice is seasoned and prepared, and then the salmon spends 10 minutes enclosed with the just-cooked rice to finish steaming. It’s crazy good, and crazy simple to make.

David Chang’s Salmon Rice Bowl Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups of rice
• 1 tbsp salt
• 625g broth (Dave used Brodo’s seaweed mushroom broth, but you can use any broth of your choice – chicken, beef, veggie, dashi, or just plain water)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp agave (can otherwise use honey, sugar, or maple syrup)
• 12oz king salmon (wild ideally, can be frozen and defrosted)
• 20g ginger, thinly sliced
• 1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
• 1 package of roasted nori, cut into strips (you can even get this at CVS)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Slice your salmon into 1/4″ slices.
2. Sprinkle plate of sliced salmon with salt and set aside. (This will help your salmon quickly cure.)
3. Wash and prep your rice. Add your rice, broth, soy, and agave to a pot, and turn on medium high heat. Once it starts to boil (about 7 minutes in), turn your heat down to medium low and cover for about 10 minutes.
4. Once most of the water is evaporated, take the pot off of heat.
5. Top the rice with the sliced salmon, onion, and ginger, then drizzle with sesame oil. Finish with the strips of nori. Cover, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Tip: You can also make this in a rice cooker. Simply cook your rice, then, once it’s done, add the salmon, onion, ginger and sesame oil.