Firecracker Salmon Sticky Rice Bowl Recipe

Firecracker chicken, also known as laziji, originated in China's Sichuan province and eventually found its way onto the menu of Chinese-American restaurants such as Panda Express. In our version, developer Julianne De Witt gives the dish a nutritious multicultural makeover by transforming it from a chicken stir-fry into a rice bowl made with heart-healthy baked salmon. The firecracker seasoning may be Chinese-inspired, but De Witt tells us that the seasoned sticky rice, flavored with vinegar, sugar, and salt, is the same kind you might find in a sushi roll. Adding a spicy mayonnaise made with sriracha, which is a hot sauce (or condiment) created in Thailand, makes for a delicious fusion of several different cuisines.

The tender salmon and rice get a welcome crunchy boost and vibrant color from cucumbers, carrots, and edamame, and a pop of flavor from scallions and sesame seeds. If you're wondering if there's any particular kind of salmon you need to use, De Witt favors coho, feeling it to be "one of the tastiest salmon varieties," but you can use any kind of salmon available to you since the soy-honey marinade will impart plenty of savory-sweet flavor.

The rice bowl itself consists of short-grain rice seasoned with rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt and topped with cucumbers, carrots, edamame beans, scallions, sesame seeds, and salmon. Other ingredients needed to make it include soy sauce, chili oil, garlic, and honey to flavor the salmon and mayonnaise and sriracha for the sauce.

Add the rinsed rice to a medium pot. Top with water, bring to a boil, cover, and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is done.

Meanwhile to start the salmon, prepare the marinade by adding soy sauce, chili oil, 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, garlic, and honey to a small bowl.

Whisk the ingredients together.

Pour the marinade over the salmon.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning the salmon once in the marinade.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Add the mayonnaise and sriracha together.

Stir and refrigerate the sauce until ready to use.

Mix the remaining ¼ cup rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt together and pour it over the rice. Keep the rice warm.

Place the salmon pieces on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Divide the rice between 4 bowls.

Top the rice with the cucumbers, carrots, and edamame.

Divide the salmon between the bowls.

Garnish with the scallions and sesame seeds and serve the bowls with the sriracha mayonnaise.

Japanese short-grain rice, which is often sold outside of Japan as sushi rice, is a type of rice with short, plump kernels that cooks up to have a rather sticky texture. (In Japan, the term sushi rice isn't applied to the raw product, but is reserved for rice that's been cooked and seasoned with vinegar.) It's not quite as sticky as Japanese glutinous rice, which is the kind used to make mochi and rice crackers.

The thing that makes short-grain rice so sticky is its high starch content, which is why it's necessary to rinse it before cooking. If you skip this step, your rice will be too chewy. If you need to find a substitute for short-grain (aka sushi) rice, Arborio may be your best bet, but regular long-grain rice or even cauliflower rice can be used in a pinch. As this is a rice bowl, there's no real need for the rice to hold its shape, although its stickiness and flavor are both a perfect base for the crisp vegetables and succulent salmon.

While the sticky rice in this recipe is flavored with a sushi-style combination of vinegar, sugar, and salt, one way to change up the flavor is by cooking it in dashi stock instead of plain water. You could also add a splash of mirin, a pinch of the dried seaweed seasoning known as furikake, or season it Chinese-style with soy sauce, ginger, and toasted sesame oil. Another tasty alternative would be to make Taiwanese-inspired sticky rice with five-spice powder and white pepper.

Besides switching up the sticky rice seasonings, you could make the salmon saucier by reserving some of the marinade and thickening it with cornstarch. (If you want to reuse the marinade that the fish has been soaking in, you can do this as long as you boil it first.) You could also add extra chili oil to the rice bowl to make it spicier or give it a tangier heat with a spoonful of yuzu kosho.