J Boxer at The Corner

rice cooker salmon, de-stigmatising mental health

Rich, spoonable joy: green peppers and anchovies made this dish a winner. Details in review below.

Food news of the week:

I know it’s been a slew of Western spots in my recent reviews, but next week I do have something special in store. If you are just as passionate as I am about Japanese food, then you may have heard about Niju, the home cooking-focussed child of Endo, London’s fave third-generation sushi master. Can’t wait to update you guys all about my visit! This week, it’s episode 2 of the Jackson Boxer series, at his latest spot J Boxer At The Corner. Finally, I’ve concluded that my fave pub fries so far live at The Pelican, which I still want to do a full review of. The reviews are piling up as we speak.

Science of the week:

Genuinely impressed by the ongoing and recent clinical trials looking into mental health outcomes of probiotics. There are actually 6 randomised clinical trials, referenced in the linked review, that look into this using brain imaging studies, which show the parts of the brain activated in response to emotional stimuli, and prove that there are physical correlates with something as stigmatised as mental health. Check out more blabber I have on the gut-brain-mood axis here.

Insight of the week:

AI is capable of Theory of Mind, which is the capacity to understand how someone else may feel or what they may be thinking, despite not being them (able to recognise how someone is feeling from a video, for example). This is a fundamental aspect of human nature and socialising. Even as someone who sucks at tech and is generally old-fashioned, I accept that this does make AI the next frontier.

Recipe of the week:

Something different this time. I was thinking of doing another cookie one, but I’ve been making this compulsively ever since I did it the first time last week, and so felt like I must share it.

If you have a rice cooker, this one is for you. I’m addicted. Initially inspired by an old Instagram reel saved, and changed quite a bit along the way.

Rice cooker peanut salmon bowl (serves 1-2)

Ingredients

For the salmon marinade:

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

2 fillets salmon

For the rice cooker:

1.5 cups rice, washed

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

Toppings:

chopped spring onion, more chopped garlic, handful of peanuts, chopped coarsely, and lao gan ma (crispy chilli in oil, which you can find in most oriental supermarkets)