Salmon veg rice in a rice cooker

what it means to love, Acme Fire Cult

Food news of the week:

French toast at Popina: if only they replaced cascades of nut butter with other textural elements and caramelised fruit

I’ve tried lots of rice cooker recipes, and the one I share below today has been a repeated event. Next, I’ve been obsessed with this miso pesto by Ottolenghi, which can be folded into pastas of any kind, swirled through rice dishes, or slathered on toast. Then, over the sunny weekend in the sacred hours before succumbing to the whims of jet lag, I was finally reunited with my bestie Stas at Popina, and we got to try some hefty all-American PBB (peanut butter and banana) french toast and ‘green shakshuka’. The french toast stayed true to the spirit of well-egged bread, but totally overdid it with a cascade of peanut butter. The latter was watery and unkempt, so was a fat pass from me…

Science of the week:

Your mum’s gut microbiota (vast collection of gut bacteria) has influenced your health more than you think. This paper details the use of 16s rRNA sequencing to reveal the dominant bacterial species in infants aged 0-6 months, and found that maternal microbiota has more of an effect on infant microbiota than breast milk microbiota. Infants born vaginally are also born with microbiota profiles more similar to their mothers. This early exposure can help establish a healthier gut microbiome and supports the infant’s immune system.

Insight of the week:

My efforts to read more in general have spilled into the Substack sphere: Henrik’s chronicles over at Escaping Flatland, especially his series on love in ‘Looking For Alice’ is a tearjerker read, especially well-timed with my reflections on what it means to love and be in love. I appreciate the part where he says love is not about the good times and excitement, but rather staying openly curious about each other for a long time, because you care way too much.

Recipe of the week:

I posted this recipe a while ago on my Instagram story, and did not expect so many replies (or maybe it’s just because I rarely post my savoury recipes). So it’s a savoury recipe today. Everyone should have a rice cooker because you chuck everything in there, leave it for a bit while you go about your life, and it does all the work. I can imagine having a family and doing plenty of these, for you can fit an impressive amount of food in there.

Wholesome, flavourful, and stupid easy.

Salmon and veg rice in a rice cooker (for 2)

Ingredients:

2-3 fillets of salmon

salmon seasoning: 2 tsp each of salt and ground black pepper, and crushed chillies (optional)

1.5 cups jasmine rice (dry)

half a yellow onion, sliced

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped (or torn, as I do)

0.5 head broccoli, chopped

broccoli seasoning: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, pinch of salt and white pepper

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp (drizzle) honey

Directions:

Measure out your rice and add it to the rice cooker. Wash the rice until the drained water runs translucent. Then add enough water to the rice; it would be specified for the cup amount used, in your rice cooker. Season the salmon fillets with salt, pepper and crushed chillies. Wash and chop up the broccoli. In a small bowl, toss the broccoli with oyster sauce, salt and white pepper. On top of the rice and water, add the salmon, shiitake mushrooms, sliced onion, chopped garlic, and broccoli. Then drizzle on the sesame oil, soy sauce, and honey. Close the cooker and leave to cook until complete. When finished, use a large spoon to mix everything together well. Serve and top with sesame seeds and more chilli, if you wish. Et voila.

Restaurant of the week:

My review of Acme Fire Cult may be coming in a bit late, but the lingering impact of one of their dishes on my professional psyche has been hard to shake off. I even think I had a dream about their fermented pumpkin hummus a couple of nights ago. East London almost never disappoints me, it being such a hub for some of the most exciting food experiences the nation has to offer, with high expectations often met, but occasionally surpassed or dashed in surprising ways. On this visit, some anticipated stars fell short, while a few underdogs unexpectedly rose to shine above the rest.