A Surprisingly Simple Dish I’m Resolving to Cook More

Table for One is a column by Senior Editor Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and only himself—and seeks to celebrate the beauty of solitude in its many forms.

This year, for the first time in a while, I find myself properly, undeniably, and very happily single. I’ve started to call this new state of existence free solo, not least because the phrase was just added to the dictionary a few months ago. It followed Alex Honnold’s record-breaking ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan summit in 2017, and National Geographic’s Academy Award–winning film documenting the climb.

Free solo is a noun (and verb) referring to rock climbing “without the use of artificial aids or safety equipment.” Aside from one of my New Year’s resolutions to start rock climbing (and to exercise more in general), I found myself thinking about what else I’d like to add to my life this year, without encumbrances. Too often when we talk about January, we talk about what we’re giving up (bread, sugar, alcohol). But becoming newly liberated in the relationship department made me want to stick to resolutions that are additive, not restrictive.

Like cooking more. But without books, without recipes—just letting the bounty of the market and my pantry lead my day-to-day tinkering in the kitchen. Culinary free-soloing, if you will.

We’re only a week into the new year and I’ve already found that one easy way to ensure that I keep turning to my kitchen for meals (and not to Seamless, or restaurants, or a bag of Ruffles) is to have a shelf-stable base carbohydrate on hand at all times. For many that’s pasta, quinoa, and legumes like chickpeas and lentils. For me, it’s short-grain glutinous rice. As long as I’ve got some of that lying around, I can build a meal around it, or on top of it.

I’ve found that I can even zhush it up with a little salt, sugar, and rice vinegar and make something that resembles sushi rice (that is, the seasoned rice you’d find in sushi). If you’ve never made sushi rice at home, I’m warning you now: You may never stop.

Some days all I want to eat is this seasoned rice with sliced avocado and roasted seaweed snack. Other days I’ll add fried Spam, eggs, and kimchi. More days than that, I’ll just throw in whatever protein or vegetable is in my fridge. Today, I’m sharing with you a sushi-inspired rice bowl; it’s the kind of meal that feels luxurious, but is surprisingly simple to make when you’re cooking for yourself.

This recipe was inspired by my favorite menu item at sushi restaurants: sweet, fatty salmon nigiri. I can never bring myself to order too many of them, though, because they can be expensive (upwards of $3 a pop). But I’ve learned that when I prepare this bowl for myself at home, then I can eat as much salmon sashimi and sushi rice as I want, all at once.

If you can, you should always start with high-quality, sushi-grade salmon (or a lightly seared center cut of salmon), sliced thinly and dressed with a combo of sharp, contrasting flavors and textures: Soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil add salty, savory depth, and capers, scallions, and cilantro stems provide invigorating freshness. This seasoned salmon is then strewn over a bed of warm, just-made sushi rice.

I like to heat up a small bottle of hot sake to go with. And when I sit down to a home-cooked meal like this, I’m glad that I am, tonight and every night, liberated.

What dishes are you trying to cook more this year? Let us know in the comments below.