It’s no secret that this dish is one of Metro Manila’s most raved-about dishes, of Instagrammable proportions—Your Local’s Salmon Donburi has built a cult following for itself since it first opened its doors. Tons of people take a trip to the hipster Asian joint in Legazpi Village for a hefty bowl of black rice and torched, mentaiko-laden, tobiko-sprinkled salmon. This recipe hack is as close to the real thing as you can get at home.
Ingredients
Shiitake Rice
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 100g shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
- ½ cup corn kernels
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 3 tbsp sukiyaki sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mentaiko Aioli
- 4 tbsp mentaiko (cod roe)
- 3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
Torched Salmon
- 400g salmon, sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces
- vegetable oil, for brushing
- salt and pepper, to taste
For Assembly
- 2 tbsp mentaiko
- 4 tbsp tobiko (fish roe)
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- ½ tbsp seaweed powder
Make the shiitake rice: Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the corn and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until browned. Add wild rice and sukiyaki sauce. Toss the ingredients together until ingredients are well combined and rice is heated through. Remove from pan, let cool, and set aside.
Make mentaiko aioli: Combine both ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Make the torched salmon: Lay the salmon slices on a sheet pan. Brush each piece with oil, then season with salt and pepper. Using a blowtorch, torch the salmon until lightly colored and barely cooked.
Assemble the bowls: Divide the rice between two bowls. Add half of the salmon to each bowl, allowing the pieces to overlap, torched side up. Place a spoonful of mentaiko aioli on top of the salmon. Top aioli with mentaiko. Arrange the tobiko in a mound over the salmon and scatter some over the rice. Garnish donburi with scallions and seaweed powder.
