If you haven’t been witness to the famous salmon rice bowl that has been taking over TikTok’s “For You” page, then you’ve definitely been living under a rock. The dish made from leftover salmon and rice, popped into the microwave with a single ice cube and topped with avocado, sriracha and Kewpie mayonnaise and finally eaten with small seaweed wraps has everyone and their mother completely obsessed. The woman behind it? Lifestyle vlogger Emily Mariko.
Mariko first went viral after her initial salmon video, but the world has only continued to be captivated by her satisfying content. From mini vlogs and meal preps to farmer’s market hauls and cleaning videos, the internet is addicted to Emily Mariko.
The 29-year-old influencer from California has grown her social media presence from 70,000 to more than 4 million by offering content that not only is Emma Chamberlain-style comforting, but also makes you want to get your life together.
To many, Mariko’s life is so inspiring. Not only is she a graduate of Columbia University with a degree in neuroscience, but she’s also a successful influencer on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram — not to mention she can make everyday tasks like cooking and laundry look unbelievably fun.
There are so many lifestyle and food influencers across all platforms, so what makes Mariko so special?
She doesn’t provide stiff recipe measurements or continuously explain everything she’s doing in the day, but instead allows her viewers to be relaxed by the sound of her washing and chopping away at vegetables, the clicks of the stove turning on, mixing ingredients in a bowl and finally taking a big bite into her perfectly-made meal. Mariko knows how to keep her audience’s attention by providing a sensory aspect to her videos and letting her recipes speak for themselves — it’s basically ASMR without the noodle-slurping.
Not only does the making of the food sound great, but the final product looks incredible. The famous salmon rice bowl, peach pie for one and pasta with oysters are only a handful of the recipes she has shared on TikTok. Mariko takes the time out of every day to prepare healthy recipes without rubbing it in her viewers’ faces that she never eats dairy – which she does, by the way.
VALLEY can encapsulate Emily Mariko best through a sentence dropped in the comments of one of her TikTok videos: “Sorry, I can’t go. Millions of people are waiting to see what I’m going to eat today.”
Let us know what some of your favorite Emily Mariko recipes are by tweeting us, @VALLEYmag, with your creations!
