TikTok is no stranger to odd hacks which make our life easier, and this time, we have a hack to help you evenly warm up your rice involving an ice cube that doesn’t melt in the microwave. Sounds brain-boggling because it absolutely is.
Introducing TikToker, chef and food blogger @emilymariko (Emily Mariko), who you may have already seen a few times on your TikTok ‘For You’ page.
She’s amassed a whopping 3.8M followers for her food content, which always comes across as easy to make, flavourful, and fkn delicious. I’ve been following her for a while, and I do recommend her account if you want a break from TikTok chefs making things that look way too difficult to cook in this lifetime.
In a fairly recent video, Mariko takes some leftover salmon, leftover rice, avocado, sriracha, kewpie mayo (a fave of TikTok cooks), seaweed, kimchi and soy sauce to make an absolutely delicious salmon bowl.
The video went viral for two separate reasons, which is pretty huge, to be honest. Firstly, it went bonkers for the fact that this dish was made from stuff sitting around in the fridge and yet looks so tasty and presentable.
Secondly, it gained heaps of traction because when Mariko warms it up in the microwave, she puts an ice cube on top of it with a piece of parchment paper, and then when she takes it out, the ice cube hasn’t melted at all.
Watch for yourself if you don’t believe me.
@emilymariko Best lunch of the week!
Hell, even Lizzo was convinced that the trick would work, and tried to warm up her scrumptious choccy cupcake evenly with an ice cube.
However, she doesn’t say anything in the entire TikTok, so if you didn’t have the context here you’d be very confused indeed.
@lizzo 😏
So, why does the ice cube not melt, and how does the hack even work in the first place?
According to Food Network Recipe Developer Amanda Neal, this TikTok hack is completely backed by science, which is great, because we’ve seen hacks in the past that absolutely aren’t.
“It works very well for reheating rice and other grains because the ice cube, along with the sheet of wax or parchment paper, creates steam in the microwave, which in turn warms the rice and reintroduces moisture so that it stays tender and fluffy,” Neal told the Food Network.
“Unfortunately, this hack does not work for other food items (like cupcakes) because it will make already moist food items soggy; sorry Lizzo!”
So what you just saw was Lizzo eating a soggy cupcake. Don’t blindly follow the trends, friends.
If you need me I’m going to be putting an ice cube over my rice from now on. I have to try this out for myself.
