Japanese plain white rice, sushi rice & Onigiri

Cooking Japanese rice is an art in itself. It takes quite a bit of effort, especially the rinsing and soaking before cooking.

Plain white Japanese rice (4 servings)
320g (1 1/2 cup) Japanese sushi rice
410ml (1 3/4 cup) water for cooking
water for rinsing

Add the rice to a fine sieve and put the sieve into a bowl. Place the bowl in your sink, under the tap.
Run the tab over the rice and gently rub the rice between your fingers. The water will turn white.
Lift the sieve and discard the rinsing water. Repeat several times until the water remains clear.
Drain the rice in the sieve for at least 15 minutes, but preferably 30 minutes.

Add rice and water to a pot or rice cooker and let the rice soak for at least 30 minutes, but preferably up to an hour. (you can leave it soaking in the fridge overnight or during the day if necessary)

Set a kitchen timer for 12 minutes, bring the water to a boil and boil the rice over medium heat with the lid on. (or just switch on your rice cooker. Note that soaking is not necessary for some high-end rice cookers since it is included in the cooking time. Check the manual to make sure). Turn the heat off and let the rice steam for 10-20 minutes, then stir the rice with a rice paddle.

Original recipe

For sushi rice, proceed as follows:
Transfer the hot, cooked rice to a bowl. Mix 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp fine sugar and up to 1 tsp finely ground salt in a small cup. Add the vinegar mixture to the hot rice and rapidly stir the rice with a rice paddle, using a cutting motion. Let it slightly cool and prepare your sushi.

Original recipe

Tip: freeze the rice in 1 cup portions. Use microwave-safe plastic wrap, tear off ca. 30 cm off the roll and scoop the - still warm - rice in the middle (the condensation will prevent the rice from drying out when reheating). Make a bundle of the plastic wrap and shape the rice into a flat ball. Freeze and store the rice balls in a large zip lock bag. One cup of rice is enough for 1 large or 2 small sushi rolls or 2 onigiri or 3-4 inarizushi.

Onigiri
Onigiri are rice balls made of salted rice, sometimes with a filling. They are often shaped into round disks or triangles.

1/4 tsp fine salt
1 cup cooked white rice, hot
2 strips of nori seaweed (15x2,5cm), toasted

Using a rice paddle, stir the salt into the hot rice. Divide the rice into 2 portions and put 1 portion into the lined bowl. Moisten your hands with a bit of water and pick up one portion of rice. Shape the rice into a disc or triangle. Wrap the disc/triangle with a strip of nori,

Vegan Bento No. 6 | Green Pasta Salad Bento

This bento proves that you don't need any cutesy, expensive bento boxes to make a bento lunch: it is a 'regular' sandwich lunch box, that, due to its size, is perfect to carry a salad for lunch.
It consists of:
~ Fussili pasta salad with sauteed courgette and green pepper, capers, tossed with homemade arugula pesto
~ cherry tomatoes
~ seedless grape medley


To make the arugula pesto, you'll need:
a handful of arugula leaves
a clove of garlic. minced
1 tsp nutritional yeast
approx. 1 tbsp of roated pine nuts
approx. 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients except oil and seasoning in a blender. Switch on the blender and slowly pour in the olive oil until all ingredients are liquidized and you have a smooth pesto sauce (you may need a bit less or more to achieve the desired consistency). Add seasoning to taste and pulse once more to blend well.

Vegan Bento No. 5 | Farfalle Pasta Salad Bento

I wanted to participate in a pasta-themed bento contest, so I made several pasta bentos in preparation for the contest. This was the first one, it consists of:
~ farfalle pasta salad with grilled courgette and aubergine, sauteed onion, garlic, mushrooms and sweet pepper, tossed with tomato tapenade
~ sliced cucumber
~ cherry tomatoes
~ vegan banana muffin (using the veganized version of this recipe)

Mushroom stroganoff

What you need (1 generous serving):

1 tbsp vegetable oil, such as olive oil or sunflower oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small-ish onion, roughly chopped
200 g mixed mushrooms, cut in bitesize pieces
1 heaped tsp flour
100ml. vegetable broth (from a stock cube)
salt & plenty of fresh ground pepper to taste
50ml soy cooking cream

1 tsp dried herbs such as thyme or parsley
1 tbsp mild paprika
warm cooked pasta of choice (I like penne or tagliatelle), to serve

 

Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the mushrooms and paprika and cook for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms start to colour. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth slowly while constantly stirring. Add the cream, bring the sauce to the boil and season with salt, pepper and herbs. Cook for a few more minutes (reduce the sauce a bit if necessary) and serve over pasta.

 

Based on this recipe.

Grandma's Nasi Goreng

In the late 40's, my grandfather served in the military in the Dutch East Indies. He very much enjoyed the local cuisine and after he returned home and my grandparents got married, my grandmother would often make Indonesian dishes like this Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice). If my grandmother would leave the stove unattended, my grandfather and the kids would sneak into the kitchen and steal bites from the pan, impatient to wait for dinner :-)
I made a vegan version of this family favourite.

What you need (1 large pan, approx. 5-6 servings):
500g white rice
175g faux chicken pieces, diced
2-4 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste), according to taste
3 onions, diced
1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 tsp garlic paste)
1 tsp vegetable stock powder
4 tsp salt
1 tsp ketoembar (ground koriander)
1 tsp djinten (ground cumin)
vegetable oil

Boil the rice. Heat some oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic, sambal oelek, salt, soc powcer, ketoembar and djinten until nicely browned. Add the diced 'chicken' and cook a few more minutes. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Turn off the heat, cover ad let it sit for approx. 10 minutes, giving the flavours a chance to mix. Serve as is or as a side dish with other Indonesian dishes such as tempeh pangang or 'chicken' satay.


Try this:
- serve with peanut sauce.
- serve with atjar (Indonesian pickled vegetables).
- sprinkle fried onions or chopped, roasted peanuts on top.

Pasta salad

I'm somewhat OCD at times, meaning something catches my interest and I tend to go a bit overboard in my enthusiasm... Case in point? Bento boxes. Twilight fanfiction. Robert Pattinson ~sigh~ . 'Quick'-sneakers. (Honestly, I could go on for quite a while...)

My latest 'thing'? Pasta salads.

Personally, I usually prefer warm foods over cold dishes (like salads) and I used to be a firm believer that pasta, rice, couscous etc should ALWAYS be eaten warm. Lately, I've slowly come around and have had to admit to myself that sometimes they actually taste pretty good cold!

In the past I did not come up with anything other than cold pasta, some chopped up sundried tomatoes, a few capers, a drizzle of olive oilk and a sprinkling of roasted pine nuts. Tasty, but not very imaginative.
Fortunately, we recently moved to another building at work, and there is a great restaurant which offers great inspiration for things to try at home.

Just to be clear, the suggestions below are ideas I haven't actually tried out myself yet and I have mercilessly plagiarized them from the chefs at work :)

* buckwheat noodles, marinated chicken breast, sauteed chopped veggies (onion, carrot, cabbage etc) and soy sauce. Would taste great hot, but who would have though it would be this tasty cold??
* penne, pieces of smoked chicken, chopped peppers (red, yellow and green) tossed with curry mayonaise.
* pasta with sauteed mushrooms.
* fussili tossed with fresh pesto and roasted veggies (eggplant, pepper, courgette).
* farfalle with fresh pesto, pieces of chicken breast, cubes of courgette, rocket leaves and grated parmesan cheese.  

Grandma's macaroni

This is how my grandma and my mom make macaroni. Really easy and yummy.
I more or less guessed the quantities, but it's enough to make a large pan: ideal for putting some portions in the freezer for days when you don't feel like cooking or don't have time to make dinner.

What you need:
300g lean ground beef
1 bag ready-chopped soup vegetables*
1 box of macaroni (approx. 500g)
salt & pepper for seasoning
tomato sauce of your choice

Heat a non stick frying pan (no need to add extra oil or butter), cook the beef with a little salt and pepper until it's brown. Drain most of the fat and set aside.
Cook the macaroni according to the instuctions on the box. Drain when done and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.
In another pan, cook the vegetables for about 15 mins in plenty of water with a pinch of salt. (I always test a piece of carrot to see if they're done, I like them soft and cooked instead of crunchy). Drain the vegetables and mix them, along with the beef, through the macaroni.
Serve with your choice of tomato sauce (my favourite is old-fashioned ketchup but you could use any type of pasta sauce).

* contents will vary depending on where you live. The type that I use contains finely chopped leek, carrot, broccoli, white cabbage, selery and cauliflower and is sold in bags of 200-300g depending on the brand.

Tip: don't throw out the water in which you cooked the veggies but use the stock as a base for soup or to cook rice in for some extra flavour. You can freeze it if you don't use it right away.

Chicken and Bok Choi stir fry

What you need (2 servings):
1 Bok Choi, leaves and stalks cut into strips and rinsed
1 onion in half rings
200g chicken breast in strips
250g button mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic, pressed
sambal oelek (chili paste) to taste
1 tbsp oil
15 ml sesame seed oil
2 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce
1 tbsp cream sherry

Heat half of the the oil in a wok and sauté the onion, garlic, sambal oelek and mushrooms. In a separate pan, fry the chicken strips in the rest of the oil until golden brown. Add the bok choi and stir fry for approx 30secs on high heat. Add soy sauce, sherry and sesame oil and stir fry for a few mins. Add the chicken strips and serve with rice or noodles.

Try this:
- use sliced leeks, bamboo strips (canned and drained), mini corn cobs (canned and drained) etc.
- use tofu or faux chicken pieces for a vegan dish.

Mushroom risotto

What you need ( 2 servings)

90g risotto rice (e.g. Arborio)
1 tbsp (olive)oil
200g chicken breast in cubes
1 clove of garlic, pressed
1 onion, finely diced
250g sliced button mushrooms
2 tbsp grated Parmezan cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
500ml hot chicken stock

Sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil. Add the chicken cubes and fry until golden brown. Add the rice and stir until coated with oil. Add approx. 300ml stock and bring to the boil. Let simmer for approx. 25 mins, stirring often. Add more stock is necessary, the risotto should be moist. Stir in the cheese and parsley before serving.

Try this: leave out the chicken and use vegetable stock for a vegetarian dish.

Leftovers? Try this for a lunchbox treat:
Spread the leftover risotto on a plate to cool completely and store in the fridge overnight (covered). In the morning, shape little burgers from the risotto with wet hands (so it won't stick to your hands too much), lightly dust them with flour and pan fry them in a bit of oil. When browned and crispy, take out of the pan, let cool completely and pack in a lunchbox.