Don’t just serve up simple, plain rice at your next dinner. Instead, let your taste buds enjoy the flavors of these two rice dishes that have few ingredients and are quick to make. Give them a try.
Spring onion and soy fried rice
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 3-4 cups cooked white rice
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mushroom soy sauce
- 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
Method
- Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large heavy-based frying pan over high heat
- Add the rice and stir-fry until all of the grains are separate and lightly colored.
- Add the sauces and toss to evenly combine, then add the spring onion and continue to toss for a further 1 minute to combine and heat through. Serve hot.
Rice parcel: (Image: Pixabay / CC0 1.0)
Steamed Rice Parcels
Serves 8-10
Method
- 500 g (2 1/4 cups) medium-grain rice
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons sesame oil
- 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 chicken breast fillets, diced
- 250 g barbecued pork, diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1/2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cornflour
- dried bamboo leaves or lotus leaves, rehydrated in warm water (see note)
Method
Put rice and 1 liter (4 cups) water into a large saucepan with the light soy sauce and 1 tsp of the sesame oil. Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and without removing the lid, let the rice sit undisturbed for a further 10 minutes to finish cooking.
Meanwhile, soak the mushrooms in hot water for 20-30 minutes. Drain, reserving 310 ml (1 1/4 cups) of the soaking liquid, then cut off and discard the stems and thinly slice the caps.
Put the mushrooms and 185 ml (3/4 cups) of the reserved soaking liquid into a large saucepan with the dark soy sauce, remaining sesame oil, and the sugar. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the chicken, pork, garlic, ginger, salt, and the remaining mushroom soaking liquid and mix well to combine. Re-cover and simmer for a further 5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour with a little cold water to make a smooth paste. Add to the pan, stirring until the sauce turns clear, then remove from the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
Mix the sauce ingredients gently through the rice until well combined. Arrange four overlapping bamboo leaves or 1 lotus leaf on a clean work surface. Spoon over 3/4 cup of the rice mixture and roll up into a neat parcel, securing with kitchen string. Repeat until all of the rice mixture has been used — you should be able to make about 8 parcels in total. Steam the rice parcels for 25 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
Note: If bamboo or lotus leaves are not available, use foil to wrap the rice into secure parcels before steaming.
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