Rice-lentils and baked spicy azuki lunch

Another nutritious and delicious plant-based lunch, doubly boosted in plant proteins with two types of pulses : beans and lentils. And a dynamic salad.
That’s ready very quickly if you plan a little. As faithful readers know, I cook beans in big batches and freeze in small portions, in muffin molds. Then you have to think about soaking the rice and lentils the night before (you can do without in case you forgot, but that’s better to do it right most of the time).

Azuki beans (boiled, I had them frozen), with gochujang and kimchi, two Korean products. I mixed, covered with bread crumbs.

Baked and sprinkled a little fragrant sesame oil and chili flakes on top.

Brown rice and lentils, soaked overnight and cooked in the rice-cooker together.

I stir-fried an onion, a little garlic, ginger slices, added the rice, turmeric, a little garam masala spice mix.

Kabocha salad made in last post.

Last golds of November, deconstructed fried rice

Full bloom of orange fruits, on the trees : kaki, mikan, karin…

That could have been rice stir-fried with meat, egg and vegetables, all mixed in. But I have let them apart.
The big paradox is I lack appetite these days, I eat little and at the same time I crave for rich food. So overall, it’s the same.

In a pan, let’s roast sesame seed, add oil, fry garlic, chili and ginger. Then add slices of beef marinated in sweet chili sauce. Reserve.

In the same pan, lots of veggies. Carrot and mizuna stalks.

Then, brown rice, fried with carrot, turmeric and egg yolk. Plus a fresh egg yolk on top.

To dip in the meat. Mmm….

Happy rice to empty the fridge

A healthy stir-fry with left-overs of germinated rice :

hatsuga genmai

taasai greens
coleslaw (without sauce)
feet of enoki mushrooms

Fresh jelly ear mushrooms. That’s not a left-over. I bought them on purpose. They have little taste but a refreshing crunchiness.

Stir-fried with garlic, ginger and oyster sauce.

GOHAN Japanese rice, A to Z

RICE

The most important ingredient of Japanese cuisine is rice. Japanese rice are of the japonica style, they are round and firm. Outside Japan, you can get some sushi rice, or Italian arborio that are of japanica cultivar too. Sticky rice is a different type, it’s called mochigome in Japanese. Rice has different names in Japanese. Kome, okome, the plant. Gohan, meshi when it’s cooked…

how to cook Japanese rice (without a rice cooker)
genmai brown rice(healthier)
sticky rice

The bowl of unsalted, unflavored but perfectly cooked hot white rice is often present on the the table.
But, you have many variations.

onigiri
The rice “sandwich”. Shape hot rice in your hands.

basic
yaki onigiri (grilled)

domburi

Rice bowls : fill half of a big bowl with hot rice, add some toppings.

gyudon (beef)
tendon (tempura)
oyakodon (mama-baby, chicken egg)
soboro (sloppy joe domburi)
eight treasures

takikomi gohan

Flavored rice dishes. Ingredients are added in the rice-cooker. There are millions of possibilities. A few classics :

chicken rice
kaibashira (scallop)rice
oyster rice

sekihan (red rice)
mame gohan (green peas)
kuri gohan (chestnut)

sushi

Click here to go to the sushi compilation

Bento
Fill a part of your lunch box with rice.

midori okowa
chirashi bento
Unaju (eel)

yakigohan
Stir-fry your rice leftover :

nira fried rice
buta-kimchi rice (pork)
soba meshi (with noodles)

More elaborated dishes :

omurice (omelet filled with rice)
doria (retro baked rice)

o-cha-zuke

Okayu
Rice porridge, often a breakfast.

nanakusa okayu (7 herbs)
red okayu
umeboshi
salmon

More ?
Also see mochi (rice paste), and wagashi (Japanese sweets)

Nira chahan, fried rice du jour

Cha-han is a anything goes Chinese style fried rice. Nira (Asian garlic chives) are those long leaves with a slight garlic taste. And they came for lunch together…

Sunny and eggy, with a touch of chili sauce. Let’s make it :

First, stir-fry all the veggie left-overs (eringi mushrooms, celery, negi leeks, onion, the white stalks of the nira) in oil flavored with garlic a cut dry chilly and a ts of salted shrimps ami-ebi.