Mushroom cabbage rice(serves ~6, or 2 for 3 days)
Ingredients:
-1tbsp dried shrimps
-8caps fresh shitake mushrooms,wiped with damp towels, stalks removed and caps sliced; or dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and diced
-half a head of cabbage, washed and julienned
-0.5lb lean pork (I've used "char siew" for more flavor in my rice)
-3tbsp light soy sauce (optional if you are using "char siew" or roasted pork belly)
-2.5cups rice
-pepper, to taste
Method:
1.Cook rice in rice cooker
2.Heat oil; add dried shrimps, lean pork, mushrooms, light soy sauce, and stir fry for 2-3 mins (If using "char siew" or cooked meat, the meat can be added later)
3.Add cabbage to mixture and fry lightly for another 2-3 mins
4.Add cooked meat the last, if you are using cooked meat
5.Simmer till all ingredients are cooked
6.Transfer mixture to rice cooker once rice is cooked
7 Fluff them up!
Do not underestimate the sweetness of cabbage, the earthy mushrooms, and the savoury "char siew" that flavors up this dish so well. Even I, was surprised how tasty it turns out.
Tag: mushroom, cabbage, char siew, rice
this looks really yummy! sorry i'm a novice cook but when you said simmer, do u mean that you added water to the dish? if you did, how much water did you add? my mom made a similar dish once but she added all the ingredients to cook with the rice at the same time... i'm not sure how the fragrance of the ingredients can be mixed well with the rice if it is just added and mixed after the rice is cooked... won't the rice be too dry to mix well? sorry for having so many questions! i'm really really unsure about cooking... i hope you can give me a pointer or two! thanks! ur an amazing cook!
ReplyDeleteStarryeyed, When you simmer something you are simply cooking it in a pan by frying it on lower heat, if you add water it will diminish the amount of flavors released from the food by what would otherwise be direct contact with the cooking surface. You are correct in assessing the fact that adding it afterwards doesn't transfer the flavors to the rice much and you might as well serve the dish simply on top of the rice, but it is a fried rice recipe meaning the ingredients are additionally added to the rice ;^)
ReplyDeleteThe term "simmer" does imply that the item is liquidy. "Saute" is the more appropriate term.
ReplyDeleteThe meat and veg combo does sound delicious.
Question: wouldn't it be better (and more traditional) to cook the rice than add it to the pan of meat and vegetables? Stir-frying the rice in the pan for a few minutes would infuse the rice with better flavor and most of the juices from the pan will get soaked up by the rice.
Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have it the other way round (dish to rice in rice cooker, rather than rice to dish in pan) because I tend to fry my ingredients in the pan earlier in the day. Then I dish out the ingredients and wash up the oily pan. Near dinner time, I just have to cook the rice and when my family member returns home from work, I just have to add the "dish" into the rice cooker and mix with the rice. The rice cooker functions like a "warmer" in the process window of dinner time. Also, most of the chores (like washing up the pan) have been done in the day. So, after dinner, it is easier to just wash the rice cooker.
So, it is really a personal choice. I prefer to have more time to rest in the evenings and finish as much chores I could in the day time.
The outcome is still tasty and nutritious though I agree the different sequence will result in different flavor.
after my sucesssful attempt with lean pork last week, i made this again today for dinner. i used char siew and it was just as good - super yummy delicious!! i got smarter this time, i made extra, to the delight of my family!!
ReplyDelete