Frankly speaking I was looking for shiso (シソ/紫蘇) for this light and healthy stewed rice recipe. Somehow there was no stock the moment I went to the grocery store, but I found mitsuba instead.
Mitsuba, also in Japanese and Chineseミツバ/三つ葉/鴨兒芹 is just as aromatic as shiso, but a bit sharper and distinct to my opinion. It makes a perfect substitution when shiso is absent, perhaps even better. The core flavor of this stewed rice came from mitsuba. If you like the smell and taste of shiso or Korean sesame leaves, I bet you'll also fall for mitsuba.
Mitsuba chicken and shrimp stewed rice 鴨兒芹雞肉蝦仁燴飯 -
Ingredients (about 5 to 6 portions)?
- 5 to 6 portions basmati quinoa rice
- 500 grams chicken breast
- 300 grams shrimps
- 150 grams mitsuba 三つ葉
- 300 grams trimmed bean sprouts 銀芽
- 1/2 small cabbage
- 1 pack brown beech mushroom
- 2 eggs
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
- 120 grams chicken essence (can be substitute with some chicken powder)
- Some corn starch
- Some salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 4 tablespoons Japanese tsuyu
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or light-tasting cooking oil
How?
Cook the rice first. Once ready, fluff and set aside till ready to assemble.
Peel and devein the shrimps. Use 2 tablespoons of Chinese rice cooking wine to gently massage the shrimps and let it sit and marinate while prepping other ingredients.
Slice the chicken to about 1~2mm thick pieces. Use 1 tablespoon of corn starch to massage the chicken and set aside for later use.
Peel and slice the onion. Scrape and finely chop the ginger, perhaps grate it instead. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Tear the cabbage to smaller pieces by hand. Section the mitsuba. Trim-off the mushroom stem and separate to individual pieces. Beat the eggs.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to a big pan, I used a wok instead. Switch to medium heat and wait till warm. Once ready, add in onion along with 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix and cook till the onion turns translucent.
Add in garlic and ginger, cook till aromatic.
Switch to medium high heat and quickly add in the cabbage. Give it a quick mix. Cook till the cabbage reaches desired texture. I like mine fully wilted and on the softer side.
Add in trimmed bean sprouts and brown beech mushrooms, cook for one more minute.
Pour in chicken essence along with 2 cups of water, 4 tablespoons of Japanese tsuyu, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Bring the entire thing to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer.
Add in chicken and shrimp. Wait till just about fully cooked through.
Add the mitsuba and cook no longer than a minute. Taste and adjust if needed. Once the flavor seems set, turn to lowest heat and wait till the temperature drops.
Prepare some corn starch and water mixture on the side. Blend and make sure the corn starch has been fully mixed in. Pour the mixture to the pan/wok while gently stirring all the ingredients at the same time to prevent clumping. Only add enough corn starch and water mixture to get slightly thickened consistency in the end. Not sticky, more so velvety.
Mix in beaten eggs and give it a gentle swirl. No need to fully cook-through the eggs.
Plate the rice and scoop some thickened/stewed ingredients over.
I've tried to find a more suitable translation for "stewed rice" but without much luck of course. If you read the cooking steps carefully, you'll know that it's not exactly a full-on "stewed" recipe. Some use "thickened" instead of "stewed." In Japanese, they called it ankake あんかけ for such cooking method.
Hopefully one day this cooking style gets so popular in the US and a specific name can be formalized or understood by most people, like the terms stir-fry and wok-hei.
Extended reading:
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