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Thursday, September 6, 2012

What is a rice bowl?

So tonight I decided to make a "rice bowl." The recipe I found came from Food Network and it consisted of well rice, broccoli, bacon (which is what sold me on the recipe) and a fried egg on top. I have seen more and more dinner recipes that have a fried egg involved and I thought well if the Top Chef Masters can do it why can't I? I know there is absolutely no logic behind that thought process let's just go with it, ok.



Before I started writing this I decided to do some research on the origin and definition of a rice bowl. Sure I can pretty much guess that its probably Asian, probably involves rice and hmm let me guess...yes, probably served in a bowl. But I wanted a little more history or tradition, ya know I wanted to share some random food knowledge with you. Well unfortunately Google did not come through for me this time because when I searched,"what is a rice bowl?" I got the following returns:

  • Rice bowl-in the military, a jealously protected program, project, department or budget (umm yeah no...interesting definition but this is definitely not what I made for dinner)
  • Operation Rice Bowl-provided Catholics in the Unites States with a way to connect with their brothers and sisters in need around the world through the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving (ok sounds like a commendable endeavor but again not what I had for dinner)
  • Iron Rice Bowl-a Chinese term to describe a job with security, also has steady income and benefits (cool I learned my job is an iron rice bowl...but what does that have to do with food?)
  • The Rice Bowl is also a blog on Asia and a football game kind of like fantasy football to raise money for impoverished (but neither of these have anything to do with the dish).
So although I am sure I taught you at least one random fact tonight I did not teach you the history or the tradition behind the rice bowl. On that happy note let me tell you about the meal I made. I loved the combination of the sesame oil, the bacon and the egg. I was really impressed with the egg and how it added a great texture to the dish and cooking the egg in sesame oil gave it a great flavor. In my opinion, the dish could have had a little more soy sauce, but that is coming from a salt-a-holic. I also thought if the rice was more of a fried rice variety the texture would have been a nice addition, but there is truly nothing wrong with the way this turned out. 

When I initially saw the recipe I immediately thought of it as a brunch dish, but the more my egg awareness was peaked I saw more and more recipes where a fried egg was utilized as a dinner accompaniment. I really liked the egg and it truly made the dish...actually a lot more than I gave it credit it for. This dish was also very easy and the only ingredient I didn't include was the pickled jalapeno which I am sure would have added a nice spicy kick to it...however the grocery store I went to didn't have any and I didn't feel like grocery store surfing for jalapenos. Yes, I know tales of a lazy chef and blogger.

Anyway this recipe starts by cooking the recipe and the technique used is slightly different than what I am used to. Add the rice and water together and then bring it to a boil. Cook it on medium for 6 minutes and low for 12 minutes. I did find that most of the water was absorbed after the 6 minute mark and it truly didn't need a full 12 more minutes to be done...just my experience.

Cook the bacon in a pan and once its done reserve 1T of the bacon dripping and drain the bacon on paper towel. Add the broccoli to the bacon drippings and saute until it is charred in spots...the broccoli was cooked perfectly kind of crispy but not under cooked. Add 3/4 cup water to the broccoli and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil to the broccoli. 

The recipe says to diving the rice and broccoli among the plates but I just mixed it together. I don't think I screwed it up too bad...figured hell it's going to the same place, right? Fry the eggs in the same pan with a little additional sesame oil. Once they are done put an egg on each plate and top with cilantro, green onion and bacon. By the way I really liked the flavor of the cilantro....nice addition.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups white rice (preferably short-grain or sushi rice)
  • 6 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 head broccoli, florets cut into pieces, stems peeled and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 4 large eggs
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos

Directions

Place the rice in a medium saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until most of the water has been absorbed, about 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook 12 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour out all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan and increase the heat to medium high. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until charred in spots. Add 3/4 cup water and simmer until the broccoli is crisp-tender and only a few tablespoons of water remain, about 3 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. Divide the rice and broccoli among bowls and drizzle with the pan juices.
Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet, season with salt and fry as desired. Place an egg in each bowl and top with the bacon, cilantro, scallions and pickled jalapenos.

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