I’m new to the ways of sticky rice in my kitchen. We never had it growing up – brown rice, parboiled rice and regular old white rice were the standard. As an adult, I’ve used Jasmine, Basmati and Brown on the reg, but never thought of giving sticky rice a go. The first time I bought it was to make these lovely parcels of deliciousness and I’ve been hooked on this rice ever since. Maybe because I’ve only previously had sticky rice in a restaurant, I associate it with restaurant flavours – in fact, this dish, could easily have come from the Thai restaurant down the street. Sticky rice isn’t as fragrant as basmati while cooking, but it just tastes like something I’d eat at a restaurant and that’s pretty good for me.
Here, I use sticky rice to elevate a plain old stir fry into something special. This is sweet, sour and spicy…just how I like a good stir fry. The vegetables are cut up small so that they cook up really fast. Use up your summer squash here along with some colourful peppers and broccoli. Or come up with your own vegetable variety and play around. Don’t skip the green onions! Add chicken or tofu or steak if you want to add protein.
Sticky rice is much faster to cook than Jasmine rice, so this whole dish comes together quickly. I top each bowl with some vegetarian furikake. If you can’t find any in your local Japanese or Asian supermarket, then you can make your own variation here.
quick veggie stir fry sticky rice bowl
This is a great 2 person dish that can be doubled in size to feed a whole family. Use what vegetables you’ve got available – zucchini would sub in nicely for the patty pan squash. If you add in a dense vegetable, cook them first and keep in mind that the size of the vegetables is important here. To keep cooking time minimal, vegetables should be chopped small – no big broccoli florets here! Dice, dice, dice. As for the sauce, I kept it a bit sweet but if you prefer a less-sweet sauce, cut down that sugar.
1 c sushi rice1 t sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
2-3 T brown sugar
2 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 t sriracha1 T olive oil
1/2 broccoli head, cut into thin florets and stems chopped
1 patty pan squash, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1/4 jalepeno pepper, minced
2 green onions, dicedfurikake (optional)
Rinse sushi rice very well under running water for 2 minutes until water becomes clear. Add it to a medium sized pot along with 1 1/4 c water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 6-7 minutes (no peeking). Turn off heat and let sit for 5 more minutes.
Mix together the sauce ingredients: sesame oil, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, sriracha. Mixture will be thick and shiny. Set aside.
In a heavy cast iron skillet, heat pan and add 1 T olive oil. Add in the broccoli, no stirring – you want to get some colour on the underside – about 1-2 minutes. Toss and add in patty pan squash, again, letting it rest for 30 seconds before tossing. Add in the orange pepper and jalapeno and toss until everything looks bright yet still crisp, one more minute or so. Add in green onions and pour in sauce and stir quickly until everything is coated and bubbly. Remove from heat.
Divide rice into 2 large bowls and top evenly with vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with furikake, if desired. Serves 2.
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