It's been a long time.
Like really, really long.
Sorry about that!
Rather than wowing you with an amazingly complicated, company-worthy dish, I thought I would ease myself back into the whole "blogging-thing" by sharing one of my favorite comfort food quick fixes.
A fluffy mound of sticky rice - flash fried to get intermittent crispy, chewy grains - is topped with fresh shelled edamame and drizzled with soy sauce and sesame oil. Garnish with some chopped scallions and you've got yourself one really fast, delicious, and refreshing lunch. Oh, and it happens to be vegan and gluten-free (if using gluten free soy sauce) if you're into that sort of thing.
You will need cooking oil, cold leftover sticky rice (or you can cook fresh), edamame, soy sauce, sesame oil, and scallions.
Start by heating a wok over medium high heat.
Add your oil of choice.
Peanut, vegetable, canola, olive...
I used olive oil because that's the only thing I had around. I'm not sure you realize how truly out of character it is for me to not have any other type of cooking oil. It's just strange.
Add cold leftover rice, crumbling it as you add it to the pan.
You can also do this with fresh rice, but it will be a lot stickier. I'll often just skip the whole pan frying step when I'm using freshly cooked rice. Usually out of laziness.
Press down on the rice to make sure it's contacting the heat and getting little crispy bits. That's what we're after here. You can add more oil, drizzling it along the side of the wok, if needed.
Don't stir the rice too much. Just move it around every 60 seconds or so and then practice patience while it is doing it's thing.
If your leftover rice is more than a day or two old, you can add a tbsp of water to "reinvigorate it." Just splash in the water after frying for a minute or two and stir it around. Then press the rice down and continue frying for a couple minutes.
Did that make sense? It's really not complicated, I promise.
While the rice is finishing up (should only take about 5 minutes) grab out your fresh edamame.
Trader Joe's sells it already shelled. It makes my life much easier.
(You could also substitute fresh fava beans or canned garbanzo beans if you want to go a slightly different route.)
Chop some scallions (aka green onions). Oh, and grab out your soy sauce and sesame oil.
Now scoop that rice into a bowl, top with the edamame and scallions, and drizzle on the sesame oil and soy sauce. Add some sesame seeds if you want even more pretty garnish.
Dig in!
Oh, and here's the recipe in a more compact form. The amounts are incredibly approximate (this is sort of a taste as you go dish)...
Ingredients (per serving):
2 tsp oil (canola/peanut/vegetable or olive oil)
1 cup cold sticky rice
1/3 cup edamame
1 scallion, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok (or skillet) over medium high heat. Crumble in cold rice and press down so the rice contacts the pan and begins to fry. Continue frying for about five minutes, moving the rice around once a minute or so and then pressing down again. Top with edamame and scallions. Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil. Enjoy!
