Superfoods that are popular are often high in carbs, even if they are healthy and…
crispy rice and egg bowl with ginger-scallion vinaigrette
It’s really unfortunate timing, because we’ve got a long year to go and I at one point had many great and luminous cooking plans for it, but they’re all cancelled now because on the afternoon of January 4th, before 2019 had really even kicked in, I ate the best thing I had or will all year or maybe ever — because what would the internet be without some unnecessary melodrama — and I threw it together from a mess of leftovers in my fridge.
Don’t you hate it when those lifestyle guru-types tell you about the meals they threw together from their leftovers, which just happen to be in tip-top shape, chromatically balanced, and Instagram-perfect. In real life, or at least mine, leftovers are a lot of Let’s Never Speak About That Again, the best of intentions cut short by poor planning, the now shamed and guilt-ridden humans responsible for the disgrace vowing to do better by that murky bag of herbs and liquefied cucumber next time.
But not last week. Last week, on January 1st, I made David Chang’s Bo Ssam, something I do once a year or so when I want to make a jaw-dropping feast for a crowd with exactly three ingredients (pork shoulder, salt, sugar) even a person living through the aftereffects of an evening of daquiris can handle. Of course, because most three-ingredient recipes are a lie, there are a few other things you make to serve with it: a Ssam sauce (it’s like a vinaigrette), a ginger-scallion sauce (a riff on the classic Cantonese sauce), rice, and I always like to serve it with marinated julienned carrots and thinly sliced cucumbers so needless to say, these leftovers were well above-average. Bo Ssam makes a lot; we ate it on the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd before we were finally out of pork, but I still had a smidge left of everything else so for lunch on that 4th day of the year, I put it all in a bowl and topped it with a crispy fried egg.
But first, I crisped the rice. The world of crisped, stuck-pot, scorched, fried, tahdig-ed and socarrat rice is vast and nuanced and fascinating and I’m not going to even try to do it justice here, but what they all have in common, what they all know, is that cooked rice that’s been allowed to crisp is a glorious thing. My favorite — short-grain brown or white rice — is particularly good at this, starchy and thick enough to be both crackly edged and tender-centered in a single grain. (What a showoff.) It, apparently, smells like popcorn when you cook it.
I have told every single person I’ve seen or spoken to since about how amazing this lunch was (their eyes mostly glazed over, it’s fine, I understand) and now it’s your turn. I’ve tried to pare it down to just the most essential parts — crispy rice, a crispy egg, and a ginger-scallion-sauce-meets-vinaigrette — plus whatever crunchy or leftover vegetables you have around. I hope it becomes your new favorite 2019 meal, too.
Previously
One year ago: Boulevardier
Two years ago: Crusty Baked Cauliflower and Farro
Three years ago: Ugly-But-Good Cookies and Swiss Chard Pancakes
Four years ago: Mushroom Marsala Pasta Bake
Five years ago: Coconut Tapioca Pudding and Chicken Pho
Six years ago: Ethereally Smooth Hummus and Gnocchi in Tomato Broth
Seven years ago: Apple Sharlotka
Eight years ago: Vanilla Bean Pudding and Pizza with Bacon, Onions, and Cream
Nine years ago: Barley Risotto with Beans and Greens and Poppy Seed Lemon Cake
Ten years ago: Almond-Vanilla Rice Pudding and Light Wheat Bread
Eleven years ago: Lemon Bars and Crunchy Baked Pork Chops
Twelve years ago: Balthazar’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and World Peace Cookies
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Bourbon Peach Smash
1.5 Years Ago: Confetti Party Cake
2.5 Years Ago: Peaches and Cream Bunny Cake
3.5 Years Ago: Green Beans with Almond Pesto
4.5 Years Ago: Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings
Crispy Rice and Egg Bowl with Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette
I make this with cucumbers and carrots because it’s what I have around most often, but I think this could be good with many other vegetables, even leftovers, so go ahead, clean out your fridge before it gets terrible. If you have extra time, I like to toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons each rice vinegar and water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt to coat the strands. They begin to marinate/gently pickle while you do everything else. But the dressing is sufficient to flavor them if you’re in more of a rush.
While this is best with leftover rice, cold from the fridge, I made some fresh and cooled it to almost room temperature and it was, in fact, almost perfect (and it crisps faster). I really like the starchiness of short-grain white and brown rice here; I did not test this with long-grain rice but have crisped longer-grain rice in other recipes with success. This recipe presumes 3/4 cup cooked rice per person; adjust it to your preferred serving size, if this is not it.
This recipe has many things in common with dolcet bibimbap, which is served in a sizzling stone bowl that crisps the rice, nd is topped with a raw egg (which cooks in the hot rice) or meat, and fresh and pickled vegetables — although this is in no way intended as what would be a very poor imitation. But if you like the flavors of bimbimbap, you will definitely like what’s happening in this fridge-scavenged hybrid recipe.
- 1 1/4 cups minced scallions, both green and white parts (from a 4-ounce bundle)
- 2 tablespoons minced or finely grated fresh ginger
- Neutral oil (such as grapeseed, safflower, or sunflower)
- 1/4 cup sherry or rice wine vinegar
- Fine sea salt
- About 1 heaped cup julienned or coarsely grated carrots (from about 8 ounces fresh)
- 8 ounces small (Persian-style, about 2) cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 3 cups cooked, cooled rice (my favorite here is short-grain brown or white)
- 4 eggs
- Soy sauce or tamari (to serve)
- Toasted sesame oil (to serve)
- Sriracha, gochujang or another hot sauce of your choice (to serve)
Make the vinaigrette: Mix scallions, ginger, 1/4 cup oil and sherry or rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt (I use about 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt). Set aside.
Crisp your rice: Heat a large frying pan over medium high. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil; you’ll want to coat the bottom with a thin layer of oil all over. Nonstick pan (as I used) are more forgiving here, so you can use the lower amount. Heat the oil until it’s hot, another minute, then scatter half the rice over the surface; it’s okay if small clusters remain. Season lightly with salt and do not touch it. In 3 to 5 minutes, the underside will become golden brown and crisp. Use a spatula to flip it in sections then fry on the other side until it is also crisp. Divide between two bowls and repeat with remaining rice, dividing it between two remaining bowls.
Crisp your egg: If there isn’t enough oil left in the pan (you want a thin layer), add another splash and heat this on high heat. Add eggs one at a time and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until brown, lacy, and crisp underneath, and the whites are opaque, bubbly and dramatic and the edges are brown. You can spoon some oil from the pan over the egg whites to help them cook faster. Place one egg on each bowl of rice.
Assemble bowls: Arrange some cucumbers and carrots to each bowl. Spoon 2 tablespoons vinaigrette onto each bowls. Drizzle each egg with a half-teaspoon of tamari and toasted sesame oil, letting it roll onto the other ingredients, plus hot sauce to taste. Eat immediately. Repeat frequently.
Do ahead: The dressing will keep for 5 to 6 days in the fridge; the chopped vegetables will keep for 3 to 4.
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