Wild Thai Lemon Rice, manages to tick both earthy and fresh boxes.This blend of brown, black, red and white rice has nutty undertones. It is then lifted with the addition of lemon.
Am not sure where this spicy vegetarian noodle bowl came from. Prior to this I used to make a dish very similar to this with a chilli stock cub, fresh tomatoes and spices. But the stock cube was discontinued!
When this happened I was obviously devastated because it was one of my ultimate comfort foods, the kind of food that just fills you up and keeps you warm!
When I started cooking more and more from scratch, I started to understand what flavours worked together and what didn’t.
Combining my favourite foods
It was somewhere in between trying a tofu stew and doing shabu shabu at home that this dish was born.
I discovered a Tteokbokki recipe, which is Korean rich sticks coated in Gochujang. Gochujang is a red spicy chilli paste. It’s Korean street food at it’s best! And I am sure I will share my recipe for that in the coming posts!
Chewy rice sticks with a kick of heat, outrageously addictive for any carb fans (like myself).
Then I discovered Shabu shabu, which is the Japanese version of Chinese hot pot, which I adore.
The whole family sitting around the table dipping wafer thin slices of meat, seafood and fresh vegetables into a boiling hot broth, which cooks things in seconds.
The more you dip the deeper the flavour of the broth as it reduces. Typically in Japan, rice will be tossed in at the end to absorb the remainder of the both, also making an absolutely gorgeous dish all on it’s own
When I was fiddling around with all three of these dishes. Well, it kind of evolved from there.
Taking an idea and matching it to my tastes.
A big part of cooking comes down to confidence, My friend Zoe is an amazing cook. But she doesn’t always believe she is. She will stick religiously to a recipe, not wanting to add additional ingredients. Just because she is nervous it won’t taste as good or it will go wrong somehow. I love watching her try new things, and each time she does, she gains a bit more confidence in her own abilities.
I can’t wait until the day she puts the cook book to one side and she just cooks her favourite food, exactly how she wants it!
It is having that confidence to take a recipe and tweak it to your own wants and needs that will serve you more than me just publishing a recipe. Unless it is something like baking where the amounts directly affect the cooking. I want you to be able to take my recipes and make them your own.
Back to the food
I love Gochujang, it I was sure I could make a base stock with it.
To that I added szechuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic, birds eye chillis and star anise. As I cooked with it, throwing in the vegetables, tofu, copious amounts of mushrooms the flavour started to develop. I had made some fresh noodles that day so I threw them in. They cooked amazingly, chewy, full of flavour and to top it, I poached an egg in the broth, which is really common in hotpot.
Before I knew it I was enjoying hot bowls of steaming noodles packed with veg.
I’ve never looked back, and at least once a month I drag my husband out to the Asian supermarket so I can stock up on my chinese broccoli, tofu, fresh noodles and mushrooms.
The Nutrition.
Right lets break this down. Each (rather generous) bowlful will come in at 452 Calories, 11g fat, 66g carbs (noodles mostly, but am prepared to make that sacrifice for this dish) and 31g protien. Thanks to my local Asian supermarket (which is really reasonably priced) servings are costing £1.19 per serving!
This is an entire meal and it will fill you up guaranteed. It beats the equivalent take away meal easily on every nutritional point. Plus it’s nice to be able to make spicy Vegetarian noodle bowls to cater for all diets!
this makes it well worth incorporating into your meal plan, especially if like me you track macros. It is simple, quick and satisfying.
Large tea strainer or spice bag (this is possible to do without these items . I will leave additional notes at the bottom of the recipe)
sieve if you do not have a tea strainer or spice bag
Ingredients
400gfresh noodles (jindu) You can substitute with your preferred but adjust the nutrition accordingly
Two Heaped tbspGochujang Paste
3litresboiled water2 kettle fulls
400gmedium firm tofu
3largepok choithis will do all servings but I recommend just popping as much as you want to eat in that serving to keep it crunchy
300genoki mushrooms, trimmed I have tried this with every mix of mushrooms and they all work perfectly. so don't worry too much about this
400gChinese Broccoli this can be altered to normal broccoli if you can't get hold of chinese
fullbunchspring onions/ scallions for my american readers
2tbspginger
handful beansproutswashed
the spices- I use a tea strainer, but a spice bag will do just aswell
3star anise
3clovesgarlicpeeled
2tbspszechuan peppercorns
2tbspdried birds eye chillis
Instructions
Broth
add water and gochujang to a large stock pot
place spices into bag or strainer
place bag of strainer into stock pot
allow to boil and turn onto a rolling simmer
Add mushrooms (they can handle the heat)
in a frying pan sear tofu until browned and crisped,
add to stock
the vegetables
for the pak choi and chinese broccoli remove the leafy part and keep to one side. the stalks and leaves have different cooking times.
pop the stalks into the broth
take the bunch of Spring onions/ scallions, cup tops and trim ends. cut in half (keep one or two aside to scatter on top of finished dish)
add them to the broth
allow to simmer for 5 minutes
remove tea strainer to allow for more room
Add fresh noodles, stir so they don't clump together
cook for five minutes on a boil
place a bed of beansprouts at the bottom of a nice deep bowl, along with the leafy parts of the vegetables.
scoop as into a bowl a serving of noodles, tofu and vegetables along with extra broth. this will start cooking the beansprout at the bottom of the bowl.
crack an egg into the cooking broth, being sure to keep a track of where you placed it
remove after 1-2 minutes, egg should be cooked on the outside but soft and running yolk
finishing touches
scatter some finely sliced green onions
enjoy!
Notes
if you do not have a spice bag or strainer, after the broth has simmered for 20 mins, strain through a sieve, return to heat and add mushrooms and follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Spinach, Mushroom and Garlic Rice. This is a brilliant way to liven up your rice! 210 Cal, 2g fat, 42g Carbs and 8g protein costing 35p per 250g portion! This recipe makes 4 servings.
What is better then a burger? Add in the fact this smokey bean and mushroom burger comes in at 62p per serving. And is Healthy too, and I am in heaven!
Let’s talk about tandoori chicken! Well even though the title says Tandoori Chicken, this marinade will work with whatever meat you chose to use Tandoori gets the name from the bell-shaped tandoor oven, I could only dream of having one! But I am going to …
fluffy creamy rice with coconut, spring onions and hint of spice. Mixed with red kidney beans to give extra texture and creaminess! Classic home cooking in Jamaica.
Did i mention this is 21p per serving! Perfect for those cooking on a budget!
Best served with friends, while a BBQ is burning close by.
Origins of rice and peas
This dish originates from Ghana and the Ivory Coast, its roots stemming from the slave trade. Even back then people associated food with fond memories, familiarity is a comfort.
Slaves would cook food they could link back to their homeland, it really does show how food feeds the soul.
I come from Liverpool, our regional dish is ‘Scouse’ it’s a dish we adapted from Scandinavia, ‘Lapskaus’. It’s a hearty meat stew, with potatoes, carrots, leeks and onions. Mostly eaten on miserable rainy days (which in the UK there are plenty). Served with a crusty buttered bread for dipping and topped with pickled red cabbage or beetroot. It is ingrained so deep in to the City’s heritage, we are called Scousers.
Every family recipe is slightly different, tweaked as it is passed down through the family. It’s a dish you have to warm your heart. It’s simple food that makes you feel warm and full on a cold day.
Rice and Peas is traditionally cooked on a Sunday, reasoning being, Sunday was considered a day of rest for the Slaves. Even though the roots of Rice and Peas is dark, the tradition is still much loved even today.
I was fortunate enough to spend some time in a small village in Jamaica (unexpectedly). I can’t say the church service I attended spoke to me (am agnostic). However, It was lovely to see the energy and excitement put into the service!
If you ever find yourself in Jamaica across the road from every church is a bar, try a Red Stripe Lemon. It is AMAZING! Ice cold on a hot tropical day…
Heaven!
Getting the most out of your cooking
When I make big batches of food like this, I weigh the portions and vacuum pack servings, It’s so easy to do and really can be a time saver.
I have them in the freezer for the days that I am pushed for time, or when the kids drop the “I fancy *insert the most awkward meal ever* for tea” bomb. This normally happens on the most inconvenient time imaginable, normally when I have zero of the ingredients in, it’s a true skill.
My husband prepares all of his lunches for work in advance, so being able to mix his diet up by pulling something new out of the freezer keeps his food from becoming monotonous helping him to stay on track
I’d love to hear your family recipes and how they started. Drop a comment, email or DM me on my social media and let me know!
Catch you later
Love
Rice and Peas
just nicole
Perfect side dish to the Jamaican Me Hungry dish. Creamy coconut rice, spring onions and a touch of spice made even more comforting by red kidney beans. A staple of the Caribbean.
