7 golden tips for the perfect rice bowl
A bowl of perfectly steamed rice topped with all kinds of delicious toppings: it probably has something to do with my Asian background, but I think this is pretty much the best comfort food there is. That doesn’t mean I’m thrilled whenever a poke bowl place opens, because I prefer warm rice bowls in which the proportions of the ingredients are just right. Would you like to make an amazing rice bowl yourself? Then follow these guidelines.
Although we definitely shouldn’t overcomplicate things, there are a few tips that will make your rice bowl as delicious as possible with just a little attention!
1. The rice, then
You want the softest, fluffiest rice to make a bowl with, and there are several techniques for achieving that. A rice cooker is super handy but often takes up a lot of space; in Japan, the single-serving rice cooker is popular. You need enough rice to make sure you can eat every bite with rice, rather than plundering the top of the bowl (the other ingredients) first.
2. Don’t use too many toppings, but make sure they’re well seasoned
And by ‘well seasoned’, we mainly mean salty enough. You have a whole mountain of delicious rice underneath that neutralizes things considerably, so when it comes to salt and umami, you can let yourself go a little with the other ingredients.
3. Chop away
You should be able to put all the ingredients on top into your mouth in one go with chopsticks or a fork. Make sure you don’t have to try to tear a piece of meat in half with your teeth and those chopsticks, but cut everything to the right size.
4. Build contrasting textures and flavors
It’s best when every bite isn’t the same. Vary things and make sure, for example, that you have an ingredient that is firm (meat or crispy tofu, for instance), soft (a perfectly ‘in-between’ egg), and crunchy (ready-made ginger pickles, or homemade pickles). Also try to incorporate salty (soy sauce), sour (those pickles), and spicy elements (the chili oil by Sergio Herman).
5. Sauce is the key
A sauce that ‘holds everything together’ can also be very useful. It’s best if the sauce mixes into the rice a little, but not so much that the rice is drowning in it. If you thicken a sauce slightly with cornstarch, you’ll prevent it from forming a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
6. Don’t make it too complicated
As we mentioned earlier: don’t overcomplicate things. The idea is that you can easily throw this together quickly with leftovers, and that you can have fun browsing the Asian grocery store, where you can find all kinds of ready-made sauces and toppings for your rice bowl. Sacha sauce, for example, and Japanese furikake.
7. Build it thoughtfully
Don’t just cram everything randomly into a bowl; carefully building the ingredients in layers really pays off. Finely sliced nori sheets (seaweed) can be placed directly on the layer of rice (the bottom layer) for a refined salty bite. Place the larger pieces (such as vegetables and/or meat) on top so you can easily pick them up and ‘scoop’ up some rice with them. If you add something very spicy (such as sambal), it’s best not to spoon it over the entire bowl, but instead make a nice dollop on the side. That way, you can decide with each bite exactly how spicy you want it to be, and scoop up more or less sambal.
Source: Serious Eats
Read also:
- The easiest way to cook perfect rice
- Pandan or jasmine rice? Here’s how it works
- The best-kept secret of Chinese cuisine
