Four Layer Vegetarian Rice Bowl

This isn’t an authentic recipe of any kind! I just read a review of a local restaurant that serves rice bowls and thought a rice bowl would be fun to try with things I have on hand and things I like. I love the balance of flavors, textures and temperatures here. You bite through the beautiful egg into a clutch of cold vegetables, hit the cooked vegetables and end with a bit of rice. Lovely. Who knew I would like Kimchee? This easily serves 4.

Ingredients:

Cold vegetables:
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cold water

1 cup very thinly sliced cucumber

¼ cup very thinly sliced radishes
¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
¼ cup kimchee

Rice:
4 cups of prepared rice, kept warm

Cooked vegetables:

2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons garlic-chili paste
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons canola oil

½ cup onion, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can chop suey vegetables, drained (please substitute canned or prepared mung bean sprouts if you have them-I didn’t)
½ cup carrots, cut into thin strips about 2 inches long (I’d love to say ‘julienned, but it’s just too much precision for me)
½ cup sweet bell peppers (red, yellow, whatever), chopped
1 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups baby spinach
½ cup frozen peas, thawed

Eggs:

2 teaspoons canola oil
4eggs

Directions:

Start with the cold veggies. Mix the rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and water together in a small mixing bowl. Divide into two small bowls and add the cucumbers to one and the radishes to the second bowl. Stir them around once in a while as you are prepping the rest of the dish.  Keep the green onions and kimchee plain and in two other bowls. Set all these bowls aside until needed.

For the cooked veggies: Mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic-chili paste, ginger, water and cornstarch. Stir and set aside. Add the canola oil to a wok or large saucepan that is set on medium heat. Add the onions, drained chop suey vegetables or mung bean sprouts, carrots, bell peppers and mushrooms. Cook over medium until the veggies are soft (about 6 minutes). Add the spinach and then the reserved sauce. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the peas.

Make the eggs by heating the oil in a frying pan, cracking the eggs into the pan and cooking on medium heat until the whites are set, the edges are slightly brown, but the yolk is still runny.

Next, just layer everything into 4 bowls: 1 cup of rice, ¼ of the cooked veggies, and ¼ of the cold veggies (keeping them in separate little bunches in the bowl) and then topping with a fried egg. If you are serving people who may or may not like some of the cold veggies, just put them in bowls and serve as condiments alongside the big bowls of goodness.

Get creative on me: Are you kidding? You can play with this nine ways from Sunday. Change the veggies, change the heat level by using different chili sauces or pastes…….