Alt Feast

Offering alternative recipes without gluten, dairy, corn, or coconut

Author: TC

Instant Pot Chashu Pork
The quintessential supplemental recipe for Chashu Ramen, this recipe gets its own separate post because the pork, while iconic for ramen, can be used as a topper or additive for many dishes.

If you’re looking for that iconic slice of pork that is shaped in a swirl, then you’ll want to use pork belly for this recipe. Serious Eats has a great recipe you can reference for how to roll up and truss a slab of pork belly. They also use a pressure cooker in their version if you’d like to follow their method all the way (just use gluten free tamari soy sauce in place of soy sauce in their recipe).

Personally, I find pork belly too fatty, especially if eating it in any form of a large chunk. Don’t get me wrong it’s delicious, but there is ample amounts of guilt feeling when you realize you’ve eaten basically the equivalent of half a pack of bacon.

For my version I use pork shoulder. I’m not looking for that perfect pinwheel in my recipe, just that nice layering of fat and meat for flavorful and tender bites.

Same as the pork belly method, it’s important to truss the meat into a cylindrical shape to make cutting neat slices later on easier.

Enjoy!
Pressure Cooker Chashu Pork (+tare and eggs)

An easy recipe that makes delicious and versatile pork that's perfect for a bowl of ramen

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Resting Time 6 hours
Total Time 8 hours

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 8

Equipment
1 pressure cooker I use Instant Pot

Ingredients

2 lb whole pork shoulder trussed into a cylindrical shape
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup sake
4 cups dashi stock (or as needed) see notes
6 green onions roughly chopped
6 whole garlic cloves
2 tsp minced ginger or 3-4 slices of ginger
For the marinated eggs (optional)
4-8 eggs

Instructions

If your pork shoulder isn't trussed already, use cooking twine to tie the pork shoulder into a cylindrical shape. Pork shoulder by default should already mostly be in this shape. The trussing is just to perfect it and make it easier to get even slices later on.
2 lb whole pork shoulder
Add pork shoulder to the Instant Pot, then add everything else. Pour the dashi stock in last so that the liquids just cover the pork shoulder
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 cup sake, 4 cups dashi stock (or as needed), 6 green onions, 6 whole garlic cloves, 2 tsp minced ginger
Close the pressure cooker and set it to cook on "meat" (or high pressure) for 90 minutes.
Once done, allow it to release naturally for at least 10 minutes before manually releasing pressure (alternatively you can just let it come to pressure naturally if you have the time for it). Pork shoulder should be tender now.
Carefully remove the pork shoulder from the instant pot (use tongs if you can) and place in a large container.
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode on high heat and allow the liquid to reduce by about 1/2.
Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve and pour into the same container with the pork. Allow everything to cool to room temp then store in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 6 hours. This will allow the marinade to further flavor the pork for a really delicious meat additive.
For the marinated soft boil eggs (optional)
Boil a pot of water. Once boiling, add the eggs gently (using a slotted spoon) and allow to boil for 7 minutes.
4-8 eggs
After 7 minutes, remove the eggs and place in a ice bath to stop the cooking process. Allow to cool and then peel the hard shell.
Take the peeled eggs and place them in the same container with the pork shoulder and make sure they are fully submerged in the marinade (be gentle! since they are soft boiled the center of the eggs will still be soft).
Continue to chill in the fridge until ready to eat.

Notes
Once chilled, you can untie the cooking twine and cut slices as needed, or slice it all at once and store.
Chashu pork can also be used over rice, as a filling for buns, or cut up for fried rice or other stir fry dishes.
For dashi stock, there is an overnight dashi stock recipe I keep on hand at all times, but if you don’t have any, water will work in this recipe.

Keyword meat, pork, tare
Don’t throw the marinade away!

Cooking the chashu pork and reducing the liquid creates a beautifully flavored tare sauce that can be used in a number of simmering dishes (see our list of nimonos (simmering-based side dishes) or as flavoring in fried rice or broths.

This tare liquid is also the basis of our chashu ramen.
January 28, 2022
Gluten Free Chashu Ramen
At some point, I was going to have to make a ramen post.

Ramen is… tricky. Ramen can be very simple, but it can also be very complex. It’s a dish with a lot of variation and yet also a lot of specification. Whether it’s a simple bowl of cheap ingredients and instant freeze-dried noodles or a bowl of specifically ratio-ed quantities of painstakingly crafted components, everyone has an opinion on what ramen is.

This ramen recipe… attempts to provide a guide to the latter, which is what I think many of us think of when we think about Japanese ramen. Not the quick-boil instant noodle packet, potentially dressed up with scallions or an egg, but that specific experience of savory lip-smacking broth carried by noodles with thin slices of melt-in-your-mouth chashu pork.

Needless to say… there’s some prep work required for this. However, once the prep pieces are ready, putting together the actual bowl of ramen is really simple.

Probably the biggest challenge for someone who is gluten-free is sourcing good noodles. Personally, the noodle part of a bowl of ramen was never really the appealing part for me. It was, in a way, just the carrier for the “good stuff” (the ramen broth). This of course is not a universal opinion. I was just never really that in to noodles to begin with. So… I can’t really recommend one noodle brand or another. Go with what you can have and what you can find.

That said… for this day’s ramen meal, I managed to find some 100% gluten free soba noodles at a nearby Japanese grocery store. Very pricy (especially for dried noodles), but exciting since I hadn’t eaten this in a long time.

The nutty denser texture of these noodles also worked well for the chashu-based broth being used in this recipe.

SPeaking of… would it be worthwhile to provide affiliate links on where you can order these ingredients (if available online)? If so, is Amazon a good choice? Something else?

Prep Recipes

Before you begin, make sure you follow these recipes to get those initial ingredients together. These together are the key to making a good chashu ramen.

Ramen broth

This one I don’t have an official recipe for since I just used a mix of chicken broth and dashi stock this time around (so much for “doing this right”. Home cooking is about using what you have in the end). Chashu ramen is a pork-based dish, so the best solution is to make a pork bone-based broth! I didn’t have pork bones, so I used my foolproof method of making overnight chicken broth in my 6-qt instant pot. The broth takes advantage of the 6-qt instant pot’s slow cooker settings being hotter than a normal slow cooker to do a continuous simmer over a long period of time. You end up with milky and collagen-filled bone broth that is way better than anything store bought. Recipe TBD.

Chashu pork (and marinated eggs and tare base)

If the ramen broth is the base, the chashu pork is the dish’s heart. Pure bone broth is pretty bland. You usually need to add salt and other aromatics (onions, celery, etc) to make a tasty broth from bones. That’s not to say bones don’t impart their own flavor or other qualities… they just need help to make a complete meal.

Most of the flavor of chashu ramen comes from the chashu pork, but not necessarily the actual pork itself. It’s the marinating sauce used to make the chashu pork that is the flavor bomb ingredient.

This chashu pork recipe is very easy to make, but does require a lot of time due to overnight marinating. But once you have the pork made, the tare from it will be used to flavor the ramen broth. It will also be used to marinate the soft boiled eggs too. With this recipe, you essentially have every core ingredient you need for this ramen dish.

Chashu pork recipe

Putting It Together

The ramen broth and chashu pork (and tare and eggs) can be made the night before, which means the day you make the actual ramen bowls, the process will be very easy. It’s basically reheating the components and assembling.

Enjoy the recipe!
Gluten Free Chashu Ramen

Homemade chashu ramen takes a bit of prep work, but comes together super fast the day of serving

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Prep Time 16 hours
Cook Time 10 minutes

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 2

Ingredients

4 cups pork bone broth can sub chicken bone broth or dashi stock
6 TBSP chashu tare simmering liquid from the chashu pork
4 slices chashu pork see notes
2 marinated soft boiled eggs see notes
2 servings noodles of choice
1 cup chopped napa cabbage (optional)
1/4 cup enoki mushrooms (optional)
1 tbsp chashu fat see notes
dried chili threads (optional)
diced scallions (optional)

Instructions

Boil 1 pot of water for the noodles. Cook per package instructions.
2 servings noodles of choice
In a separate pot, boil the pork bone broth and add the napa cabbage and enoki mushrooms if using to cook). Lower to simmer and allow to cook.
4 cups pork bone broth, 1 cup chopped napa cabbage (optional), 1/4 cup enoki mushrooms (optional)
In 2 ramen bowls, add the chashu tare, 3 tbsps per bowl
6 TBSP chashu tare

Remove the vegetables from the simmering pork bone broth and put some at the base of the bowl. This is an optional step, but I like doing this to help bulk up the ramen serving with more nutritious vegetables instead of more noodles.
If wanting a more indulgent ramen-eating experience, add back some chashu fat to the simmering broth now to allow it to melt into the broth.
1 tbsp chashu fat
Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water to remove excess starch. Add to the ramen bowls.
Add rest of vegetable to top and place the sliced chashu pork and cut soft boiled egg to the top of the noodles.
4 slices chashu pork, 2 marinated soft boiled eggs
Pour the hot broth overtop the dish until filled.
sprinkle the chili threads and/or scallions on top for garnish.
dried chili threads (optional), diced scallions (optional)

Keyword gluten free, noodles
January 28, 2022
Simmered Hijiki Nimono
Another “nimono” dish but one that tastes wildly different. This recipe uses a special ingredient called Hijiki Seaweed.

Hijiki is a type of seaweed made of small grain-like shape pieces and is sold in small black packages. A little goes a long way with hijiki since the little black grain-shaped pieces expand in volume almost 10x from its dried size.

What started out as a 1/2 cup of dried seaweed quickly expanded to fill a large pot.

The flavor is relatively mild (milder than wakame) but with a more solid texture, it is often mixed with other ingredients to create separate side dishes or as a topping to rice-based dishes.

The first time I ate hijiki nimono was in an onigiri from Onigilly. I didn’t know what to expect but it was sweet and savory and the perfect kind of flavor balance you want in an onigiri.

My recipe is slightly less sweet since I don’t like overusing sugar.
Simmered Hijiki Nimono

A seaweed-based side dish that's perfect on top of rice.

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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 12 servings

Equipment
1 large pot

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried hijiki
4 cups water for soaking
3-4 aburaage (deep fried tofu pouch) see notes
1-2 carrots
1 TBSP avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil
1/3 cup shelled edamame
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds optional
Simmering Sauce Ingredients
2 cups dashi stock see notes
2 TBSP mirin
2 TBSP sugar
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP sake

Instructions

add dried hijiki and water to a large bowl and allow to soak for 30 minutes, then drain through a sieve and wash under running water several times to get rid of any debris and coating. The water will run clear when it's clean.
1/2 cup dried hijiki, 4 cups water
Cut the aburaage in half lengthwise, then slice thinly into little strips.
3-4 aburaage (deep fried tofu pouch)
Julienne the carrot (I do this in a food processor for expediency, but you can use a mandoline or cut by hand if needed)
1-2 carrots
Mix the dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar and set aside.
2 cups dashi stock, 2 TBSP mirin, 4 TBSP soy sauce, 2 TBSP sake, 2 TBSP sugar
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. At carrot and saute briefly until coated in oil.
1 TBSP avocado oil
Add hijiki and aburaage. Mix together, then add the simmering sauce and turn the heat to high to let it boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer with the cover on for 30 minutes
After 30 minutes, remove the cover, add the edamame, and allow to cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. Cook down the sauce until almost entirely evaporated, then remove from heat.
1/3 cup shelled edamame
Let cool to room temp and serve immediately, or store in the fridge for up to 1 week. The flavors will permeate the ingredients more if you allow it to chill overnight. Serve with toasted sesame seeds
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds

Notes
Aburaage is a special ingredient I highly recommend including. Normal tofu doesn’t quite work the same. If aburaage is not available you can try other pre-fried tofu from the asian market.
Dashi stock is easy to make in advance and store (see my overnight dashi stock recipe), but if you don’t have any available, for a quick dashi stock recipe:

take 4 cups water, 1 4″x4″ piece of konbu, and ~2 TBSP of katsuoboshi* and heat in a pot. Reduce heat to simmer BEFORE it gets to boiling (you want to avoid boiling konbu to prevent a slight bitter taste. It’s not the end of the world if you do though, but some people find it better to not let it reach boiling). Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the konbu and katsuoboshi from the stock.

Keyword nimono, seaweed
Related recipes:
January 19, 2022
Simmered Daikon Nimono
Similar to the Simmered Kabocha Nimono recipe, this recipe involves simmering large chunks of daikon in a soy-based simmering sauce to create a savory side dish, but the resulting taste is much lighter and refreshing.

This is due to the simmering sauce being heavier on the dashi and lighter in the soy sauce and sugar.
Simmered Daikon Nimono

A savory yet refreshing side dish, the flavors accentuate the sweetness of the radish.

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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 5

Equipment
1 medium flat-bottomed pot

Ingredients

5-6 2-in thick discs of daikon
1 TBSP gluten free tamari soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 TBSP sake
1 tsp minced ginger or 2 slices ginger root
2 cups dashi stock see notes

Instructions

If you haven't already, cut the daikon into 2-in thick discs and peel the outer skin.
5-6 2-in thick discs of daikon
Arrange daikon into a single flat layer at the bottom of a large pot
Mix soy sauce, sugar, sake, ginger and dashi stock, then pour into the pot. Top with water or more dashi broth until the daikon are just submerged in the liquid
1 TBSP gluten free tamari soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 2 TBSP sake, 1 tsp minced ginger, 2 cups dashi stock, 5-6 2-in thick discs of daikon
Cook on high until boiling, then reduce to medium/medium low and let simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated and ~1 – 1 1/2 cups remain at the bottom.
You can test for doneness by skewering a daikon piece in the center. If it goes in easily, the daikon is soft and ready to serve.
Serve immediately, or store in a packed container with the simmering sauce (allowing the daikon to cool and rest in the sauce will enhance the flavor).
Can be eaten chilled or heated.

Notes
Dashi stock is easy to make in advance and store (see my overnight dashi stock recipe), but if you don’t have any available, for a quick dashi stock recipe:

take 4 cups water, 1 4″x4″ piece of konbu, and ~2 TBSP of katsuoboshi* and heat in a pot. Reduce heat to simmer BEFORE it gets to boiling (you want to avoid boiling konbu to prevent a slight bitter taste. It’s not the end of the world if you do though, but some people find it better to not let it reach boiling). Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the konbu and katsuoboshi from the stock.

Keyword nimono, radish, vegetable
Related Recipes:
- Simmered Kabocha Nimono
- Slow Cooker Dashi Stock
January 19, 2022
Basic Rice Porridge (Congee)
Congee. Jook. Kayu. Ganji. Just like fried rice, every culinary region that serves rice also has a rice porridge option in their cuisine. Some are savory, some are sweet. Some are packed with flavors while others are plain and let the side dishes provide flavor for them.

Cantonese style rice porridge mixes the ingredients into the cooked rice porridge (in this case, minced pork and preserved century eggs) to add savory flavor. It is served like a soup at the table and shared between the guests.

At its core, rice porridge is just rice that’s been cooked in a lot of liquid for an extended amount of time so that the rice grains break down and release their starch into the liquid, creating a thick and gooey or creamy dish. In Asian home cooking, it is often served as comfort food, especially for those who are sick, since the broken-down rice is easy to digest. Rice porridge was also historically served to poorer communities and served in times of famine, since it allows regions to conserve their grain while still feeding their populaces whole bowls of food.

Nowadays, rice porridge has become dishes of their own. Sometimes staples in a culture’s cuisine, sometimes a sweet treat. The customizations need only a little creativity to play with it for the home cook.

The most basic of rice porridge consists of just rice and water.

To add flavor, you can add a broth when cooking the rice (such as the chicken broth in Filipino arroz caldo) or other starchy ingredients, like dal or sweet potatoes. Savory meats or pickles can be added to cooked porridge for savory flavors, or sugar, spices and your favorite non-dairy milk for sweet options. The customizations are endless!
Basic Rice Porridge (Congee)

The most basic way to make rice porridge using an Instant Pot.

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Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Base Recipe
Cuisine Asian, Chinese, Japanese

Equipment
1 Instant Pot or rice cooker or large pot for stove

Ingredients

1 cup rice see notes
5 cups water see notes

Instructions

Wash rice per your own preference. This step highly depends on what style of rice you got, what brand, and what region you live in. Ideally you want to make sure that when you add water to the rice, it is clear. If the water is milky or cloudy, you probably need to wash it.
Drain the rice once you are finished washing.
1 cup rice
Add your water.
5 cups water
Cook rice in instant pot on rice porridge (or congee) setting for 20-30 min.
Once finished, let rice cooker return to pressure naturally for 10-15 minutes, then release vent to allow the remaining pressure to release. Do this last step CAREFULLY. Congee creates a gooey liquid that will quickly gum up your pressure cooker's vents if not vented properly. If you want to be extra cautious, just let the Instant Pot come to pressure naturally until it's openable (tip: turn off the Instant Pot instead of letting it continue to stay heated at low temp to allow it to release pressure naturally faster.
Stir and serve immediately.

Notes
This is for the most basic rice porridge recipe. Flavorings should come from any foods you serve with this porridge.
You can add additional water or remove depending on how thick you want it.
You can also increase or decrease the time depending how broken down you want the rice to be. This is also dependent on what type of rice you’re using. This base recipe here works best for short or medium grain rice. For long grain rice, first break down the dry rice grains by grinding them, then cook into a rice porridge. Otherwise, you can keep long grain kernels intact and cook them that way, but the cook time will be considerably longer.

Keyword base recipe, rice
Note of warning:

Be careful when eating rice porridge at a restaurant, especially the Chinese or Cantonese varieties. While congee is SUPPOSED to be just rice, congee is a dish that takes time to make. Restaurants will often add corn starch to thicken it up faster and also provide a desirable “silky” texture to their porridge. I learned this the hard way. Don’t make my mistake if you also cannot digest corn!

Rice Porridge Recipes
January 19, 2022
Grilled Salted Salmon (Shiozake)
Grilled and salted salmon (shiozake) is a popular way to eat salmon in Japan. In Japanese grocers you can even buy the fish in pre-cut and pre-salted packets. All you need to do is take it out and grill it, making it a great go-to for a healthy breakfast, midday, or evening protein portion of a meal.

Making your own shiozake is not difficult to do, but does take a little bit of prep time, especially if you are buying you salmon by the fillet and need to cut it down to the appropriate size. However once you have a set of this marinating, you can store it in the freezer and defrost it the day before (or morning of when) you want to use it.

In the US, it’s more common to buy salmon by the fillet (usually half a fish cut lengthwise against the bones) than by individually cut portions as served in Japan. Sometimes store-bought salmon will have the skin still on, but oftentimes it will not. Salmon skin is fatty and having it present will help keep the fish oily and crisp, but if it’s not, it’s no big deal. However, more often than not if a fish has its skin still attached, then the fish will also still have its scales that need to be removed, and that’s where things get messy.

So a lot of the prep work for this dish involves descaling and portioning the salmon fillet into individual pieces. But once you have that done, you just need to marinate it and put it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready!

Here’s my method to make shiozake:
Grilled Salted Salmon (Shiozake)

A great protein staple for a Japanese set meal. Prep several portions in advance and store in the freezer until ready to thaw and cook.

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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 salmon portions

Equipment
1 cooking pan preferrably nonstick

Ingredients

4 1-in width piece of salmon cut perpendicular to the fillet
1 TBSP rice vinegar
3 TBSP sake
1/2-1 tsp salt
water as needed

Instructions

Prep the Salmon
Cut and clean the salmon into 1 inch width strips and place into a tight glass container. You want to have minimal space between the fillets so that the fish can get fully covered by the salt marinade. Alternatively, you can use airtight plastic bags.
Mix rice vinegar, salt, and sake into a bowl in order to dissolve the salt
pour mixture into glass container over the sake.
Top off with water as necessary.
Store in the fridge overnight (or for 1 hr min) or store in the freezer and remove to defrost when ready.
Grill the Salmon
Take out the salmon pieces, 1 per person. Pat dry with paper towel
In a medium heat pan, add a drizzle of oil, then place salmon skin-side down first (if the salmon has skin. If it doesn't than any side is fine) and let grill for 2 minutes
Flip to each size and let grill for 1-2 minutes until there's no more pink. In total, the salmon pieces should cook 8-10 minutes in the pan
Serve with rice and a vegetable side dish.

Notes
This recipe soaks the salmon in sake and vinegar in addition to salt. This helps remove the “fishiness” smell and taste and leave a salty, savory fish dish.
I highly recommend using King salmon or Atlantic salmon for this dish. The fat content of these two types of salmon is higher than the others and makes for a more flavorful and tender dish.

Keyword fish, protein, seafood
Want to see the recipes for the complete meal set?
- Simmered Daikon nimono
- Hijiki seaweed
- Instant Pot Congee with Umeboshi
January 19, 2022
Japanese Cuisine Month: halfway point

We’re halfway through the 1st month of our 12-months of cuisines challenge!

This has been incredibly fun to do, but also very challenging to keep up. I think I learned pretty early that expecting us to eat ONLY Japanese food for a month was unrealistic, especially when living in such a diversified area full of many alternate cuisine options. Still, the point of this is to exercise my skills and gain knowledge to more quickly cook delicious, nutritious, and easy meals so that we eat more healthy overall. At least for that goal, I think we are making decent progress.

I’ve learned that quickly sautéing some vegetables with meat is a quick and easy way to put food on a table. And that frying eggplant is a fast way to eat a lot of oil (lol). Miso soup is an easy quick-option for a side-dish to complete a meal. And many Japanese side dishes, while intimidating-looking (especially when so many are on the table at once), are easier to cook in bulk ahead of time and then serve little by little each day.

I’m also starting to see patterns when it comes to flavor options. The combination of soy sauce, sugar, sake, and/or mirin comes up in a lot of dishes (I personally like adding ginger to the combination too). Otherwise sesame or miso are alternate flavors used too. I’m sure there’s more variety to the Japanese palette. Perhaps these are just the easiest or most iconic of the flavors.

I did end up buying a small jar of umeboshi so at some point I’m going to have to learn how to cook with that. I didn’t like them when I was younger (something about salty fruit was just very unappealing) but I think as a condiment they hold potential.

We did, during one day in the 1st week, do some at-home yakitori. Yakitori is something I’m not sure I can write a ‘recipe’ on. It’s more of a ritual than a recipe where freshly cooked chicken (in our case, turkey) is eaten straight off the grill that that ultimate juicily cooked bite of delicious meat (honestly I’m not sure why this type of grilling isn’t more popular in the United States).

I haven’t tried any fried dishes (outside of the fried eggplant we did our first week) and there are other dishes like Japanese curry and takoyaki that are still on my to-do list. These things take more effort and don’t qualify as a “easy meal” in my opinion (frying as an “easy” option is debatable. If you’re used to the process then I’m sure it’s no trouble at all, but I always struggle and fail with it. Plus the cleanup can be a problem sometimes). There’s also noodle soups and other stews we have yet to include in our meal line-up. I think simmering dishes and stews are really the way to go if I want to maintain that “healthy” and “easy” criteria.

Let’s keep going with the 2nd half of the month!

What do you think we should cook in February?

January 15, 2022
Base Recipe: Fried Rice
Every culinary region that has rice as a dietary staple has a variation of fried rice in their cuisine. From the iconic egg fried rice of Eastern China, to the ketchup-flavored and egg-wrapped variant of Japan, to the spiced and fragrant plates of India, fried rice is a highly versatile dish.

Historically, fried rice likely originated from China and is most commonly associated with Chinese cuisine (there are many variants to fried rice in China alone). However, after so many years of culinary influencing and emigration, you can find fried rice everywhere in the world, including many non-Asian regions such as the Puerto Rican “arroz mamposteao” or Peruvian “arroz chaufa”.

While there are iconic ingredients and methods that seem to identify variations of fried rice with specific culinary regions (for example, the use of shrimp paste or sambal in Indonesian fried rice), when made at home, fried rice is often cooked as a way to use up leftover ingredients.

If you have vegetables, meat, and rice (leftover rice from the day before being most ideal), you can make a solid fried rice dish that will serve as a one-pot meal.

Fried rice can be cooked anywhere, including while camping. A mix of temperature-hardy vegetables and some canned sardines makes for a savory and healthy camp night meal.

In order to make fried rice healthier at home, I have a few key rules to follow:
- The rice should consist of 1/2 or 1/3 of the dish in volume. The rest of the meal should be made of more nutritious elements, such as vegetables and/or proteins.
- For the remaining 1/2 or 2/3 of the dish, 2/3 to 3/4 of that should be vegetables. You’ll want to favor vegetables that keep their shape over leafy greens or watery options (think “carrots, onions, zucchini, and peas” over “lettuce, bok choi, etc”), but please feel free to experiment here!
- Meat is a flavoring agent – Salty or fatty meats can be used in fried rice and, in my opinion, should. But a little can go a really long way.
- Minimize oil usage – you honestly don’t need a lot of cooking fat for a good fried rice. Restaurants use a lot for cheap-and-easy flavor. If you’re doing it at home, there are other ways to up the savory-ness of fried rice
[graphic for fried rice ratios]
Base Recipe: Fried Rice

A foundational formula for fried rice. Modify for your own variation and flavor!

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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Course Base Recipe
Cuisine Base Recipe

Servings 4

Equipment
1 wok or other large cooking pan

Ingredients

1 cup leftover rice any type of works, but may require different prep steps depending on how starchy it is. See notes.
1 cup diced vegetables i.e. onion, carrot, green peas, etc. See notes.
1/4-1/2 cup diced meat i.e. pork belly, sausage, sardines, chicken etc. See notes
Flavoring(s) of choice i.e. Soy sauce, spice blends, chili paste, etc.

Instructions

Break down the leftover rice until the grains are fully separated and not sticking together in clumps (this is especially important if using the starchier short- or medium- grain varietals such as sushi rice or calrose rice)
1 cup leftover rice
In a wok (or large sauté pan), add your cooking oil and begin stir frying the meat and vegetables according to ingredient cook times and personal preference (i.e. cook onions first before meat if you want a softer onion texture and taste)
1 cup diced vegetables, 1/4-1/2 cup diced meat
Add in rice and continue to stir fry, tossing/stirring constantly to prevent rice from sticking and to fully incorporate the ingredients and flavors.
Add in flavorings and continue to stir fry to fully incorporate.
Flavoring(s) of choice
Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Notes

Starchier short-grain or medium-grain rice tends to clump up and harden when left over. You can break this down by hand, using egg or another liquid to soften it or just breaking it apart with your fingers. Long-grain rices (like basmati or jasmine) will not stick to itself as badly so you’ll have less issue with rice clumps in the fried rice if you use those.

You can technically use vegetables, but to prevent too much liquid from forming (and making your fried rice soggy as a result), try to stick with starchier or hardier vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, and onions, and leave out the leafy greens.

You’ll also want at least 1 kind of aromatic vegetable (i.e. onions, scallions) to add flavor to the dish

Depending on the meat, you may want to add more or less to your fried rice. Saltier or fattier options can “spread out” flavor than standard unseasoned raw meat. It’s definitely worth it to add a bit of something savory as your protein base, but worth using it conservatively if you do.

Flavoring are where the different regional varieties come to play. Try using some standard seasonings (soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal, etc) one day, and then get creative on another (creole spice blend, etc). The possibilities are endless!

Note: Many recipes call for egg, but how they incorporate the egg varies wildly. Try scrambling it in the fried rice, or frying one to place on top. Figure out what you like best!

Keyword base recipe, fried rice, rice
Some Fried Rice Recipes and Variations:
January 14, 2022
Staple Recipe: Dashi Stock (slow cooker method)
Dashi stock is a staple in the Japanese kitchen and there are many ways to prepare it.

Traditionally, dashi is made by either soaking konbu in cold water for a long period of time, or heating konbu in hot simmering water for a several minutes (never boil though! Supposedly konbu creates a bitter taste if boiled). A popular variant of konbu dashi, and one I prefer to use in all my dishes, includes simmering katsuoboshi (dried bonito that has been shaved into flakes) along with the konbu for a richer taste.

Nowadays there are shortcut methods to making dashi stock. Probably the most common method is to use freeze-dried granules (commonly known as “Hondashi”), which you can buy from many stores, including online. It works similarly to how chicken bouillon works… dissolve the granules into water for instant flavored broth!

I’ll admit, I’ve used Hondashi in the past, before I became wary of food labels and hidden ingredients. Similar to chicken bouillon, Hondashi’s ingredients don’t necessarily reflect what you’d expect from the food it makes. Unfortunately, in addition to not having ANY mention of “konbu” in its ingredient list, Hondashi contains (surprise!) lactose. Lactose comes from milk, so as a person who cannot consume dairy, Hondashi is a surprising food ingredient that I cannot have.

HonDashi is a quick-solution for dashi stock, but unfortunately has milk product in it so is not good for people who can’t consume dairy.

In all honesty though, dashi stock is INCREDIBLY EASY to make and its 2 ingredients are both pantry-based shelf-stable items. While I understand the ease of keeping a box of ready-to-use Hondashi in the fridge or pantry, I highly suggest making dashi stock from scratch when cooking Japanese foods. Hopefully this method makes it easier for you!

Perhaps a bit unconventional, but the way I always make dashi stock is with my slow cooker! I have a 3-quart Instant Pot with a slow cooker function. I just toss my ingredients in there and let it cook on high overnight. By morning I have a pot full of dashi stock ready to use for any recipe I have for the week (or I freeze the leftover stock if I end up not using it).

One of the benefits to making dashi from a slow cooker is that you need less of the stock’s core ingredients per pot. Slow cooking extracts the flavor and nutrients from the seaweed and dried fish over an extended period of time, making sure that every drop of flavor is pulled out and dispersed into the broth. Additionally, because the slow cooker method never boils the content, you won’t end up with bitter broth. Instead you’ll get an ultra savory, rich, seafood-based broth that works perfectly to give your dishes that “umami” puch.

Special Ingredients:

Dried konbu usually comes in large sheets, but can be cut down to whatever size you need. I personally like cutting it into 1 inch squares and storing it in a jar in my pantry.

Katsuoboshi is dried bonito that has been shaved and packaged as flakes. It comes in various sizes of packaging and flake size, depending on how you want to use it. All of them work for dashi stock, but commonly the larger-flake bags are used.

By the way… dashi stock is useful in dishes beyond Japanese and Asian cuisine. One of my favorite ways is to use it as a liquid base for cioppino or other seafood-based soups and stews.
Slow Cooker Dashi Stock

A easy-to-make overnight Japanese dashi that results in a rich and umami broth ready for use in whatever recipe you have planned

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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 10 hours

Course Base Recipe
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 1 quarts

Equipment
1 slow cooker I have a 3-qt instant pot with slow cooker setting

Ingredients

4-6 1-in squares dried konbu
1/4 cup loosely packed katsuoboshi
10 cups water

Instructions

Add everything to your slow cooker and turn it on to high. Let it cook overnight, at least 8 hours (some liquid may evaporate).
4-6 1-in squares dried konbu, 1/4 cup loosely packed katsuoboshi, 10 cups water
Strain the broth and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or freeze for longer storage.

Notes
Leftover konbu and katsuoboshi makes for a great dog treat if your dog is in to seafood flavors. Seaweed is very healthy for dog kidneys. Ours loves it. 🙂

Keyword broth, soup, stock
Recipes that use dashi stock
January 14, 2022
Salmon Miso Stew
This stew is based on a hot pot variant called “Ishikari Nabe”.

I first discovered this hot pot watching a video from Cooking With Dog. Made from a delicious broth of konbu, salmon, potato, and miso, this broth is poured into an ingredient-packed stone pot and served in the center of a table with extra ingredients on the side to add as you eat.

Hot pot meals are incredibly fun and I’ve done my fair share and variety of them in our home. But hot pots are more for special events than for everyday meals and I didn’t see why such a delicious and flavorful stew needed to be reserved for family sit-down meals only.

My variant is a separate one-pot stew that starts with similar flavors of salmon, potato and miso. This method, while not as aesthetic pleasing and communal as Cooking With Dog’s hot pot recipe, is easy to do on a weeknight and fills your belly with warm, hearty, and nutritious food. Leftovers are just as good the next day too.
Salmon Miso Stew (Ishikari Nabe)

A hearty and nutritious salmon and miso based stew

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Main Course, One-Pot Meal
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Equipment
1 large pot

Ingredients

3-4 cups dashi stock see notes on making dashi
1-2 TBSP sake
1/2 lb salmon cut into cubes
1/2 lb daikon cut into quarter moons
1 medium potato cut into cubes
2-3 TBSP white miso paste
Optional Additional Ingredients
3-4 napa leaves diced or chopped into bite-size pieces
bok choy
shiitake mushrooms
green onions
tofu cut into cubes
enoki mushrooms

Instructions

Marinate salmon in sake for at least 1 hour. This will help remove any unwanted fishy smell or taste
1-2 TBSP sake, 1/2 lb salmon
In a large pot, bring dashi stock to a boil.
3-4 cups dashi stock
Add salmon, potato, and daikon then continue to cook on high until pot returns to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer and let cook for ~10-15 minutes. Use a spoon or a sieve to skim off the white foam that floats to the top. This will help remove any bitterness or fishy taste from the soup.
1/2 lb salmon, 1 medium potato, 1/2 lb daikon
Add any other ingredients being used and return to a simmer. About 5 minutes.
3-4 napa leaves, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, tofu, enoki mushrooms, bok choy
Take a ladle of the dashi stock out and mix the miso paste in the stock until dissolved. Pour the diluted miso paste back into the pot and allow to continue simmering. About 5 minutes. Try to avoid letting this come to a full boil in order to avoid killing the probiotics in the miso. If it happens, though. That's OK. It won't ruin the flavor and other nutrients of the soup.
2-3 TBSP white miso paste
Ladle into bowls and serve!

Notes
For dashi stock, the best way is to have some pre-made ahead of time and ready to use in the fridge (see my overnight dashi stock recipe for an easy way to have some always in supply!). If you don’t have this, you can start this recipe by first soaking a 6″ x 6″ piece of konbu in water and letting it come to a simmer for <20 min (try not to let it boil. Konbu can create a bitter flavor if cooked too hot, but IMO it’s not the end of the world if happens. I don’t notice THAT big of a difference between boiled konbu and simmered). Remove the konbu and use the broth to start this recipe.
Chicken broth can be used a substitute, but it will alter the flavor of the dish. So will vegetable stock. Water may be the best alternative, but that dashi stock really adds a nice umami undertone to the whole meal that’s hard to replace.

Keyword nutritious, one-pot meal, paleo
January 14, 2022