By Rick Stein
Recipe taken from BBC Good Food.
As part of my Ango practice, I've been trying to look at deepening my connection to the food I eat.
For me, this also incorporates looking at my diet and steering it towards being more beneficial.
I am working towards a keto diet that incorporates Shojin ryori, otherwise known as Buddhist cuisine. This is plant-based, vegetarian meals eaten in Japan by monks. This traditional cuisine features rice, miso soup, and a variety of vegetable and tofu side dishes. It was introduced to Japan by our ancestor Dogen.
Whereas monks used to take food alms ( aka "begging" (this requires another post to explore! ), they moved into self-sufficient means during a specific period of Chinese Buddhist history (also worthy of another blog post!)
Another part of monastic living is not eating anything after 12 p.m., having only one or two meals a day between the hours of 6 a.m. and noon. Which ties in with the fasting aspect of a keto meal plan.
Today's recipe may not be keto or Shojin ryori, but it's certainly rice-based and utilises some of the things I currently have available.
It called for smoked haddock, but this can be substituted or removed entirely.
Preparation and cooking time
Prep:5 mins
Cook:40 mins
Easy
Serves 6
The BBC Provide the following Nutritional Value:
Ingredients:
50g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cardamom pods split open
¼ tsp turmeric
1 small cinnamon stick
2 fresh bay leaves or 1 dried
450g basmati rice
1 litre/1¾ pints chicken stock or fish stock, ideally fresh
750g un-dyed smoked haddock fillet
3 eggs
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to garnish
Method:
STEP 1 For the rice, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large, lidded pan, add 1 finely chopped large onion, then gently fry for 5 mins until softened but not coloured.
STEP 2 Add 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground turmeric and 2 tsp curry powder, season with salt, then continue to fry until the mix starts to go brown and fragrant; about 3 mins.
STEP 3 Add 300g rinsed easy-cook long grain rice and stir in well. Add 600ml water, stir, and then bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, then cover for 10 mins.
STEP 4 Take off the heat and leave to stand, covered, for 10-15 mins more. The rice will be perfectly cooked if you do not lift the lid before the end of the cooking.
STEP 5 Meanwhile, put 300g skin-on undyed smoked haddock fillet and 2 bay leaves in a frying pan, cover with 300ml milk, then poach for 10 mins until the flesh flakes. Remove from the milk, peel away the skin, and then flake the flesh into thumb-sized pieces.
STEP 6 Place 4 eggs in a pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Leave for 4½-5 mins, plunge into cold water, then peel and cut the eggs into quarters.
STEP 7 Gently mix the fish, eggs, a handful each of chopped parsley and coriander, and rice together in the pan. Serve hot, sprinkled with a few extra herbs.
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