SPEEDY SUPPERS

Ah, the humble rice bowl. More than once this super speedy supper has come to my rescue on nights where I felt I simply did not have the energy to cook. Ready in as long as it takes to boil some rice, this comforting meal delivers big time on flavour.

The beauty of a rice bowl is that you can play around with the key ingredients to find your favourite combination. I’ve used tenderstem broccoli and mushrooms here but you can use tofu, roasted sweet potato or shredded chicken. My rice bowl this week is vegetarian as there is enough richness in the runny egg yolk mixed with the umami of the mushrooms, that I didn’t feel meat was called for. This speedy supper is inspired by one of my favourite chefs, Katie Sanderson, whose food I’ve enjoyed at The Fumbally as well as through her food projects Dillisk and Living Dinners.

At a couple of festivals last year, she popped up at stalls cooking and serving up life-saving rice bowls. Somewhere along the line she created her Peanut Rayu, an unbelievably yummy chilli peanut sauce, inspired by her up-bringing in Hong Kong.

If you haven’t been able to get your hands on a jar of this sauce, you can absolutely substitute it for your own favourite chilli sauce, such as Sriracha.

When I say use a small cup of rice in the ingredients I literally mean a small cup, such as a coffee cup. The rule I follow with rice is give it a good wash, add double the water than the rice and let it simmer heartily until the water is evaporated, being careful not to burn the bottom of your pan. I find the small coffee cup a good way to avoid food waste, which I think often happens when cooking rice. It’s easy to cook too much. I’ve also suggested you use tenderstem broccoli but if you can’t find those, simply substitute them for a few florets of regular broccoli.