Japanese Style Rice Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Cook rice in abundant salted water, as you would pasta, until it's just done; white will take 10-15 minutes, brown 30 minutes or more. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, then combine with vegetables and tofu in a large bowl.
• Put black pepper, miso, water or sake, sugar, mirin or honey, and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk together. Taste and add more vinegar and a pinch of salt if needed.
• Combine rice mixture with miso dressing with 2 big forks, fluffing rice and tossing gently to separate grains.
• Crumble nor over salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds, taste, and adjust seasoning or moisten with a little more dressing. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate up to a day, bringing salad back to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Cook rice in abundant salted water, as you would pasta, until it's just done; white rice will take 10 to 15 minutes, brown 30 or a little longer. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, then combine with vegetables and tofu in a large bowl.
• Put black pepper, miso, water or sake, sugar, mirin or honey, and vinegar in a small bowl, and whisk together. Taste, and add more vinegar and a pinch of salt, if needed.
• Combine rice mixture with miso dressing with 2 big forks, fluffing rice and tossing gently to separate grains.
• Crumble nori over salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds, taste, and adjust seasoning or moisten with a little more dressing. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day, bringing salad back to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• If using English or regular cucumbers, they need to be peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded and sliced into thin half moons.
• In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, salt and pepper, mix well.
• Add sugar(or honey), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and mix well.
• Sprinkle with sesame seeds and mix.
• Let marinate for 20 minutes before serving.
• Adjust seasonings before serving.

Steps:

• Cut off the woodsy bottoms of the asparagus spears; discard. Cut off the flower ends and set aside.
• Use a vegetable peeler to remove the dark green outer skin of each spear; you should get three or four ribbons from each one. Set aside. Cut the remaining stalks crosswise into 1/4-inch rounds. Combine ribbons, sliced rounds and tips in a bowl.
• Toast the sesame seeds in a small dry skillet over medium-heat, shaking occasionally until they color and begin to pop, but remove from heat before they burn. Combine the seeds with sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Taste and adjust as necessary. Spoon over the asparagus and toss gently.

Steps:

• Put the rice and all the vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette and use two big forks to combine, fluffing the rice and tossing gently to separate the grains.
• Stir in the parsley, taste, and adjust the seasoning or moisten with a little more dressing. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for up to a day, bringing the salad back to room temperature before serving.
• Variations:
• Rice Salad, Japanese Style: Use brown or white short-grain rice. Halve the amount of celery and carrot and finely chop them or shred them on a grater. Add 1 cup cubed firm tofu (preferably baked). Instead of the vinaigrette, toss with 1/4 cup or so of Simple Miso Dipping Sauce (made by whisking together 6 tablespoons miso paste, 3/4 cup warm water or sake, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon mirin or honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar plus more to taste, and salt to taste). Instead of the parsley, crumble 2 sheets of nori over the rice salad and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons black or white sesame seeds.
• Rice Salad, Mexican Style: Long-grain or medium-grain, white or brown, all work well here. When blending the vinaigrette, add 1 tablespoon chili powder and 2 tablespoons Mexican crema or mayonnaise. Instead of celery and carrot, add 1 cup chopped fresh tomato. Substitute chopped fresh cilantro for the parsley and, at the same time, add 2 chopped hard-cooked eggs and chopped jalapeño chiles if you like. Serve with lime wedges.
• Rice Salad, Indian Style: Use brown or white basmati rice. When making the vinaigrette, use rice wine vinegar, replace the oil with coconut milk, and add 1 tablespoon curry powder, or more to taste. Instead of the bell pepper, celery, and carrot, add 1/2 cup each cubed cooked potato, cooked cauliflower florets, and green peas (cooked frozen are fine). Substitute cilantro for the parsley.
• Citrus Rice Salad: Use any rice. Instead of red wine vinegar, make the vinaigrette with freshly squeezed citrus juice-choose from lemon, lime, orange, blood orange, tangerine, pink grapefruit, or a combination. Whatever you use, add 2 tablespoons of the grated zest and 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey to the blender. Do not include the scallion or the vegetables. (You might want to use a little less dressing.) Instead of the parsley, use mint if you like. A handful of chopped almonds or pecans make a nice addition.
• Tomato Rice Salad: Use any kind of brown or white rice. When making the vinaigrette, eliminate the vinegar and add 1 medium tomato to the blender. Instead of the scallion and other vegetables, add 2 cups chopped fresh tomato (a mixture of heirloom varieties is nice).Instead of the parsley, use chopped fresh basil or mint, or 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, chervil, dill, or about a tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves.

Steps:

• Whisk together sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Toss the cabbage, green onions, almonds, and sesame seeds in a large bowl with the dressing until well coated.

Steps:

• In a blender, combine the minced onion, peanut oil, rice vinegar, water, ginger, celery, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper . Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ingredients are well-pureed.