In winter it can often feel a challenge to cook food that is bright and refreshing. Light summer produce is all but a distant memory as we turn to sturdy reliable vegetables like cabbages, carrots and leafy greens. These cold-loving vegetables can be as exciting as summer’s first tomato or the freshest spring peas. Used a little differently, say in a pickle as I do here, they are such a welcome brightness in winter.
We eat versions of this rice bowl at least once a week at home. It’s relatively quick to put together and can be adjusted to whatever is in the fridge. I might swap out the cabbage for steamed greens like broccolini and snap peas, or use store-bought pickles or add some avocado or bean sprouts. The base of rice and some sort of protein, however, usually remains.
The teriyaki sauce for the chicken is so incredibly good and is something that my husband Nori taught me to make. ‘Teri’ simply means shiny or glossy and ‘Yaki’ means grilled. The sauce coats the chicken and gives it this gleaming shine, all caramelised and just plain delicious. It is such a crowd pleaser and so full of flavour. I love it with chicken, but in Japan it is more commonly paired with fish, so you could use fish like salmon, mackerel or tuna instead.
I like to cook a mixed rice of brown and white, it has more body then just white, and the brown rice gives a nice nuttiness and texture to the dish. I simply soak my brown rice overnight so they then can both be cooked together. By all means just use one or the other if you prefer though. Just note that if you decide to cook only brown rice without pre-soaking, the cooking time and water would need to be adjusted, so follow the directions on the packet. The cabbage salad is best prepared using a mandolin, it makes shredding and slicing the vegetables so easy and quick, but alternatively of course just using a kitchen knife is fine too. Just be sure to dress the salad just before serving to keep it nice and crisp.
Photo – Nori Nishimura.
Photo – Nori Nishimura + Julia Busuttil Nishimura.
Photo – Nori Nishimura + Julia Busuttil Nishimura.
