Black rice & edamame bowl with bo-bun sauce
Here’s savory rice bowl to put together for an easy dinner. Black rice & edamame have a lovely dense texture next to soft avocado and some crunchy peanuts. Top with an egg or, really, whatever protein you’re feeling like, to complete the meal. A Vietnamese bo-bun sauce and a sprinkle of fresh herbs give the finishing touches. We really enjoyed this black and green bowl at our house. I hope you do, too!
Tips for making your black rice & edamame bowl easy and tasty
- Use frozen, shelled edamame. If you have to take the edamame out of their pods, the recipe takes a lot longer. When I first made this recipe, in the pod was all I could find at my local grocery store here in France. Popping the cooked beans out took forever. Several months later they started to carry pre-shelled. Oof!
- Black rice, also called forbidden rice, can take a long time to cook depending on what brand you buy. I have purchased a couple different brands here: one that cooked for 55 minutes and another that cooked for 18 minutes. Both were delicious, but just something to keep an eye on depending on your preference! Note: black rice is not the same as wild rice.
- This salad tastes best warm, not piping hot, in my opinion. Hot rice and edamame will heat up the avocado too much if you mix it in to the salad. If you add a protein such as an egg, though, that part tastes best hot! 😉
Making ahead
- Parts of this black rice & edamame bowl can be made ahead of time. You could cook the edamame, mix up the dressing, and prep the peanuts and herbs ahead of time, no problem.
- The rice is best served soon after cooking (that is, not refrigerated and warmed back up) to keep a nice texture. Refrigerated rice is notorious for going hard (starch retrogradation at work, just like stale bread). Yes, you can mostly bring refrigerated rice back to life by microwaving with a bit of water, but it’s still best fresh if you ask me.
What is black rice?
Also called forbidden rice, or even purple rice, it’s still rice. It’s just black because it has such a high anthocyanin content (like grapes, blueberries or black beans), which is supposed to make this a very healthy rice option, along with its higher fiber content. It has a lovely nutty flavor and a firm, chewy texture. The “forbidden” moniker comes from claims that it was only for Chinese royalty once upon a time. Its low yield versus white rice and its rarity in nature could explain its exclusivity in ancient China.
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If this black rice & edamame bowl sounds tasty to you, you might also be interested in trying these Asian sesame chili noodles ou ce golden caramelized tofu (great in a stir fry or for topping this rice bowl!).
Black rice & edamame bowl with bo-bun sauce
Ingrédients
- 130 g ⅔ cup black rice (also called forbidden rice), dry
- 190 g 1 ½ c shelled edamame (frozen works great)
- 1 large avocado
Sauce
- 1 c. à café fish sauce (nuoc mam)
- 1 c. à café sauce soja
- 1 c. à café jus de citron vert
- 4 c. à café vinaigre de riz
- 2 c. à café eau
- 1 gousse d'ail hachées
- ½ c. à café sriracha sauce ou au goût
Toppings
- 10 g cilantro leaves & small stems
- 5 g mint leaves
- 3 c. à soupe toasted, salted peanuts
Instructions
- Cuire le riz : Bring 275 ml (1 cup + 3 tbsp) water with ¼ tsp salt to boil in a small pot. Add the rice, and simmer, covered, for the time indicated on the package (cooking times can vary widely depending on the brand).
- Cook the edamame: In a large pot, bring some water to boil. Cook the edamame for 3 minutes or until tender with a bite, but not soft. Drain once cooked.
- Mélanger la sauce : Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Assembler : Mix the cooked rice and edamame in a large bowl with the sauce. Let cool a little while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Hacher : Chop the avocado into bite-sized cubes, roughly the size of the edamame or a little smaller is good. Chop the cilantro and mint. If desired, chop the peanuts. You can also prepare a protein, such as a fried egg, at this time.
- Finish assembling: Mix the avocado into the salad. If adding chopped meat or tofu, mix it in, too. Top the salad with the herbs and peanuts. If making a fried egg, put it on top.