Comfort In A Bowl…….Lamb, Peppers, Onions And Rice

>
>
Lately, some chefs, food bloggers and food-writers would like us to believe that a “Rice Bowl” is the latest, newly invented, “IN” thing. Nothing could be further from reality. A rice bowl is a very old, very traditional thing, born out of necessity, at least in many parts of the world.
In all my travels around the globe, the most widespread food staple I encountered was rice. In most places where the majority of the population gets most of their daily nourishment from rice, which is the main food-staple of the land, a large bowl of rice, topped with “stuff”, (aka a “Rice bowl”), will have to do on most days as the single meal available.
The “stuff” can be anything – a single egg, a small amount of vegetables of any type, a tiny bit of animal protein, or just a flavorful, starch-thickened sauce.
I used to live in places where a single chicken wing was a great addition to a rice bowl (Philippines) ; In other places I met families who had to share a single fish head (Indonesia); Places where workers came in on their day off because the rice bowl contained chicken back stew (literally only the backbones),(Grenada); Or rice and beans (literally just rice and beans only), (Jamaica).
Of course, all these rice bowls are interchangeable from one country to another, and to this day can still be found in large parts of the world, where balanced nutrition and a better way of life has not trickled down to the general populace, even in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that to obtain basic nutrition is still a daily struggle for many millions of people around the world, sometimes closer to home as we can and want to imagine, so a basic rice bowl is most appreciated in more places than we want to acknowledge.
I guess you’ve got the idea – a rice bowl can be a lifesaver because it constitutes the only meal of the day and the main source of nutrition.
On the other hand and on a happier note, a rice bowl can be a real culinary delight, as in the dish featured here today.
As with all other rice bowls mentioned above, it consist mostly of rice, topped with simple, filling and tasty “stuff” 🙂
>
Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
>
>
>

>
>
>
Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
>
>
>

: saute 1 ea finely diced onion in 1 tblsp peanut oil until opaque

: add 8 oz ground lamb, break apart all clusters, saute until lamb starts to brown

: add 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 tblsp Thai chili sauce, 1/2 tblsp garlic paste, 1 tblsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp grated ginger and 1 cup of chicken stock, simmer until meat is tender and sauce has reduced to coat the back of a spoon

: meanwhile in another pot, in 1 tblsp peanut oil, saute 1 ea large onion cut in julienne until opaque

: add 1 ea med-size red and green peppers cut into julienne, saute for 1 minute

: add the lamb sauce, simmer 2 minutes, check / adjust seasoning

: in a bowl place steamed rice, top with lamb sauce and, for a bit of crunch, crisp scallions

: Comfort In A Bowl…….Lamb, Peppers, Onions And Rice

: Comfort In A Bowl…….Lamb, Peppers, Onions And Rice

: Comfort In A Bowl…….Lamb, Peppers, Onions And Rice

: Comfort In A Bowl…….Lamb, Peppers, Onions And Rice

>
>
>
>

2 comments

This has more ‘stuff’ than the poorer versions you mentioned. Looks good.
PS I am starting to wonder if you ever make something that does not contain garlic paste 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Hi Stefan,
You noticed 🙂
I used to say (only half-jokingly):
“Garlic goes into everything, except vanilla pudding” 🙂
.
Well, recipes for savory food should in most cases be viewed as guidelines, so if one preferes less garlic or none at all, one should simple follow ones preferences. Same with all other ingredients in a dish.
Pls see below what I wrote about this in the past (I used to NOT include recipes in my posts, which was fine with most folks. Only when some publications requested recipes from ChefsOpinion in order to publish some of my stuff did I start to include recipes for my dishes 🙂
.
https://chefsopinion.org/2012/09/05/about-my-recipes/
.

“Dear Friend‘s,

Here is my answer to a question some of my new readers have once in a while :

“I love the dish! But where is the recipe ?”

To answer those questions :
The ingredient’s (except most standard seasonings) are usually pictured in the first (the Prep) picture..
The idea is to have you add as much / little of one ingredient as you like :
Don’t like much garlic? Add less! Love garlic? Add more.
In savory cooking, recipes are usually just guidelines, which you should interprete
according to your taste , preferences and availability. (Don’t like butter? Use olive oil !
Don’t like butter nor olive oil? Use Canola oil or peanut oil or whatever fat you like !
Prefer your soup / sauce thicker or thinner ? Add more or less thickener !
Don’t want fat in your food? Leave it out!
Most reader like this format, especially the once who have fallen on their butt
by following “EXACT” recipes to the dot, just to find out they usually don’t work or don’t give you the pictured result 😦

And yes, many of my recipes have the approximate amounts printed 🙂

So please remember :
To truly learn a dish, one must understand what the temperature, moisture and time does to the ingredients. (Among many other things).

To quote Alton Brown:
“A home cook who relies too much on a recipe is sort of like a pilot who reads the plane’s instruction manual while flying.”
– Alton Brown

Cooking is a labor of love.
Do what makes you happy, as long as you understand the guidelines. 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !”

LikeLike