15 May 2012

Miso and Vegetable Curry with Jasmine Rice

Last night, I was feeling rather tired and rushed with an editing project that needed to be finished sooner rather than later. Normally when that happens, it's my cue to break out the delivery websites or start making instant mashed potatoes. Last night, though, neither of those options sounded particularly good, so instead I took to the web to try to find something... and sadly, still, nothing sounded good.

Susan Voison's Thai Green Curry with Vegetables and Tofu sounded the best of everything, though I lacked a few most of the ingredients to make it. So I did what I do and improvised. In this case, I improvised a lot, enough that I feel comfortable calling this one of my own.

It was an overwhelming success in my house, as well as a surprise hit on Facebook. It will be a repeater.

Miso and Vegetable Curry with Jasmine Rice

A recipe from Kat

Ingredients


  • 1 tsp of sesame oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 cup of vegetable stock
  • 6 spears of fresh asparagus, woody ends removed and chopped small
  • 1 cup of fresh broccoli, florets only, chopped small
  • 8 oz of tofu, chopped small
  • 2 cups of soy milk or almond milk or coconut milk (I used light unflavored soy milk)
  • 1-2 Tbsp of reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 Tbsp of white miso paste
  • 1 cup of uncooked white jasmine rice
  • 1.25 cups of water (for rice)
  • Gomashio to taste (see note below)
  • Black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat sesame oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onions. Cook until tender. Add garlic. Cook approximately a minute. 
  2. Add vegetable broth to pot. Allow to come to boil and add asparagus, broccoli, and tofu.
  3. Add soy milk and soy sauce. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. In another pot, bring water to a soft boil. Add jasmine rice, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. (My rice was finished by this point, but some may need to cook further or set for 5 minutes to absorb any remaining liquid.)
  5. Add some liquid from vegetable mixture to miso paste. Stir until it reaches a creamy consistency. Remove the vegetable mixture from the heat and add miso into the pot.
  6. Serve miso curry over rice with gomashio on top to taste.

Gomashio

Gomashio is a Japanese condiment sometimes served with various rice dishes. It can be difficult to find in grocery stores, so if you cannot find it, it's very easy to make.

Take toasted sesame seeds and salt (or your salt substitute of choice--I used a mixture of salt and kelp). A good ratio is 5:1 (5 parts sesame seeds to 1 part salt), though it can go as high as 15:1. Grind them together with a mortar and pestle. Serve over the rice and curry.