"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Monday, March 17, 2008

First Dinner, Then a Rice Tip

I was in the mood for shrimp tonight and had fresh ginger on hand, so I googled 'shrimp soy sauce fresh ginger' (or something to that effect) and found a recipe called Spring Peas and Shrimp Stir-Fry with Ginger-Soy Glaze that sounded good.

I didn't have any rice vinegar or sesame oil on hand, so I knew that I wouldn't get the full effect of the glaze, but decided that the ginger alone would give me a bit of a tastebud shocker. Instead of peas, I used frozen veggies I had on hand. Frankly, I think my medley was more inspiring than just the peas. I like peas, but I also think that you can't have a soy sauce dish without red peppers!

Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written, which is rare for me. I had so many little bowls of sauces and ingredients on the counters it made me look like a food network chef! I should have taken a picture of that. I actually filled up the dishwasher with this meal alone!

The end result was very good! It was a tad salty (my fault: too much soy sauce and should have nixed the veggie broth), but since I served the shrimp and veggies over very bland rice, the flavour evened out. I'd make this again, but would make it a point to get the rice vinegar to add a bit more sweetness.

Of course, I have a picture. :-) My shrimp look darker than the ones in the picture on the recipe site because I only had regular soy sauce, not light.



And, now, for a rice tip. I got this tip from my grand-mother who also lives alone. I can't believe I never thought to do this and have been eating a lot more rice since I have. We make a big batch of rice (one cup uncooked), eat a portion with our meal for that evening, then freeze the rest in small bowls (I use glass ones and she uses ramekins):



Each one of my bowls has a plastic lid for an airtight seal.

When I want rice, I just dump it out onto my plate and nuke it for 2 minutes. It comes out fluffy and fresh.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I freeze pasta. I simply rinse the cooked pasta a few times in cold running water and drain it thoroughly and then put it in a ziplock bag making sure to let all air escape before I roll it up and seal it.

Rae said...

I'm always disappointed with pasta that's been frozen except for lasagna or manicotti that's baked into a dish. It never tastes as good as fresh. Rice, on the other hand, tastes perfect.

Doesn't running the pasta under cold water affect the taste since it removes all the starch that makes a sauce stick?