Vegetable Donburi Over Seasoned Rice Food

TEMPURA DONBURI (RICE BOWLS)

Steps:

• First, prepare the dipping sauce by combining dashi stock, soy sauce, and mirin. We used instant dashi, but if you want to make it yourself, we have detailed instructions in our Miso Soup recipe. At this point, you can also cook the rice you'll serve with the tempura.
• Next, prepare the vegetables, making sure everything is washed and trimmed. Nothing should be too wet ahead of frying, so if needed, pat the vegetables with a kitchen towel or let them sit at room temperature to dry off while you prep everything else.
• Score the shrimp with a sharp knife so that they can lay flat (you can do this lightly if you don't mind them retaining some of their curved shape). Refrigerate the shrimp until you're ready to fry.
• Next, make the batter. Stir together the ice water, cake flour, and egg yolks. No need to get rid of all the lumps-in fact, take care not to overmix it. Pop it in the refrigerator while you heat the frying oil.
• In a small deep pot, heat enough oil to fill it about halfway, over medium-high heat. While that's happening, set up a wire rack over a sheet pan or a platter lined with paper towels. When a drop of the batter sizzles vigorously but doesn't brown too quickly, you're ready to go.
• To fry, swirl one piece of vegetable or shrimp in the batter (for the shrimp, hold it by the tail), and lower it gently into the batter. Fry everything in batches of 3-4 items for 45-90 seconds, turning each item 3-4 times. When the vegetables are lightly golden and the shrimp are lightly golden, orange, and floating, it's ready to be transferred to the wire rack.
• Adjust the heat as needed between batches as you add cold food to the oil. The oil should be hot enough that it doesn't take too long to cook the tempura, but not so hot that the food immediately turns golden when it hits the oil.
• To assemble the tempura donburi bowls, spoon a base of steamed rice into each bowl. Top with with vegetables and a few shrimp per bowl. Serve with the dipping sauce, grated daikon (optional), and perhaps a bowl of miso soup!

VEGETABLE DONBURI OVER SEASONED RICE

Steps:

• Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand.
• Bring 2 cups water and broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in miso, soy sauce, and sugar. Add mushrooms, ginger, and garlic; reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Stir in carrot and onions; cook 2 minutes.
• Whisk egg whites and egg in a small bowl. Gently pour egg mixture into broth mixture (do not stir); cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; gently stir.
• Spoon 1 cup of rice into each of 6 large soup bowls. Ladle 1 cup of the broth mixture evenly over rice.

VEGETABLE-EGG DONBURI

Steps:

• Place rice and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Set saucepan over high heat; bring water to a boil. Cover saucepan, and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cook rice until water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, and set rice aside, covered, until ready to serve.
• In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together whole eggs, egg whites, and black pepper. Set the egg mixture aside.
• Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, spray skillet with olive-oil cooking spray. Add mushrooms; saute until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the snow peas, carrot, and all scallions to the skillet. Cook until snow peas turn bright green in color, about 1 minute.
• Add the vegetable stock, ginger, and soy sauce to the skillet. Cook until the liquid has been reduced by half, about 6 minutes. Gently pour in the reserved egg mixture without stirring. Cover the skillet, and cook until eggs have just set, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Divide the rice among 4 soup plates or soup bowls. Divide omelet into 4 servings; spoon omelet and any remaining broth over the rice. Garnish with radish sprouts.