Throughout my home-cooking career, I admittedly haven’t ventured too deep in Eastern culinary traditions. For one, cheese is nowhere to be found in Asian foods…🤔 But honestly, the barrier is by no means dislike. I’d eat at my favorite childhood Hibachi restaurant until my stomach exploded. What has held me back in the kitchen is simply intimidation with unfamiliar ingredients…and reluctance to buy 34 new bottled sauces that I may only use in one recipe.
However, over the years I have gradually expanded my repertoire and come to adopt the ingredients I find most valuable. Soy sauce, jarred ginger, rice wine vinegar, and most recently hoisin sauce have all risen up as staples. Add those to universal ingredients like orange juice, honey, garlic, cornstarch, and neutral oil, and we’ve achieved mind-blowing Asian-inspired yumminess. (Also, could you guess the source of sesame seeds in the picture? That is indeed Everything But the Bagel Seasoning. Please don’t tell. Resourcefulness is what it is.)
While your rice is cooking separately (whatever kind gets you going), the vegetable, shrimp/chicken, and sauce can all be done in one skillet. Start by sautéing the veggie (green beans, snap peas, broccoli or broccolini, asparagus…) on medium-high heat until blistered and tender. Add minced fresh garlic toward the end and finish with sea salt, black pepper, and a splash of lemon juice. Transfer to the bowls. Then, in the same pan (yay for minimal clean-up!), sauté the chopped shrimp or chicken, which is done in just a few minutes. Remove from heat, and all you have to do is pour the sauce on top, watch the magic, and give a stir.
Onto a fluffy bed of rice it goes…
Again, equally wonderful with chicken and other vegetables like snap peas. Chives and green onion are also perfect toppers. (But just so we’re clear, do not substitute any species of cat, bat, camel, or pangolin…)
Sticky Hoisin-Glazed {Shrimp or Chicken} and Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (or 2 servings) uncooked rice (I use 30-minute brown rice)
- 1 cup low-sodium broth (or amount of liquid indicated for rice)
- 2 tsp high-heat oil (such as almond or avocado oil)
- 6 oz broccoli, broccolini, snap peas, or French green beans
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- squeeze fresh lemon juice
- 7-8 oz raw shrimp or raw chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- sprinkle black pepper
- sesame seeds or chopped scallion/chives/green onion, for serving
For the sauce:
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger (jarred is fine)
- 1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 3/4 tsp cornstarch
- 1.5 Tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp honey
Instructions
- Cook rice in broth according to package instructions. When finished, divide between 2 bowls.
- While the rice is cooking, whisk the sauce ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup until there are no lumps. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add veggies and sauté until blistered and just tender. Add a splash of water or broth as needed during cooking. Stir in about 1/2 tsp garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add a splash of lemon juice, sea salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to bowls alongside rice.
- Heat the remaining 1 tsp oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken or shrimp with a pinch black pepper. Allow about 2 minutes to sear before turning, then finish sautéing a couple minutes, or until just cooked through (shrimp opaque, chicken not pink in the center).
- Remove the pan from heat, then immediately pour the sauce over the shrimp/chicken in the pan. Allow to bubble several seconds, then stir to coat the shrimp/chicken as the sauce thickens. Serve over rice.
- Top with sesame seeds or chopped scallion/chives/greed onion.
