From the Kitchen
High-Protein Miso Fried Rice
Shiitake charred hard in sesame oil, then broccoli, miso, and a whole block of tofu folded through rice. One pan, about 27 g of protein a serving, and the lemon and chili crunch at the end are what make it.
Fifteen minutes assumes the rice is already cooked — this is the meal a Sunday rice batch is for.
Let the mushrooms char — they release a lot of water first, and it is tempting to move on while the pan is still steaming. Wait it out. The browning at the edges is where the deep, savory flavor comes from, and the miso builds on top of it rather than doing all the work alone.
Ingredients
The base
- Rice, cookedday-old leftover rice is ideal 300 g
- Broccolifrozen florets, straight from the freezer 300 g
- Shiitake mushrooms, slicedany mushroom works 300 g
- Extra firm tofu, cubeda whole block — Kirkland is what I use 1 block
- Waterall of it goes in with the miso 1/2 cup
Flavor
- Miso pastethis is the umami — start at 2, go to 3 2–3 tbsp
- Soy sauce 2 tbsp
- Sesame oil 1 tsp
- Garlic, minced 6–8 cloves
- Lemonsqueezed over at the end 1
- Chili crunch oilthe Trader Joe's one, to serve to taste
Method
- Heat the oil — sesame oil into a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Garlic and mushrooms — add both and cook, stirring now and then, until the mushrooms have given up their water and are starting to char a little at the edges.
- Broccoli — add it frozen, straight from the bag, and cook a few minutes until it is thawed through and catching some color.
- Miso and tofu — add the miso paste, the tofu, and the whole 1/2 cup of water. The water lets the miso blend in easily instead of sitting in clumps, and it steams the tofu and broccoli while it goes. Let it simmer a few minutes.
- Rice — add the rice and the soy sauce, and mix everything together well.
- Serve hot — squeeze the lemon over the top and finish with a spoonful of chili crunch oil.
Notes
- The 1/2 cup of water is not optional, and it all goes in with the miso. Miso paste is too thick to spread on its own — the water thins it into something that can coat everything, and by the time the rice goes in it has cooked down to a glaze rather than a puddle.
- Miso brands vary a lot in salt. Start with 2 tbsp, taste before the soy sauce goes in, and add the third only if it needs it.
- Press the tofu if you have time, but crumbling it straight in works too — the rough edges hold more of the miso.
- Leftover rice fries; fresh rice steams. If the rice is fresh, spread it out to cool and dry for a few minutes first — and add the time it took to cook it to the 15 minutes.
- About the protein — the block of tofu carries 50 g of it on its own, and the rice, broccoli, mushrooms, and miso bring the pan to roughly 82 g. Split three ways, that is about 27 g a serving. Tofu brands vary, so check your block if you are counting closely.
- Don't skip the lemon. Everything in the pan is salty and savory, and the acid at the end is what keeps it from tasting flat.