This rice bowl is both filling and incredibly tasty. It can easily be made vegetarian if desired.
The recipe below is intended for roughly 4 servings.
Asparagus Rice Bowls, with Poached Eggs, Scallions, Bacon Buttermilk Aioli, & Parmesan Crisps
This rice bowl is both filling and incredibly tasty. It can easily be made vegetarian if desired. The recipe below is intended for roughly 4 servings.
Ingredients
For the Rice:
- 1 cup white basmati or other long-grain rice
- 1.25 cups water
- 1 Tbsp salted butter
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 8 cilantro sprigs (washed and dried and finely sliced)
For the Bacon Buttermilk Aioli:
- 4 slices bacon (cooked to very lightly crispy, minced)
- 1 cup sunflower oil
- 1 whole egg
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ clove garlic (roughly chopped)
- Juice of ¾ lemon
- 3 Tbsp buttermilk
- ¼ tsp salt (to taste)
For the Parmesan Crisps:
- 3 oz real parmesan cheese (finely grated)
- 1/8 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
For the Other Rice Bowl Components
- ½ red onion (cut into 1/8” slices)
- ¼ jalapeno (finely sliced)
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1 bunch green asparagus
- 2 Tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
- 4 eggs (soft-poached and reserved in water)
- 4 scallions (finely sliced)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves (washed and dried, as garnish)
Instructions
For the Rice:
- Rinse rice under cold water for 5-7 minutes, or until the water runs clear.
- Bring rice and water and butter and salt to a simmer, then reduce heat to low
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid.
- Allow to cook for 15-16 minutes, and then remove from the heat.
- Remove lid, add cilantro, and use a fork to gently fluff the rice, creating space between the grains by lifting them gently without stirring them.
- Place lid back on rice and leave covered until you are ready to assemble your rice bowls.
For the Bacon Buttermilk Aioli:
- Cook bacon until it is crispy and golden brown and then reserve on paper towels.
- Combine sunflower oil, an egg, Dijon mustard, ½ of a clove of garlic, the juice of ¾ lemon, and ¼ tsp salt in a tall and narrow container meant for blending, and blend using an immersion blender until emulsified.
- Finely mince the bacon.
- Mix in the minced bacon to the aioli and stir in the buttermilk.
- Taste bacon buttermilk aioli and adjust for acidity and salt.
For the Parmesan Crisps:
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Finely grate parmesan cheese.
- Place parm in 1.5 Tbsp mounds onto a sheet tray lined with parchment.
- Gently spread the 1.5 Tbsp mounds into thin circles on the parchment paper, as thin as crepes (very thin).
- Bake in the oven at 400F for 7-9 minutes, or until parmesan crisps are lightly golden brown.
- Remove from oven, and add some freshly-ground black pepper to the top of the hot parmesan crisps.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Carefully use a fish spatula or thin spatula to remove the crisps from the parchment.
For the Other Rice Bowl Components:
- Combine the sliced onion, sliced jalapeno, lime zest, lime juice, and 1/8 tsp kosher salt (very small pinch)
- Allow to sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining rice bowl components.
- Cook asparagus on high heat in the sunflower seed in a large saute pan.
- Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Soft-poach 4 eggs and reserve in water.
- Finely dice your scallions and cilantro leaves.
- Cut the cooked asparagus.
- Now that all of the components are ready, gently toss the asparagus, onions, and jalapenos in a small amount of the bacon buttermilk aioli.
- Assemble the bowls with some cilantro rice on the bottom, topped with the vegetables, poached eggs, finely sliced scallions, fresh cilantro, and finish with the parmesan crisps.
- Add more bacon buttermilk aioli, if desired.
Notes
These bowls are best eaten on the same day all the ingredients are first prepared.