This forbidden rice bowl with bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, crispy vegetables and sesame-ginger sauce is all you need for an easy, healthy and filling vegetarian dinner. Buddha bowl, nourish bowl or macro bowl, call it whatever you want (I don’t know the difference), meals in a bowl are where it’s at!
If you’re reading this recipe then welcome to the very first recipe ever published on The Stingy Vegan! I’m really excited to be starting this new project and if you’ve never been here before I invite you to check out my about me page to find out a little about who I am and why I’m The Stingy Vegan.
Meals in a bowl are a great way to use up any leftovers you’ve got kicking around in your fridge. This forbidden rice bowl recipe came about as a way to use up the leftovers from a KILLER vegan pho I made on the weekend.
Bok choy, carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage and shiitake mushrooms are all my favorite pho ingredients which here I’ve repurposed into a Buddha bowl by simply swapping the rice noodles for forbidden rice.
But let me tell you, the dressing is where it’s at!!! Everything is tied together with an uber flavourful sesame-ginger sauce that’s super simple to put together.
Simply mince a chunk of ginger and a clove of garlic and stir it into some tahini with soy sauce, rice vinegar and a good couple teaspoons of chili paste for a spicy kick. It’s sooooo good!
If you can’t get black rice, or if it’s too expensive, then feel free to replace it with brown or even just plain white rice. If you’ve got the rice leftover from something else the night before then these forbidden rice bowls come together in about 15 minutes. Just chop some veggies, steam the bok choy, fry the mushrooms and mix up the sauce. Easy peasy!
Got leftovers? Use them in these recipes:
Cabbage, carrots: Raw vegan noodles salad ; Thai Buddha bowl with peanut red curry sauce
Tahini: Chickpea avocado salad
Sesame-Ginger Forbidden Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 150 grams (5.25 oz) shiitake mushrooms - $2.15
- 3 ½ tablespoons soy sauce or tamari divided - $0.18
- 2 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar divided - $0.27
- 1 teaspoon sugar - $0.02
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil - $0.11
- 2 baby bok choy sliced in half lengthwise - $0.54
- 1 medium carrot in matchsticks - $0.06
- ¼ of a small cabbage shredded - $0.57
- 50 grams (1.8 oz) bean sprouts - $0.25
- 6 tablespoons tahini - $0.90
- 6 tablespoons warm water - $0.00
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek or sriracha - $0.27
- 30 gram (1 oz) chunk of ginger peeled and minced (about 2 ½ tablespoons) - $0.15
- 1 clove of garlic minced - $0.08
- 3 cups cooked forbidden rice from 1 cup dried - $0.70
- 1 green onion sliced (optional) - $0.10
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds optional - $0.07
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and place them gill side up in a dish. In a small bowl mix together 2 tablespoons soy sauce, ½ tablespoon rice vinegar, the sugar and the sesame oil. Pour this marinade into the mushroom caps and leave to marinade while you prepare the veggies.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Place the bok choy sliced side down and sear until just browned. Add a tablespoon or two of water to the pan and cover. Allow the bok choy to steam for a couple of minutes until bright green and the stems are tender.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by mixing together until smooth the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, tahini, warm water, sambal, ginger and garlic.
- Toss the mushrooms to coat in the marinade and pour out any residual water from the pan you used to cook the bok choy. Sear the mushrooms for a few minutes on both sides until brown and crispy. Pour a bit of the remaining marinade over them as you fry them.
- Finally, divide the forbidden rice between two bowls and top with the vegetables. Garnish with some sliced green onions and sesame seeds, if desired, and serve with the sesame-ginger sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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Dawn Gilbert says
This sounds so good. How does it store. I'm the only vegetarian in the house and wonder if I could make this ahead for lunch. Thanks!
Melissa says
Everything will keep well in an airtight container. The rice might get a bit dryer after a couple of days but with the sauce on top it should be alright.
Natasha says
I had to make a few tweaks because we live in Germany and some ingredients are hard to find off-season but it was incredible! Thanks.
Lyndsay Wells says
This is a FABULOUS recipe! I'm making it again tonight. Thank you so much. Love your site.
WINIFRED PITTMAN says
I love Asian influence. Mouth is just watering, can't wait to try
Thera says
Made this last night and I had to force myself not to eat all of it in one sitting. The sauce was sooooo goood!!! I didn't have any tahini on hand so I used peanut butter. I can't wait to make it again! Thank you for sharing.
Amy says
I only made the sesame ginger sauce from this recipe (so that is all I am rating) and it was 5 stars. I definitely did not use 6 T of tahini, maybe two heaping T. Added extra fresh garlic and fresh ginger and this is my new favorite sauce. I served it over white rice with sauteed bok choy, broccolini, wilted greens and tofu cubes. Yum!