from the kitchen: The California Bowl
California roll in a bowl
My first recipe post! I’m so excited to share this easy, delicious, and mostly healthy meal with y’all. It truly ticks off all the boxes.
And an added bonus: I think this one comes off as kinda impressive (to your adorable fiancé who says “I can’t believe you basically made sushi at home!”). I guess using an ingredient that you normally only eat in a restaurant does that trick.
Also, James came up with the awesome name: “It’s all the ingredients of a California ROLL, in a BOWL. Plus that rhymes.” 🙂 LOVE it. Love him!
My cooking attempts in Singapore
When we first moved here and we were in the hotel for a month, I missed cooking and eating at home more than I could have ever imagined. Even with all the delicious noodles out there, eating in restaurants for every single meal got old, fast.
Moving into our new place meant cooking again, which thrilled me, but also brought cooking challenges! Tiny apartment = tiny kitchen. I’m working with limited counter space, no oven, and two burners. One pot meals are my new best friend!
I also don’t have many kitchen items (utensils, cooking vessels, etc) – our “furnished” apartment came with zero, so we stocked up on just the bare minimum basics as we didn’t want to spend much.
The California Bowl
This recipe was perfect for my limitations. It literally took one pot, a cutting board, a sharp knife, and a couple of bowls. If you decide to try this one at home, I hope you find it as easy and enjoyable as we did!
The California Bowl
(serves 2)
You will need:
- 1 small/medium cucumber
- brown rice (enough for 2 cups when cooked – go by the measurements on the box!)
- 1 avocado
- 1 pack imitation crab sticks (NOT the frozen ones! try a japanese grocer)
- sesame seeds
- soy sauce
- mayo
- sriracha sauce
What to do:
- Start preparing your brown rice as per instructions on the box. Make enough for two cups when cooked. Once complete, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside to cool a bit.
- Chop the entire cucumber into small cubes. Once cut, toss the cubes with a splash or two of soy sauce. Set aside.
- Cube the avocado. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Slice the crab sticks into small chunks. They may fall apart on you a little bit – no worries!
- Squeeze two small dollops of mayo into a bowl. Add a few drops of sriracha – more if you like it spicier! Mix completely until the mayo is a nice pinkish peach. (I recommend taste-testing here to see if you need more sriracha or if it needs to be balanced out with a tiny bit more mayo!
- Time to assemble! Grab the two bowls you’ll serve. Start by spreading a cup of brown rice in an even layer at the bottom of each bowl; then add the layer of avocado. Here I added some plain (not the mayo mixture) sriracha drips for extra spice – your call! Next add the layer of soy sauced cucumber, and then the crab stick on top. To top it off, drizzle your sriracha mayo over the crab, and then a sprinkle of sesame seeds to finish.
Ta-da!! Incredibly easy and tastes great, I promise!
One thought on “from the kitchen: The California Bowl”
Yum! Also checked back into the ‘About’ page — ? the update and the travel log. Where do we catch all the Gopro action? Love you! Keep on lovin’ & noodlin’
xoxo
Mom