We cook Asian vegetable rice at two levels: rice in the simmering basket, vegetables in the Varoma. The rice needs 20 minutes at 100°C, the vegetables only 10 minutes of steam. If you start both at the same time from the beginning, the carrots turn mushy.
We make this rice when we need something vegetarian on the table quickly. The dish works because the Thermomix® uses two cooking levels at once: below, the rice cooks in vegetable stock; above, the vegetables steam gently in the Varoma. The flavour sauce of ginger, garlic and soy sauce is prepared in the empty mixing bowl afterwards and brings everything together at the end.
Vegetarian Asian Vegetable Rice with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 18 ✓
- 200 g white cabbage
- 100 g carrot
- 150 g pepper
- 200 g mushrooms
- 400 g rice
- 1000 g vegetable stock
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10 g ginger
- 1 onion
- 50 g celeriac
- 40 g olive oil
- 175 g beansprouts from a jar, drained
- 90 g light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Instructions 0 / 9
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1
Prepare the vegetables.
White cabbage: wash and cut into thin strips. Carrots: wash and cut into strips about 3 mm thick. Pepper: wash, remove the seeds and cut into strips about 5 mm wide. Mushrooms: clean and slice about 3 mm thick. Place everything in the Varoma tray and set aside.
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2
Rinse the rice.
Weigh the rice into the simmering basket and rinse thoroughly under cold running water.
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3
Cook the rice.
Add the stock to the mixing bowl, insert the simmering basket, close the mixing bowl lid and cook for 10 min / 100°C / speed 1.
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4
Continue cooking the rice.
Open the mixing bowl lid, stir the rice with the spatula, place the Varoma on top and cook for a further 10 min / Varoma / speed 2.
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5
Prepare the aromatics.
Meanwhile, peel the garlic, peel the ginger, peel and halve the onion, and peel the celeriac and cut it into pieces.
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6
Keep the rice and vegetables warm.
Keep the rice and vegetables warm and empty the mixing bowl.
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7
Chop the aromatics.
Place the garlic, ginger, onion and celeriac in the mixing bowl and chop for 5 sec / speed 6. Add the oil and sweat for 5 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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8
Add all remaining ingredients and cook.
Add the beansprouts, soy sauce, salt, paprika, turmeric, curry powder and chilli sauce and cook for 5 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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9
Serve.
Combine the vegetables, rice and sauce in a large bowl using the spatula and serve immediately.
Nutrition per serving
Why the rice sits in the simmering basket
400 g of rice is weighed into the simmering basket and rinsed under cold running water. This removes the surface starch. Without this step, the rice clumps together afterwards.
The simmering basket sits inside the mixing bowl. 1000 g of vegetable stock heats to 100°C at speed 1. The rice is half-cooked in the first 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the rice with the spatula, then place the Varoma with the vegetables on top. The second 10 minutes cook at Varoma temperature at speed 2. During this phase the rice absorbs the remaining stock and becomes fluffy.
If you add the rice directly to the stock, you get rice porridge. The simmering basket keeps it above the boiling liquid while still letting enough steam through.
Vegetables cut separately
White cabbage, carrots, pepper and mushrooms are cut by hand. The cabbage into thin strips, the carrots into 3 mm thick strips, the pepper into 5 mm wide strips, the mushrooms into 3 mm thick slices. These cuts give a uniform cooking time of 10 minutes in the Varoma.
The vegetables go into the Varoma tray. Spread out flat, the steam reaches them from all sides. If you stack the vegetables or place them in a bowl, you get uneven results: still raw on top, already soft on the bottom.
Flavour sauce from the empty mixing bowl
After cooking, the rice and vegetables are kept warm and the mixing bowl is emptied. 2 garlic cloves, 10 g ginger, 1 onion and 50 g celeriac go into the dry mixing bowl and are chopped for 5 seconds at speed 6. Then add 40 g olive oil and sweat for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature at speed 1.
The flavour sauce comes together now: add 175 g beansprouts, 90 g light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp hot smoked paprika, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp curry powder and 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce. Cook for 5 minutes at 100°C in reverse direction at speed 1. The reverse direction prevents the beansprouts from being chopped up.
Finally, combine everything in a large bowl: vegetables, rice and flavour sauce. The rice absorbs the sauce and the vegetables stay firm to the bite.
Two levels is faster than cooking in sequence
The total cooking time is 20 minutes. If we cooked the rice and vegetables one after the other, we would need 30 minutes. The Varoma uses the steam produced while the rice is cooking. Without the Varoma, that steam would simply escape unused.
The recipe also works with other vegetables. Broccoli, courgette or pak choi all work well. Keep the cut size at 3 to 5 mm so the cooking time stays on track.
Leftovers the next day
The Asian vegetable rice keeps in the fridge for 2 days in a sealed container. Reheat in the microwave at 600 W for 3 minutes. Freezing does not work well as the vegetables turn mushy when defrosted.
Also try our guide to cooking rice in the Thermomix®, our Thermomix® rice pudding or our vegan fruit ice cream made with the Thermomix®.
