Sesame ‘Scallop’ Fried Rice – a plant based scallop gets a taste of the sea with a secret ingredient, and works well with this vibrant and savory vegetable fried rice!
I love a good bowl of fried rice. I have a combination of ingredients that combine to recreate that typical Chinese take-out flavor we love so much – mine is plant based.
While shrimp is a typical fried rice protein, scallops are not. I never liked shrimp much anyway. My scallops have a tangy flavor, and more resemble a scallop in texture and looks:
To mimic a sea flavor that magically transforms heart of palm into scallops, I added arame to the sauté. Arame is a sea vegetable I learned about and used in Mark Reinfeld’s training, and it imparts a savory, umame sea flavor. The dried shiitake is another favorite I like to pair with the arame – the flavors and textures combine well.
Broccoli, spinach and other greens round out the veggie and protein quotient, and sesame oil brings another Asian flavor I love.
Sesame Scallop Fried Rice
egg, dairy and gluten free, vegan
serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced fine
1 can heart of palm, drained
1/3 cup dried arame
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 to 1 1/2 cups snap peas, cut in half
2 cups fresh baby spinach
2-3 trees broccoli, chopped
1/2 box silken tofu
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
4 servings cooked brown rice
1/3 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
vegan / gluten free soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
In large pan or wok over medium heat, warm sesame oil and garlic. Sauté heart of palm, arame, onion, snap peas, spinach, and broccoli until soft.
Whisk silken tofu with turmeric, onion powder and splash soy sauce, add to sautéed veggies. Cook several minutes, stirring often, until the liquid consistency cooks off to solid, tofu will cling to veggies.
Add cooked rice and shiitake, stir to combine. Add soy sauce to taste.
printable recipe:
- 2-3 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced fine
- 1 can heart of palm, drained
- ⅓ cup dried arame
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 to 1½ cups snap peas, cut in half
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2-3 trees broccoli, chopped
- ½ box silken tofu
- ½ tablespoon turmeric
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 4 servings cooked brown rice
- ⅓ cup dried shiitake mushrooms
- vegan / gluten free soy sauce
- In large pan or wok over medium heat, warm sesame oil and garlic. Sauté heart of palm, arame, onion, snap peas, spinach, and broccoli until soft.
- Whisk silken tofu with turmeric, onion powder and splash soy sauce, add to sautéed veggies. Cook several minutes, stirring often, until the liquid consistency cooks off to solid, tofu will cling to veggies.
- Add cooked rice and shiitake, stir to combine. Add soy sauce to taste.
Mayon says
September 17, 2013 at 10:47 amWow am I the only one thinking this is genius ??? Amazing !
Kristina Sloggett says
September 17, 2013 at 12:37 pmthank you 🙂
Cindy says
July 26, 2013 at 9:02 amWhen you say to whisk tofu do you mean to
Make it creamy like a paste? This dish sounds
Great! I love hearts of palm.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 11:24 amhi Cindy! yes, the silken tofu easily turns into a ‘paste’ (I use it here to replace the traditional egg) since it is thinner consistency.
I love hearts of palm too – their tangy flavor pairs well with many things. enjoy!
Kath (My Funny Little Life) says
July 23, 2013 at 8:00 pmI’ve always loved rice, and Asian flavors are my favorites! Currently I’m happily eating tons of rice. My bowls tend to look very similar to yours, but I don’t use oil anymore and also haven’t tried any vegan seafood imitations. I’m not sure what heart of palm is, and I think I’ve never stumbled across it. Your idea to turn it into scallops looks lovely, though.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:32 pmwhy the no oil? palm hearts are the inner core of palm trees (harvesting from multi-stemmed palms does not kill the palm) 🙂 to me, the flavor and texture is similar to an artichoke, tangy!
Kath (My Funny Little Life) says
July 26, 2013 at 3:57 pmSounds really nice!
I’ve started eating a whole-food diet, therefore the no-oil thing. (Oils are refined foods such as white flour.) This is according to the recommendations of T. Colin Campbell, John McDougall, Caldwell Essylston, Neal Barnard, and some others. I actually feel better without them, but I’ve never really bin into fat anyway. I rather use nuts and seeds which contain the healthy fats plus all fibers, protein, and micronutrients. The hubby still likes a little coconut oil for roasting onions and garlic though.
rika@veganmiam.com says
July 22, 2013 at 10:28 pmThanks for sharing one of my favourite and childhood dishes. But “scallops” sound so interesting to the dish! Have you tried adding white pepper and toasted sesame oil to the dish? It’s the key to the best fried rice in Taiwan 😉
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:34 pmI am halfway there, the sesame oil I used was toasted! 🙂 I’ll have to pick up some white pepper, thanks for the tip! 🙂
Kelly says
July 22, 2013 at 7:47 pmAnother one of your recipes I’ve got to try! Looks amazing.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:34 pmwe loved this, Kelly – hope you do too!
Heather @ Better With Veggies says
July 22, 2013 at 5:54 pmWow – seriously!! SO much more creative than me, I love how your brain works. I would have never thought of this. So good!
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:39 pmit was really good, even better than I had hoped! XO
lindsay says
July 22, 2013 at 5:37 pmthat sounds heavenly friend. i love the palm and i ADORE scallops. Perfect combo
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:40 pmthanks, Linds – the texture is there, and I think the flavor is better than a scallop 😉
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
July 22, 2013 at 11:44 amThis is so ridiculouly creative! I would have never thought to go there. Can I borrow your mind one day? 😉
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:41 pmoooh, only if you return it in better working order – the memory loss lately is CUH RAZY. 😉
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
July 26, 2013 at 1:44 pmOhhhh… you don’t want to trust me there. 😉
Lauren @ Oatmeal after Spinning says
July 22, 2013 at 10:01 amOooh – I love this idea (and that we were both on the “seafood” wavelength today). I would NEVER think of cooking hearts of palm like this. In fact, I usually just open up the can and dig in.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:42 pmha, me too! they often end up on salads. I’ve had this idea for a while, so I am happy I finally did it and that it worked well!
happy weekend, friend! XO
Heather (Where's the Beach) says
July 22, 2013 at 5:23 amI never had scallops even when I ate meat. But I see so many shows now where people use them. I’m loving the looks of this. I just need to pick up the arame
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:45 pmHeather you would LOVE arame! unique flavor and SUPER healthy – nutrient rich.
Miz says
July 22, 2013 at 5:19 amahhhh I love me some scallops
and shrimp
Methinks in a previous life I resided in the sea.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:45 pmyes! while my previous life I stayed as far away from it as I could? 🙂 (I am not a swimmer…)
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen says
July 22, 2013 at 4:43 amThank you for showing me that not only CAN you cook hearts of palm, I’m not the only one who finds their texture to be eerily similar to seafood. (I had made a hearts of palm ‘ceviche’ before, but it had so much other stuff in it, I’m not sure the whole seafood concept went through.) This looks wonderful, and I do believe you might have inspired me to go with a particular recipe for next week I’d been mulling over…
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:46 pmYAY, I love to inspire! I look forward to seeing what you’re making! I have wanted to do exactly this for a while now, and I was happy with the result! 🙂
the 3volution of j3nn says
July 22, 2013 at 3:41 amCute scallop makeover. I hear hearts of palm make good pasta substitutes too.
Kristina Sloggett says
July 26, 2013 at 1:51 pmoooh, I am intrigued – and trying to picture this… unraveling them like a noodle maybe? or more like a gnocchi?