Brown Rice Salad with Avocado

Serves
serves 4
Time
35 minutes

FARIDEH SADEGHIN

Published on May 10, 2015

The staff at Huka Lodge in New Zealand used to serve this simple dish for lunch when I worked there as a chef in 2011; I fell in love with it immediately and it's been a regular part of my dinner repertoire since. The combination of crunchy peanuts, creamy avocados, and the sweet bite of ginger make for a dish that's full of complex flavors, yet easy to execute. Serve it on its own or with tofu for a vegetarian meal, or add grilled chicken, fish, or shrimp. —Farideh Sadeghin, test kitchen director

Ingredients

1 cup short grain brown rice
Kosher salt, to taste
3 ¹⁄₂ tbsp. dark soy sauce
3 ¹⁄₂ tbsp. mirin
3 ¹⁄₂ tbsp. sake
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, plus more for garnish
¹⁄₂ cup peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped
¹⁄₄ cup pickled ginger, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4” pieces
Zest and juice of 1 lime

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Instructions

Step 1

Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink; cool to room temperature. (For more information on making the perfect brown rice, check out our recipe.

Step 2

Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a 2-qt saucepan over medium-high; cook until sugar has dissolved, 3-5 minutes. Cool teriyaki sauce slightly.

Step 3

Combine rice, teriyaki sauce, the cilantro, peanuts, ginger, scallions, avocados, cucumber, and zest and juice in a bowl; transfer to a serving platter and garnish with cilantro.