JERK DIRTY RICE
My first time having fried jerk mushrooms was at my parents' house. Papa Paige mixed up a jerk sauce that was amazing on almost everything, especially fried mushrooms. After letting him know I wanted to create a plant-based food blog, Papa Paige sent his secret Jamaican inspired jerk sauce to recreate jerk fried treats.
While I love fried foods, I wanted to do something different. Why not a jerk dirty rice? I haven't eaten dirty rice since before I went plant-based. It's a simple recipe with a twist that I am excited to share with you. Whether as a side dish or main entrée, I hope this recipe makes it into your rotation.
Why Jerk Sauce?
Jerk sauce is packed with spicy scotch bonnet peppers, warm spices, and delicious aromatics. Based in Caribbean cuisine, some might think this sauce is too spicy and might veer away from it. I find the sauce to be more warming than spicy. However, if you have an aversion to spicy food, I would suggest going with a very mild jerk sauce first to see how you like it.
Jerk sauce can be used as a sauce or marinade. In this recipe, I used it as a sauce to coat the tofu. Crumbled tofu is great at soaking up the sauce and adding little punches of spice throughout the rice. Not a fan of tofu? You can also make this with lentils or diced mushrooms.
Let’s get into the Recipe!
The most important part of the recipe is to rinse the rice. Rinsing rice removes surface starch from the rice grains and prevents rice from becoming gummy. Rinse rice until water runs clear. Then set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and rice. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Add water, salt, and vegetable broth base to the saucepan. Bring rice to a boil. Then cover, reduce heat to low, and let cook until water is absorbed.
As the rice is cooking, drain and press the tofu to remove excess water. You can press the tofu by using a tofu press or placing an empty cast-iron skillet on top of the tofu. Let sit for 5 minutes to press out excess water. In a medium pan, crumble the tofu and add chopped onions. Cook until onions are almost fully transparent, and tofu is lightly brown. Add in the jerk sauce and stir until tofu is well coated. Cook to brown tofu more. Feel free to use your favorite jerk sauce in this recipe. Don't have one? I have a few suggestions below.
Once the tofu is done cooking, add in the rice. Stir to incorporate and enjoy!
Just A Suggestion…
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Jerk Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 2 C. jasmine rice
- 3 C. water
- 2 Tsp vegetable broth base
- 2 gloves of garlic – diced
- 1 Tsp vegan butter
- Pinch of salt
- 1 block firm tofu – pressed, drained, crumbled
- ½ sweet onion - diced
- ½ C. jerk sauce
- 1 Tsp salt
- ¼ C. water
Instructions
- Rinse rice in cold water until water runs clear.
- Add vegan butter to pot with garlic and rice. Saute over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add water, broth based and salt. Stir and bring to boil. Once boiling, cover and lower heat to low.
- Simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set rice aside.
- In a medium pan, add crumbled tofu and onion. Saute over medium heat until onion is translucent.
- Add jerk sauce. Stir and cook for 5 minutes until excess sauce is gone.
- Add tofu to rice and mix well. Enjoy!
