One-Pot Mushroom and Ginger Rice

I keep a lot of ginger frozen and no matter what the recipe calls for, grate it straight out of the freezer -- no peeling needed. Be sure to put unused parts right back into freezer as it gets mushy if you let it thaw. This solved that whole problem for me, and works like a charm.

Prepared a mash-up of this + Genevieve Ko's Sticky Ginger Rice. Instead of velveting the mushrooms as directed here, I marinated them a bit per this recipe (minus the cornstarch), sauteed them for a few minutes, removed mushrooms and cooked the rice in the same pot. Re-added mushrooms towards the end of cooking. So delicious and comforting. Mushrooms marinated and sauteed in soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and sesame oil is going into my repertoire!

I keep my ginger, unpeeled, covered with sherry in a jar in the fridge. It lasts indefinitely and doesn't get mushy like it does if kept in the freezer. When a recipe calls for slices of ginger, the slices will still have some of the crispness fresh ginger has. And don't tell anyone, but I rarely bother to peel ginger for recipes whether it's to be grated or sliced. Shhhh...

Could someone please explain the point of coating the mushrooms in cornstarch, if they're just being put into the liquid w/the rice? Was a step missed?

How about a poached egg on top?

Edith, see the introductory paragraph for the purpose of the cornstarch.

Trader Joe’s has frozen ginger (as will as garlic) in little cubes very good substitute for fresh

If I could chime in on the Shaoxing wine question: Shaoxing is unique, aged and oxidative rice wine and an essential in Chinese cooking. Avoid the inferior versions that contain salt just as you would avoid the salted "cooking wines" sold at grocery stores. The labels do look similar but the salted ones clearly say so on the front label. A decent bottle is about $20.00 The best substitute is a dry Amontillado sherry (a Fino or sweet sherry will not be the right flavor!)

The cooking time for mushrooms will stay the same, so still add the mushrooms 10-12 minutes before the rice is done, as the recipe says. (Brown rice takes about 30-45 minutes, depending on your rice, so add the mushrooms after 25-35 minutes.) Brown rice can get crispy, but it'll probably be different from crispy white rice.

Shaoxing has a very specific flavor, entirely unlike sake, or anything else, really. The usual substitute if you can't find it is sherry. You can find salted Shaoxing online and in a lot of Chinese markets, so that might be usable as long as you remember to reduce other salty things in the recipe. I visit a local Chinese liquor store every so often to get my supply.

Delicious, but the recipe calls for too few mushrooms for the quantity of rice used.

Reduced to 1 cup of sushi rice and 8 oz of cremini mushrooms for 2 of us with liquid (chicken stock as that was what I had) reduced in proportion to the rice. Everything else cooked as per the recipe, though probably more ginger - how fat is the inch length of ginger? Sprinkled with scallions and furikake (as per a reader's comment) and it was excellent. Plenty of umami flavour and the crispiness of the rice was a nice contrast to the softer rice.

I do the same but actually peel and mince it before adding to the tiny jar with sherry (doesn't really matter what kind). Makes it *so* easy to add a teaspoon of minced ginger to almost anything in nearly a split second.

I liked this basics of this recipe but tweaked it some. Peeled and added a lot more ginger. Grated it rather than sliced it. More than doubled the amount called for in recipe. Grated two large garlic cloves and added to the rice while cooking. Grated long strips of carrots to add color and some sweetness to the rice when added mushrooms. Tried to make sticky rice but no luck. Used a stainless steel pot. I may try one of the suggestions of turning off the stove to let the pot sit for a bit.