The Libertine‘s Sunflower Seed Fried Rice is a warm, slightly nutty protein blast that turns preconceived notions of fluffy fried rice on its head. Raw sunflower seeds get an intense bath in a pressure cooker, then stir-fried like rice. To make this dish vegetarian, we omitted the lop yuk, a house-made Chinese bacon, and replaced the oyster sauce with hoisin. We also diced the carrots and stir-fried them with the seeds instead of garnishing with pickled carrots. (If you want to go the extra mile, tweet me @drlodholz for a simple pickled carrot recipe.)
Sunflower Seed “Fried Rice”
Inspired by a dish from The Libertine‘s Josh Galliano
4 Servings
4 Tbsp. neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, vegetable, etc.)
1 large onion, diced, divided
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 lb. raw sunflower seeds*
½ cup white wine
2 tsp. ginger, minced
1 carrot, diced about ½ cup
1 cup frozen edemame or peas
3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
½ cup scallions (green parts only)
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
• Place a pressure cooker over high heat and coat the bottom with 2 tablespoons oil.
• Once hot, add half the onion and cook, stirring until translucent, about 1 minute. Then add half the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not colored.
• Add the sunflower seeds and stir to coat in the onion and garlic, until the seeds are toasted, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in the white wine and 3 cups water. Lock the lid onto the pressure cooker. When the device reaches 15 pounds per square inch and begins to whistle and hiss, lower heat to medium-high and cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and carefully depressurize by pushing the release valve, taking care to avoid the steam.
• When it is safe to remove the lid, drain the seeds and onion mixture and pour it onto a sheet tray to cool.
• Place a wok or large nonstick pan over high heat and coat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Saute the remaining onion, garlic, ginger and carrots about 1 minute.
• Add the cooled sunflower seeds and frozen edamame and stir-fry a few minutes, until seeds and edamame are warm.
• Stir in the hoisin sauce, then add the scallions and stir 30 seconds.
• Drizzle with the rice wine vinegar, stir to incorporate, remove from heat and serve.
*Raw sunflower seeds are available in bulk at Whole Foods.
This article appears in October 2013.