Servings: Makes 3 to 4

This makes a delicious side dish or a snack, especially for someone recovering from stomach distress.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked short-grain white rice
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cups water
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ pound snow peas (about 1 ½ cups), strings removed, chopped into ½-inch pieces

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice (place in a bowl, add cold water, swirl the rice aroun with your fingers, then drain; repeat until the water runs clear).
2. Heat the sesame oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and cook for about 1 minute.
3. Add the rice, water, and salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer over low heat until the water is mostly absorbed, 10 to 13 minutes.
4. Add the snow peas and cook, covered, for 2 minutes longer.
5. Let the rice sit, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Themes and Variations

This recipe works well using a rice cooker. Sauté the ginger in a pan and add it to the rice cooker before starting, and follow the manufacturer's instructions for the water-to-rice ratio.

Especially Good For

Soothing the digestion, warding off some types of common cold, warming cold hands and feet.

For those familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Ginger warms the Middle Burner, treats exterior Wind-Cold syndrome,warms the Lungs, and helps eliminate toxicity. Snow peas supplement the qi and nourish Blood.

From the book Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir, and Mika Ono. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2010. www.dacapopresscookbooks.com