The Briny Lemon: Japanese Nori-Fried Rice

The sea vegetable called “nori” is typically used to make sushi rolls and is sold in ultra-thin sheets that wrap around a filling and make tightly compact rolls. But this nutritious, briny veggie is also used as a tasty, healthful ingredient in main courses such as soups, salads, and rice dishes, as here.

Nori Sheets

The nori sheets are very soft and pliable, so they need to be baked if you want a crisper, crumbly texture, which I did for the stir-fried rice. And it’s very easy to do—lay the sheets on a pan, brush with oil, and bake 12-13 minutes until they begin to dry and wrinkle. Let them cool (they’ll continue to crisp as they cool), then they’re ready to crumble.

The rice makes a hearty side dish, or a flavorful lunch all by itself.

To use nori for sushi rolls, check out Smoked Salmon Nori Rolls with Wasabi Sauce.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 nori sheets
toasted sesame oil, for brushing
sea salt
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
3 cups cooked sushi rice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 large hardboiled egg
1/2 cup shredded peeled carrot
1/2 tsp dried red chile flakes
1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a shallow baking pan with parchment paper.
Lay the nori sheets on the baking pan and brush with sesame oil. Sprinkle generously with sea salt.
Bake until the nori becomes dry and crispy, 12-13 minutes. Remove and let cool. When cool enough to handle crumble each sheet into coarse pieces.

Brush with Oil and Season with Salt

Baked Nori

Crumbled Nori

Heat a wok over medium-high heat and add the peanut oil. Add the white parts of the scallions, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry 2 minutes.
Add the cooked rice, sake, and soy sauce and stir-fry 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the crumbled nori, green parts of the scallions, chopped egg, shredded carrot, chile flakes, and sesame seeds.