Asian Style Risotto
This one genuinely surprised us the first time we made it. We took everything we love about a classic risotto, the slow stirring, the creamy texture, and threw in all the bold flavours of Asian cooking: ginger, chilli, shiitake mushrooms, cashews, coriander. The result is something really special. It's rich and comforting but with this bright, zingy kick that keeps you going back for another spoonful. Make this on a night when you want to cook something that feels a bit impressive but is honestly just deeply satisfying.
Before You Start
- Medium saucepan
- Large stock pot
- Microplane or fine grater
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 8 spring onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5cm ginger fresh
- 1 green chilli
- 50g cashews
- small bunch of coriander
- 250g Shiitake mushrooms
- 200g pak choi
- 500ml vegetable stock - mixed with 500m boiling water
- 200g tenderstem broccoli
- 1 lime
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 225g risotto rice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 100g frozen peas
Method
First, prep your ingredients
- Trim and thinly slice the spring onions
- Peel and grate the garlic
- Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then grate it
- Rip the stem from the chilli, cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds (if you like), then finely chop
- Roughly chop the cashews
- Pick the coriander leaves and finely chop the stems
- Roughly chop the shiitake mushrooms
- Trim and finely dice the white part of the pak choi and roughly shred the green part
- Heat the stock and water in the medium saucepan and keep over a low heat
- Trim and finely dice the broccoli stalks, keeping the florets whole
- Cut the lime into wedges
Warm both the oils over a medium heat in the large stock pot
- Add three-quarters of the spring onions, the garlic, ginger, chilli and coriander stems and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes
- Add the chopped cashews and white miso paste and stir for 1 minute
- Add the shiitake mushrooms and stir for 2 minutes
- Add the white shreds of pak choi and stir for 1 minute
- Add the risotto rice and stir for 1 minute
Add 200ml of the hot stock to the stock pot
- Stir continuously until all the liquid has been absorbed
- Repeat this process three more times until you’re left with 200ml stock
- Add the stalks of the broccoli after the rice has been cooking for 10 minutes
- Add the remaining pak choi, peas or edamame, and Tenderstem broccoli florets and fold them into the risotto for 30 seconds
- Add the remaining stock and the soy sauce and stir until the liquid has been absorbed and the risotto has a creamy consistency
- The rice should take about 20 minutes to cook – the grains should be tender but still with a little bite
Add half of the coriander leaves
- Half the remaining spring onions to the risotto and fold them in
- Taste the risotto and season to perfection with salt and pepper (and more soy sauce if you wish)
- Plate up the risotto, top with the remaining coriander leaves and spring onions and serve immediately, with lime wedges
Tips & Variations
- Keep stirring: We know it's tempting to walk away but this one needs your attention. Regular stirring is what gives you that beautiful creamy texture, so stick with it. Put a podcast on, enjoy the process.
- Toast your cashews: Henry always toasts the cashews in a dry pan for a couple of minutes before adding them on top. Honestly makes such a difference to the flavour. Don't skip this.
- Adjust the chilli: Ian likes this pretty spicy so he keeps the seeds in. If you're cooking for people who don't love heat, take the seeds out and you'll get all the flavour without the fire.
Why This Works
The trick is building the base properly with the spring onions, garlic, ginger and chilli before anything else goes in. That's where all the flavour lives. The shiitake mushrooms bring this lovely umami depth that makes the whole thing feel really rounded and hearty, and the cashews on top add a crunch that just lifts it completely.