Meiya Sidney / Daily Nexus

The year of 2020 was a time for five-minute recipes, microwave mug cakes and easy, to-the-point recipes that require few ingredients and little time in order to create a robust, satisfying meal; people had bigger worries on their mind than their daily sustenance. As college students, we find ourselves dipping in and out of this mode of life, scarfing down scalding instant ramen and cold fries from Wingstop. We leave behind trash cans full of frozen food packaging with a paper and two quizzes due at 11:59 p.m. and no time to spare. On my busiest nights, I have found this seaweed and Sriracha rice recipe to provide the comfort and warmth I discovered in quarantine.

As it goes for some beloved recipes, mine was both unintentional and unexpected, a successful dressing up of leftovers from the fridge. Nudged out of bed by my grumbling stomach at an ungodly hour, I found myself in the harsh glow of my fridge with just some takeout white rice. I warmed up the rice, threw in a mix of some dressings I found in the fridge door and added in the other half of a small pack of roasted seaweed that I had been snacking on. The rest is history. Below is the curated, latest version of my favorite, and only, recipe I’ve ever concocted. 

Seaweed & Sriracha Rice 

Yield: 1 serving

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup white rice 
• 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce (preferably low sodium)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons Sriracha
• 1 pack of roasted seaweed (or nori, if available)
• 1 egg, sunny-side-up (butter or oil to prepare, however you like it)
• A pinch of salt and pepper
• Optional: toasted sesame seeds

Directions: 

1. Prepare rice as desired.
2. Add soy sauce, Sriracha and sesame oil to the rice and mix well. 
3. While the rice is warm, add seaweed and mix in thoroughly.
4. Prepare a sunny-side-up egg (I prefer mine with a golden, runny yolk and crispy fried edges).
5. Place the sunny-side-up egg on top of the rice and season with salt and pepper.
6. If desired, garnish with additional seaweed (crumble into smaller pieces) and toasted sesame seeds.
7. Enjoy!

If any line from a Pixar movie has stuck with our generation, it’s this one: “Anyone can cook” — especially this recipe! As long as you aren’t the one-in-a-million people who can somehow burn water, this recipe can be made with ease, little-to-no mess and right in your dorm! The ingredients also don’t lend themselves to exorbitant pricing, and a simple trip to Trader Joe’s should do the trick. Most importantly, this recipe itself is open to interpretation. You should make it your own: See what leftovers you may have, gather any different sauces or garnishes you particularly enjoy and try adding them together. You’ll be surprised by what can dress up a rice-based dish as simple as this one. I recommend pulling out this recipe on an idle rainy day when you’re stuck in the dorm with nothing to do but snuggle in a blanket and watch your favorite show. That’s when I find it most delicious. 

A version of this article appeared on p. 12 of the May 11, 2023 version of the Daily Nexus.