Rice recipes

July 31, 2008 11:20 AM

I love my sister and my sister loves RICE. Do you have any good recipes for her? Asian--Chinese/Korean/Indian/Pakistani/Thai/etc.--recipes preferred. The rice can be prepared any which way--flavoured, fried, with sauce over plain rice, whatever. (Previously).
posted by flibbertigibbet to food & drink (28 comments total)

Congee - especially with meat floss.
posted by spec80 at 11:39 AM on July 31

1 lb. Thinly sliced marinated steak

Marinade for steak:
1/2 c Soy sauce
1 tb Sesame oil
1 ts Sugar
2 ts Toasted sesame seeds
3 Cloves garlic; crushed
2 Scallions; chopped thinly
(Let sit for at least 2 hours in fridge)


Favorite veggies (I use peas, carrots, bean sprouts and a little kimchi)

3 eggs (pre-scrambled)

A large portion of cooked rice (preferable cooked in rice cooker)

1 pkg. of beef seasoning from Ramen package mixed into 1/4 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil (for frying rice)

Cooking oil I'm real crappy with oil measurements, I usually eyeball it. Not too much so it's not saturating the rice, but enough to give a thin coating (for frying rice)

Put oils in frying pan and heat to fry temp. Add rice. Bring to sizzle. Add veggies, and ramen seasoning. I cook it on high heat for a short time, and then leave it on medium-low for awhile (pressed down, so it gets a nice semi-burnt glaze/crust on the bottom)

Add meat and stir.

Slowly add egg mixture. Salt (shouldn't need much what with the ramen seasoning) and Red pepper to taste.

Serve!
posted by Debaser626 at 11:49 AM on July 31

Thanks guys!

One thing my sister and I forgot to mention when we were composing this question... she's a vegetarian. Not a hardcore vegetarian (so she's ok with minute traces of meat), and ok with fish/eggs/etc, but meat chunks are right out.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 11:55 AM on July 31

Have you tried the minimalist approach? I love, love, love, plain white rice with nothing on it but lime juice (to taste, I wet mine pretty well).

When I was younger I was known to to eat plates of this and nothing else.
posted by oddman at 12:04 PM on July 31

Thai basil rice. Spicy.

I'm sorry I don't have a trusted recipe, but lots come up when you Google the above.

Our local Thai joint makes it (4 out of 5 peppers on their heat scale), and we just discovered it this year. Oh God it's so good.

It can be made vegetarian or you can fire shrimp, chicken or pork into it.

I also adore pilau (sp?) rice served with buttered chicken or just about any decent curry.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:11 PM on July 31

I am a big fan of Persian rice dishes, which are all based on boiling the rice until it's half-cooked and then steaming it the rest of the way while the bottom of the ban gets a golden crust called tahdiq (you can also use potatoes, bread, or some other intermediary starch). There are lots of variations, such as adding dill and lima beans during the steam phase, but Persian jeweled rice is something that's a bit more fancy but is definitely delicious.
posted by camcgee at 12:15 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]

Mark Bittman's Minimalist column yesterday was all about rice salads.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:15 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]

Persian Saffron Rice is entirely awesome.
posted by scruss at 12:16 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]

This can be really good - egg over white rice.

However, I must interject with a small health warning. I've always mistakenly associated rice with health food until my physician pointed out that the reason every Indian man I've ever met over 50 has diabetes and hypertension is their culture's overconsumption of high glycemic index foods like Basmati rice.
posted by Sangermaine at 12:16 PM on July 31

A friend of mine owns a Persian restaurant, this is her Cherry Rice recipe, which is awesome.

Ingredients

5 cups pitted cherries, frozen or fresh

1 cup sugar

4 cups basmati rice

12 cups water

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

4 tablespoons corn oil

3 tablespoons hot water dissolved into 2 tablespoons of oil and a pinch of ground saffron

Garnish

¼ cup almonds, slivered

¼ cup of pistachios, slivered

Instructions

1. Mix the cherries and sugar in a large mixing bowl and set aside overnight allowing the cherries to expel their natural juices.
2. Gently rinse the rice in hot water and set aside for an hour or more.
3. Pour the cherry and sugar mixture into a large Pot and cook the mixture for 45 minutes over medium heat until almost all of the extracted liquid has evaporated.
4. In another pot, boil the rice in 12 cups of water and salt for 6 minutes.
5. Drain the rice and run a stream of cold water through it to remove the starch.
6. Pour the corn oil into the bottom of the pot and alternate layers of rice and cherries in three tiers.
7. Cook the rice covered over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
8. Pour the saffron mixture over the rice. Place a dishtowel or paper towel in between the cover and the pot to prevent the collected moisture on the cover from falling, which makes the rice soggy. Cook for another 15 minutes over medium-low heat.
9. Garnish and serve
posted by mesh gear fox at 12:19 PM on July 31 [3 favorites]

In addition to Thai basil fried rice (yes, very yummy) there's also pineapple fried rice, which isn't spicy and has pineapple in it, which is a bonus. Here's a recipe, although I've had it with chicken and also with no meat.

Does the love extend to wild rice? Because you can do all sorts of stuff with that. Lately I've been enjoying wild rice salad with dried cranberries and almonds.
posted by cabingirl at 12:21 PM on July 31

Chicken biriyani
posted by WizKid at 12:21 PM on July 31

1 cup sushi rice (short grain white)

Wash the rice several times. I use a strainer under running water, washing it until the water running out of the bottom of the rice is clear. Let the rice dry. If you have a rice cooker, put in two cups of water and a tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil (sometimes I uses sesame or peanut oil) and then add the rice. Once the rice is cooked, wait ten or fifteen minutes and then take it all out and put it on a large plate or hangiri. At this point, add a tablespoon of rice vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar and stir this into the rice with a rice paddle. Besides sushi, this can be eaten as a side dish or just on its own!
posted by mattbucher at 12:28 PM on July 31

There's a rice-based dessert from Thailand called Khao Niaw Mamuang that's maybe the most pleasurable thing I've ever put in my mouth. I can't vouch for this recipe, specifically, but it's pretty simple and definitely worth a shot. The one I had came from my favorite Thai place in Portland.

My Dad grew up in Hawaii, where everything is served with a scoop of sticky white rice. His favorite bachelor food involved frying an egg in bacon grease. Don't flip the egg -- use a spoon to pour the grease over the top of the egg to cook it, and you've got to leave the yolk plenty runny. Then put the barely-cooked egg and a couple of strips of bacon over a bed of steaming hot rice, and chop the whole thing up with a knife so everything mixes together -- egg yolk, bacon pieces, etc. Finish with shoyu to taste, and maybe some toasted sesame seeds if you've got someone to impress.

Rice pudding is delicious, too, but highly variable on the recipe. I don't know where my mother's recipe comes from, but naturally it's the best one out there. :)

On preview, I noticed you mention your sister is a vegetarian, so my Dad's bacon/egg/rice cacophony might not be appreciated. On the other hand, every vegetarian I've met makes an exception for bacon.
posted by sportbucket at 12:34 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]

I love the mangoes with sticky rice that sportbucket mentions but at home I've made it with a much simpler recipe. (Not that sportbucket's link might not be yummy too!)
posted by cabingirl at 12:51 PM on July 31

Cabingirl: Works for me. I've never tried either recipe; the one I liked to was the first one Google found for me.
posted by sportbucket at 1:07 PM on July 31

Correction:

the one I liked to

Should be:

the one I linked to

I prostrate myself in shame.
posted by sportbucket at 1:14 PM on July 31

Omurice
posted by cazoo at 1:40 PM on July 31

My favorite rice cookbook is the Seductions of Rice full of wonderful recipes and travel stories. Not meat-heavy either.
posted by leslies at 1:48 PM on July 31

Getting a rice cooker is a necessity for anyone who loves rice.
posted by sleslie at 2:19 PM on July 31

Oh, and the rice cooker recipe:

1. Put rice in the container.
2. Wash rice, by hand if you don't like washing a ton of utensils, or use some sort of strainy thing.
3. Learn how much water to put in through practice.
4. Put the container in the rice cooker.
5. Press button.
posted by sleslie at 2:23 PM on July 31

Since she's ok with seafood you might try my favorite shrimp fried rice recipe:

I like to make this with four servings of rice, which allows me to use one pound of shrimp and an entire bag of frozen mixed peas and carrots.

A small warning for those in a hurry, this recipe requires that you cook the rice a minimum of 4 hours beforehand, 24 hours is better.

Using your handy rice cooker cook up one serving of rice per person, or to taste (I make four servings minimum, it freezes pretty well).

Refrigerate for 24 hours. If you're in a hurry you can put two big metal bowls in the freezer for 30 minutes, put the rice in the larger bowl, spreading it up the sides in as thin a layer as possible, and put the smaller bowl on top of the rice. Leave in the freezer until completely chilled and beginning to freeze.

That step, BTW, is essential to getting the best flavor.

In the biggest pan you have (a huge electric skillet is good), saute the appropriate amount of shrimp (I like around 1/4 pound per serving of rice, other people like less, or more) in butter. Light seasoning (a pinch of salt, a bit of pepper) only, as more seasoning is coming.

When the shrimp is almost done add the peas and carrots, one bag for four servings of rice works well. Edamame make a nice addition too.

Stir for a moment until the frost has vanished, add the cold rice and stir to mix everything together.

Soy sauce [1] and a bit more pepper to taste.

Let the rice on the bottom stay there for a bit, we are trying to *FRY* the rice, you should be getting lightly crunchy bits on the bottom, they're good. Once you've gotten a light crust on the bottom, stir to mix that in and get fresh rice on the bottom and repeat to get more crust. Now do it a third time.

Mix well and eat hot.

[1] Real soy sauce only please. There's fake crap made from treated vegetable oil on the market, make sure the ingredients list has soy beans and wheat; no vegetable oil. I like Kikkoman.
posted by sotonohito at 2:47 PM on July 31

The United Nations publishes this.
posted by brujita at 3:09 PM on July 31

Get her a very nice rice cooker and I will second the book, _The Seduction of Rice_ as good source of recipes spanning the world. The recipes are rock solid and the information is spot on.

After she gets, Seduction, in her skill set then she can be able to discern which paths to take whether Thai, Persian or otherwise.
posted by jadepearl at 3:35 PM on July 31

Mmm one of my absolute favorite vietnamese desserts is Che Dau. It might seem a bit strange if you didn't grow up with it but i assure you its delightfully yummy and when served chilled (i prefer it chilled) it is a great summer dessert.

It's basically a sweet rice pudding flavored with coconut milk and black-eyed peas. Adjust the recipes' sugar content to make it sweeter (or not) according to your taste.
posted by modernsquid at 4:04 PM on July 31

something simple i like to make when i'm lazy is a korean dish called kongnamul bap (soybean sprout rice). just toss some soy bean sprouts into your rice and cook normally (rice cooker or stovetop). mix with a soy sauce + garlic + chopped scallions + red pepper flakes + sesame seeds/oil concoction, and enjoy.

heidi at 101 cookbooks also has some awesome rice and brown rice recipes, and a quick search for rice at tastespotting will probably pull up some interesting recipes.
posted by jus7brea7he at 4:33 PM on July 31

simple garlic fried rice:
-sautee at least 5 or 6 minced gloves of garlic on med-high heat in some oil for about 1 minute or until they brown
-reserve at least half the garlic
-add >1cup cold, pre-cooked rice with some more oil
-fry for about a couple minutes
-make a well
-fry egg (or two) in the middle for a minute or two, mix it all up
-serve with diced green onion and the reserved garlic with salt/soy sauce and sesame oil to taste

kimchi pokembap (kimchi fried rice) - this is not authentic by any means but it is the way I like it:
-sautee onions and garlic in oil for a couple minutes or until onions are translucent
-put in a handful of chopped cabbage kimchi, stir fry for a minute or two
-add any vegetables you like (carrot, pepper, chilies, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
-mix in soy sauce, some stock powder (or saegogi dashida - korean beef stock), crushed ginger, chili powder
-fry for a couple minutes
-put in cooked, warm rice and coat and fry for another minute or two
-garnish with some fresh kimchi, kimchi juice, some shredded gim, and a fried egg on top of each portion

i love rice and i will sometimes just eat plain white rice and the aforementioned gim, +/- some avocado. Definitely hook her up with some (should be available at most Asian grocery stores - make sure you get the kind that you eat with rice and not that kind that you use to make kimbap (seaweed rolls)) and tell her to try it with just plain white rice - heavenly goodness.

definitely Nthing getting a decent rice cooker. I always cook at least a serving or two more than I want and, after the rice cools down, put a container in the freezer to use for my next batch of fried rice.
posted by shokod at 1:37 AM on August 1 [1 favorite]

You guys rock. Thanks again! :D
posted by flibbertigibbet at 9:43 AM on August 2