Ask me about rice.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about rice.

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

Do you have any opinions on North American wild rice?

I've had lots of different kinds of rice over the years - african red rice, thai black rice, some others. What's an interesting kind of rice that I should try? Yes, I saw your note about choosing rice for the context - I'll cook and serve the interesting rice in a method you designate as appropriate.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2023 06:46

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 22:55

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

dino. posted:

If it's IN something, I'm quite fond of wild rice. I don't care for it on its own. The texture is too challenging. However, in a multi grain rice mix? That stuff is baller as heck.

Over the years I've found myself growing fond of short grain rice. The fat little grains are so freaking cute, and it cooks up nice and soft while not being mushy. When I have time, I'll do like a Korean multigrain rice situation, where it's mostly short grain white glutinous rice, short grain brown rice, some split hulled mung beans, some purple rice/black rice/forbidden rice, barley, and a spot of millet to round things out. It's primarily the white glutinous rice that's the base with al the other grains in smaller quantities. You mix it all up and cook it together. It's delightful.

If you can get your hands on some good quality Basmati rice, try your hand at Tahdig. I made some at Wroughtirony's parents' house, and it got eaten up very quickly. Essentially it's a 2 step cooking process. First you rinse the Basmati thoroughly, and soak it for like 30 minutes. If you use parboiled Basmati, you soak it an hour. Then drain off all the soaking liquid. You then bring a large stock pot full of water [with plenty of salt (salty like if you're making pasta), a few sprinkles of ground cardamom, and a few drops of olive oil] to a full rushing boil. You boil the rice for like 5 or 6 minutes. You want the outside to be jusssst cooked, and the inside to be firm, but not hard like a raw grain. You want the rice to be undercooked.

Then you combine like 1/4 of the cooked rice with a couple tablespoons of good olive oil and a TB or so of saffron water. (Saffron water is saffron threads that have been ground in a pestle and mortar, and then steeped in hot boiling water. 2 big pinches of saffron will steep in like 1/4 cup of water.) You spread that over the bottom of a nonstick pan. Then you dump the remaining rice on top of the carefully spread out saffron-y rice, and add the remaining rice atop that. You sprinkle on the remaining saffron water, about 1/4 cup of water, and another healthy TB of olive oil. Cover the top of the pot with a kitchen towel, and put the lid on top. Set over your lowest slowest simmer burner, and let it simmer away for like 45 minutes. When it's done cooking, the rice will be fragrant, and there'll be a super crispy disc of rice on the bottom.

Yeah wild rice is a go-to in soup. I prefer it to pretty much any other grain for that purpose. It's native to the area that I'm from, so I was just curious what you thought about it, and we're more or less in agreement.

I'll try that dish. Will keep an eye out for good basmati. If I just go to an indian market and buy the most expensive parboiled basmati will that likely be what I want?

# ¿ Dec 15, 2023 22:24

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

I followed your advice and asked the guy at the Indian store which rice to buy. He may have rooked me as he directed me away from the obvious big pile of India Gate stuff in shinier, more western-style packaging (which was on "deal") toward "Swami" brand, which comes in a duller looking fabric bag and which they stock less (and which was not on "deal" and thus $6 more :o).

I would have needed his advice anyway as there were three kinds of India Gate basmatti - "Feast Rozzana," and then two different versions with superlative names like "Excel" or "Premium" or "Super" which I can't recall.

Gonna try your saffron recipe this weekend, probably with some kind of dal and pumpkin, after one or two more Christmas leftover meals to clean out my fridge.

# ¿ Dec 29, 2023 15:12

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

Made the nice saffron rice last night and i have a few thoughts

1) I made my water roughly as saline as I would for pasta and it probably wouldn't have hurt to have added a bit more salt. I was just eyeballing though so next time I try this I'll pay more attention. I wonder if salting the soaking water would make a bigger difference?

2) I didn't have as much saffron as I thought I did and it wasn't that fresh. It was enough to give some colouration but I can't really taste/smell it, so I'll try that again some time when I get more.

3) My (electric conduction) stove must go lower than yours because while I did get some crisping, I would have liked more. Next time I might turn up the heat for a few minutes right before serving.

4) I'm an olive oil fiend so I might add even more next time.

Still a tasty dish and still delightful with the nice rice.

# ¿ Dec 30, 2023 17:35

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

when I was visiting a Sino-Thai family the black rice was reserved for the family patriarch and special guests. vOv

# ¿ Jan 12, 2024 22:57

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

CRIP EATIN BREAD posted:

i don�t have a ton to add except that im blown away by how much there is to know about rice.

i buy costco�s thai hom mali jasmine rice and i really like it. any idea where this lands on the quality scale?

post a picture of it on a piece of printer paper for white balance!

# ¿ Mar 3, 2024 17:23

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 22:55

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

Dino give me another rice-forward dish to make with the nice basmatti I bought. The crispy saffron one was good and I will make it again.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2024 19:45

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about rice.