Persian Rice – Sorry, Measuring Cups

11:53

•

Side Dish

I believe I’ve posted a few “fool proof” methods for cooking “perfect” rice, but this Persian version takes the grand prize, and it’s not even close for second. The beauty of this method is that it doesn’t rely on any specific measurements, or even exact times. This will make some of you very nervous, but just go with it.

As long as the pot you use to boil and steam the grains is large enough, this will work exactly as shown. Since we are basically steaming rice that’s already been par-boiled and drained, there are never any issues with too much, or too little water.

By the way, I’ve only made this a handful of times, and so I’m sure there are many things I could improve on. I hear that soaking the rice in cold, salted water before boiling it helps improve the texture even more, which I find kind of hard to believe.

I mean, is there a level of rice perfection that goes beyond perfection? Probably too deep a question for a food blog about rice, so I’ll simply close by saying, I hope you give this Persian rice a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 Portions:

2 cups basmati rice, rinsed very well

3 quarts water, brought to a boil with 3 tablespoons of salt

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 russets potato, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices

salt to taste

pinch of ground cumin

5 or 6 slices of butter for top

pinch of saffron, ground and mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
parsley to garnish 

READ MORE

Bok Choy Steamed Rice – You Can Taste the Unconventional Wisdom

17:31

•

Vegetables

With all the fancy, grilled summer meats flying around, it’s easy to forget about the side dishes. Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen, when they could be outside playing volleyball in jhorts, but with this easy bok choy rice, you can have something way more interesting in the same time as it takes to make plain rice.

I believe we’ve covered this before, but yes, I’m cooking the stems about 15 minutes more than is fashionable. I love a crisp stalk of bok choy as much as the next guy, but here we kind of want it to melt into the rice. Conventional wisdom says to cook quick, but I wanted a softer, sweeter, and more subtly sulfuric grain. Think braised cabbage rolls if you’re still having a problem.

By the way, if your rice package says 2 parts water to 1 part rice, ignore it. Too much water is the main reason people screw up rice. I find 1 1/2 cups of water to each cup of long grain rice works way better, especially in dishes like this. So, ignore those directions, and give this delicious side a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup long grain rice

1 large bok choy, separated, and sliced

1 tsp soy sauce, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sambal chili sauce

toasted sesame seeds to garnish

READ MORE

Curry chicken rice bake 咖哩雞焗飯

15:10

•

rice

Who doesn't like curry chicken with rice? This recipe is slightly different, it's east meets west. It's curried rice topped with a saucy chicken curry and cheese. This fusion (or bastardised if you prefer) curry chicken rice bake can be found in Hong Kong/ Macau cafe style restaurants 茶餐廳. I think Japanese also have similar recipe. Curry and cheese does not sound matching but this combination is

READ MORE

Lap cheong rice 臘腸飯

07:33

•

rice

This simple rice is something I can indulge quite often since I know how to make my own lap cheong. DIY lap cheong is so much cheaper and I know there are no hidden ingredients or preservatives. The is a simple meal, steamed lap cheong with rice and some steamed/blanched green vegetable. To add more flavour I added a dollop of ginger spring onion sauce.

Cook rice using a rice cooker or on the

READ MORE

Tomato egg fried rice 西紅柿蛋炒飯/ 蕃茄蛋炒飯

07:23

•

rice

Simple lunch today, tomato and egg fried rice. Tomato and egg are such good combination, universal favourite. I am sure there is at least one dish made with tomato and egg in every country. Just Chinese dishes I can count at least half a dozen classics with just two simple ingredients like:

Stir fried egg and tomato 西紅柿炒雞蛋/ 番茄炒蛋
Omelette crepe and tomato soup 番茄煎蛋湯/ 西紅柿煎蛋湯
Tomato and egg geda

READ MORE