Rice is the one of the world's largest crops, providing a huge portion of calories consumed by people globally. This is a small wonder, for rice is an infinitely versatile, nutritious and delectable grain.
Though it is traditionally considered to be a daily staple only in East and Southeast Asia, rice has found its way into the cooking traditions of cultures on every continent except Antarctica. Today, we Westerners can find rice in everything from sushi to casserole, from chicken soup to fried rice, and even in dessert - rice pudding.
And let's not forget the classic Asian favorite: steamed, plain Jasmine rice, which I grew up eating thrice a day. Yum.
This week, I'd like to share with you three of my favorite things to cook. With a bag of rice, a few extra ingredients, and a hearty dollop of appetite, you can make risotto, rice pudding and onigiri. These dishes are Italian, Middle Eastern and Japanese in origin, respectively, demonstrating once again the nimble adaptability and cultural transcendence of our wonderful little grain.
Risotto is an Italian simmered rice dish that, for some, conjures up woeful childhood dramas involving their dad cleverly luring them into the kitchen and then forcing them to stir a bubbling pot for a solid hour. For others, the word represents the holy grail of fine cooking: a rice dish so creamy, so flavorful, that any Italian chef of distinction spends years perfecting his or her own secret concoction.
It is traditionally made with Arborio rice, a medium-grain rice grown in Italy's Po River valley. The high starch content of Arborio rice causes it to cook to an unparalleled creamy texture.
Everyday white rice, however, works quite well too. If you are patient, and if you have gullible housemates that you can lure into service, you can achieve similar, satisfying results. Risotto is quite similar to paella in that it is highly customizable, but one distinguishing factor is that the rice in risotto is lightly-toasted in olive oil before boiling.
Rice pudding has a long and complex heritage. Many would agree that the version we all know and love today - the sweet milky kind with raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla - originated in the Middle East, but almost every culture has evolved some version of its own.
Another famous variety is kheer, hailing from India and Pakistan, and usually flavored with cardamom and pistachios. In China, you can find a kind of milky, sweet rice dessert called Ba Bao Tang (eight treasure soup). Similar to rice pudding, it has "treasures" like lotus seed, longan, and goji berries in it. (Whatever it is, it all sounds delicious to me...)
Finally, the Japanese onigiri isn't just a ball of rice: it's a lightly flavored mound of rice cooked to sticky perfection, with a dollop of filling inside. Perennial Japanophiles may recognize it instantly as those cutesy little triangular snacks often appearing in anime scenarios involving a bento lunchbox.
Indeed, in Japan, onigiri is a popular, convenient, and easy-to-make lunchbox staple. (Japan's lunchbox culture is not to be taken lightly: Schoolchildren's mothers sometimes have implicit but quite ardent contests to see who can pack the cutest lunchbox for their child. Check out CookingCute.com and you will know what I mean.) Fillings usually fall along the lines of smoked salmon, pickled plums (umeboshi) and eel, but I have made onigiri with everything from ham and cheese to raisins on the inside.
Onigiri
Ingredients:
*4 cups steamed Japanese rice*8 strips of dried nori (sushi wrapper seaweed)*Salt to taste
Optional:*2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds*2 tablespoons furikake (Japanese rice "sprinkles" made of bonito, seaweed, etc.)*1/2 teaspoon 5-spice powder
Directions:
1) Make some steamed rice first. Make sure it does not cook too dry, or it will never hold its shape. Mix salt, sesame seeds, furikake, and/or 5-spice with the rice. Now wash your hands well and wet them in water so that the rice won't stick as you're molding it. (Yes, it's hands-on!)
2) Grab about a half-cup of rice in your hand and squish it into a rough ball. Make a dent in the center of the ball with your fingertips and place fillings in the dent. (See below for fillings suggestions.)
3) Cover the dent and fillings with another gob of rice. Now cup both your hands with the fingers together, place them facing each other, rotate one hand 90 degrees, and squish the rice between your hands into a triangular shape.
4) Finally, wrap a strip of seaweed around the bottom of the triangle (like a little grip or handle) and enjoy!
5) Fillings suggestions: chopped and pitted umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum), grilled salted salmon, smoked salmon, spicy Asian pickled vegetables, crumbled bacon, prosciutto, fish roe, salsa, peanut butter, tuna ... it's endless!
Seafood-Leek Risotto
Ingredients:
*2 tablespoons olive oil, divided*2 cups rice*6 cups boiling hot chicken broth (from cans or bouillon)*2 teaspoons minced garlic*1 medium leek, chopped*1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes*1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined*1/2 pound small scallops*1 (14 ounce) bag fresh spinach leaves*1 red bell pepper, diced*1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Directions:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour in the rice, and stir until the rice is coated in oil and has started to toast, two to three minutes.
2) Reduce the heat to medium and stir in 1/3 of the boiling hot vegetable broth. Continue stirring until incorporated. Repeat this process twice more, stirring constantly. Incorporating the broth should take 30 to 40 minutes total. Taste to see if rice is soft. If not, add more cups of broth and stir, simmering, until rice is done. Make sure the broth is hot first.
3) While you are cooking the rice, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a pan. Stir in the garlic, leeks, red chili, shrimp and scallops. Cook until the seafood is just beginning to turn color. Add the red bell pepper and spinach; cook until the seafood is opaque. Combine with the rice, and season to taste with pepper.
Homemade Rice Pudding
Ingredients:
*3/4 cup uncooked white rice*2 cups milk, divided*1/3 cup white sugar*1/4 teaspoon salt*1 egg, beaten*2/3 cup golden raisins*1 tablespoon butter*1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1) In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2) In another saucepan, combine cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Otherwise, the rice may stick to the bottom and burn.
4) Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.
