Rice doesn't have to be just steamed or boiled, it can be transformed into exciting recipes.
Pimp My Rice by food writer Nisha Katona aims to do just that.
The Indian cookery teacher and founder of Mowgli Street Food restaurants, who is also a barrister, is a rice evangelist and her new book has a host of recipes from Pimped Rice Piri Piri to beefed-up Bibimbap and black rice sorbet.
She explained: I wrote this book because I felt rice needed to be celebrated. I think this is borne from my guilt. Guilt because for years I overlooked rice as an anodyne, pasty-faced accompaniment - always the bridesmaid and never the bride.
"In the west we treat this grain of grains like a a second class citizen. Its cooking techniques confound Western adults when in the East, children can cook it before the can pronounce it.
"I wanted to lift the veil on rice and its misunderstood magnificence. It is the world's most nutritive and widespread staple. We need to get to grips with the grain and I don’t know of a book that helped me do this. Hence, I wrote one."
Nisha has restaurants in Liverpool and Manchester and has just finished working on a filming project with Food Network.
Here the chef shares some delicious rice-based dishes, from breakfast ideas, to tea-time inspiration, after dinner delights and more, there is something to suit everyone.
The hot date congee (Serves 4)
Brown, wholesome and fruity. All the kick you get from that late night Swiss muesli fix but at the right time of the day.
You can add a swirl of coconut milk at the end instead of the dollop of something fresher, like yoghurt.
You could even use half the amount of milk during the cooking process and top up with 125ml/4fl oz/½ cup of coconut milk. This makes the dish more luxurious, richer and adds a sunshine twist to your wholesome morning.
Ingredients:
130g/4½oz/1 cup whole hazelnuts
200g/7oz/heaped 1 cup short-grain brown rice, soaked for 2 hours, rinsed and drained
3 tbsp soft brown sugar
A pinch of salt
240ml/8fl oz/1 cup whole milk
¼ tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling
6 dried dates, pitted and chopped
4 tbsp Greek yoghurt or crème fraiche
Method:
1. Toss the hazelnuts in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat until they brown evenly all over. Remove from the pan and leave to one side.
2. Combine the rice, sugar, salt, milk and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, stir well, then lower the heat to medium-low. Add the chopped dates and simmer, covered, for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You are looking for a thick porridge consistency.
3. Cook, uncovered, for 2 more minutes. Spoon into serving bowls and sprinkle with a few toasted hazelnuts. Add a dollop of good Greek yoghurt with a little pinch of cinnamon sprinkled over the top.
Pearly pork urchins (Serves 4)
This simple Chinese dish always reminds me of little sea urchins. They provide a fun obstacle course for the tongue.
The sticky rice grains coating the meat balls become pearly in the cooking process and stand to an enticing attention. Like the pearl, however, sticky rice needs time to develop so give it a good overnight soak before you make this dish if you can.
Ingredients:
325g/11½oz/1¾ cups sticky rice
450g/1lb minced/ground pork
1 large spring onion/scallion, finely chopped
70g/2½oz water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 egg white
1½ tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
1½ tsp toasted sesame oil
Dark soy sauce, for dipping
Method:
1. Soak the rice overnight. Just before you start cooking, drain it well and spread the grains out on a baking sheet.
2. Combine all the remaining ingredients except the sesame oil and dark soy sauce. Roll the mixture into 24 x 2cm/¾in balls and then roll each meatball in the rice so that it is coated.
3. Put the balls on a heatproof plate about 1cm/½in apart. You will need to do a few at a time.
4. Put the plate in a steamer and cook in batches. They will need to steam for around 20 minutes until they are cooked through. You are waiting for the rice to soften and for the pork to cook through.
5. When cooked, drizzle with the sesame oil. Serve hot with the soy dipping sauce.
Funky fish fingers (Serves 4)
Well, they are croquettes really but I cannot resist the alliteration. These have a real Japanese twist. You don’t need to use sushi rice but feel free.
You’re aiming for all the internal sweet tang and flesh of sushi with a satisfying crunching heft in the crisp panko coating.
Ingredients:
350g/12oz cod fillet, thinly sliced
1 tbsp salt
115g/4oz/scant ⅔ cup short-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
For the fish dressing
5 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp caster/granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tbsp finely chopped spring onions/scallions or chives
Rapeseed/canola or sunflower oil, for deepfrying and oiling
115g/4oz/2½ cups panko breadcrumbs
Tartare sauce and lemon wedges
Method:
1. Sprinkle the fish with the salt in a bowl, toss lightly and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Rinse well with cold water.
2. Put the rice and 350ml/12fl oz/1½ cups water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and cook over a medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Now switch off the heat, cover the pan and leave for 15 minutes.
3. Mix the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes, making sure the sugar and salt have dissolved. Leave to cool slightly.
4. Transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl. Add the cooled vinegar to the warm rice, then leave to cool completely.
5. Add the slices of fish to the cold rice with one whole egg and the spring onions/scallions and mix well, using your hand to ensure you get an even mix of ingredients.
6. Wash your hands, then rub them with a little oil. Using your hands, shape the mixture into croquette shapes 4–5cm/1½–2in long. You should get about 16. Put on a tray and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
7. Lightly beat the remaining eggs in a shallow dish. Spread the panko breadcrumbs on a separate tray. Remove the fish fingers from the refrigerator.
8. Heat the oil in a wok to a medium-high heat. Test the temperature by dropping in a few breadcrumbs. If they fizz and cook quickly, the oil is ready. Dip each fish finger into the egg, then roll it in the breadcrumbs.
9. Fry the fish fingers in small batches for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving with lemon wedges and tartare sauce.
Red rice rendang (Serves 4)
The Indonesian palette of flavours is intriguingly unique.
Lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves are hugely fragrant and give the beef a brave feminine dimension.
It is so important that the beef becomes tender and utterly penetrable to these iconic spicings.
Ingredients:
50g/1¾oz/1 cup coconut flakes
2 lemongrass stalks, hard outer layers removed
2 small onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6cm/2½in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tbsp chopped fresh galangal, or paste
4–6 red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick
650g/1lb 7oz braising steak, diced into 3cm/1¼in cubes
400ml/14fl oz/1⅔ cups coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
190g/6¾oz/1 cup red rice, preferably Bhutanese, soaked overnight, then drained
Salt
2 shallots, finely sliced and deep fried
2 tbsp chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
Method:
1. First, make the rendang paste. Toast the coconut flakes in a dry frying pan until browned, then remove them from the heat. Roughly chop 1 lemongrass stalk. Blitz together the toasted coconut, onions, ginger, galangal, chopped lemongrass, garlic, chillies and turmeric to a smooth paste.
2. Now heat a wok and add the oil. Fry the spice paste over a high heat for about 3–5 minutes.
3. Add the cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cook for a minute over a medium heat.
4. Now add the beef and fry it over a medium high heat until the pieces are browned, stirring constantly.
5. Add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and lime zest and juice and simmer very gently so that the pan is barely bubbling.
6. Bruise the remaining lemongrass and add it to the pan. Season with salt and partially cover.
7. Cook over a low heat for 1 hour. The meat needs to be very tender but not disintegrated. Discard the lemongrass stalk.
8. Add the rice and raise the heat a little to medium-low. Simmer for a further 20–25 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
9. Switch off the heat and put a lid on the pan. Leave to rest and for the flavours to combine for 15 minutes before serving. To serve, transfer to a large dish, and sprinkle with the deep-fried shallots and the coriander/cilantro.
Caramel peach congee brûlée (Serves 4)
The triple comfort whammy of musky rice, creamy coconut and floral vanilla mediate with the fragrant freshness of the peach beautifully in this dish.
Caramelizing the fruit in this way makes for a warmly sweet alternative to the hospital-ward, boiled-to-anaemia peach.
Ingredients:
100g/3½oz/heaped ½ cup Thai fragrant rice or any short-grain rice
800ml/28fl oz/3½ cups coconut milk
3 tbsp soft brown sugar
A pinch of salt
2 drops of vanilla extract
For the caramalized peach
3 peaches, skinned and pitted
2 tbsp salted butter
30g/1oz/2½ tbsp muscovado/soft brown sugar
For the topping
8 tbsp caster/granulated sugar
Method:
1. Soak the rice in cold water for 4 hours or overnight, then rinse and drain. Put all the main ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer gently until you have a good thick porridge, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. This will take about 30 minutes.
2. Once the grains are cooked through, remove from the heat.
3. Set a strainer over a bowl and cut the skinned peaches into pieces over the strainer, so their juice collects in the bowl.
4. Heat the butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot but not smoking, add the peach pieces and sauté them until they sizzle and their juices reduce and begin to thicken, which should take 2–3 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the muscovado/soft brown sugar over them and sauté until the juices further thicken and the sugar caramelizes slightly, about 1 minute. You may want to increase the heat under the pan to medium-high.
6. Allow the peaches to cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the juices are very thick, which will take a minute or so.
7. Just before serving, stir the caramelized peaches into the congee. Spoon the mixture into four heatproof ramekins, then sprinkle 2 tablespoons caster/granulated sugar evenly over the surface of each congee brûlée. While the sugar is still dry, immediately caramelize with a chefs’ blowtorch, or by placing the ramekins under a hot grill/broil until the sugar bubbles and turns golden brown.
Smoke my squash (Serves 4)
Okay, so my squash of preference here is the round, dark green gem squash but you may prefer butternut.
The more lacklustre they are in flavour the better. When the brazen smoked chorizo moves in, it becomes flavour karaoke.
Ingredients:
4 whole gem squashes or 2 butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
115g/4oz chorizo sausage, very finely diced
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely diced
¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika
75g/2½oz chopped sundried tomatoes
225g/8oz/1⅔ cups cooked long-grain white rice (or cook heaped ½ cup raw rice)
4 tbsp soft goats’ cheese
1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves, plus extra to serve
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
2. If you are using gem squash, trim the base of each squash, so that it can stand flat, and slice off the top. Scoop out the seeds and discard them. If you use butternut squash, cut in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and about 1cm/¾in of the flesh from the upper part.
3. Oil a shallow baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Put the squash in the dish, cover with foil and put in the oven while you prepare the rice.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a deep-frying pan. Add the garlic and as it begins to soften, add the chopped chorizo.
5. Fry over a medium heat until the red oils leach out of the sausage. Now stir in the diced pepper, smoked paprika and sundried tomatoes, then remove from the heat.
6. Mix the rice and cheese together in a bowl along with the chopped parsley. Now add the chorizo mixture with the oils from the frying pan and mix together well.
7. Remove the squash from the oven and divide the rice mixture amongst the squash. Cover again with foil and bake for about 30 minutes until the squash is tender. The squash will need about 50 minutes cooking altogether. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve hot.
All of Nisha's recipes are taken from her new cookery book, Pimp My Rice, £20 Hardback.
