Hello black rice, nice to meet you. Let’s get to know each other.
You seem so familiar but mysterious at the same time, everyday but exotic.
The purple-gray residue left on my pots wasn’t so cool, but luckily it washed off right quick. Not an ideal trait to bring into my kitchen, but forgivable.
Black rice is fabulously nutty. I do love a fabulously nutty character or two. And it is friends with shrimp? Black rice and I will get along just fine.
Getting to know a new ingredient is such fun.
Prawn and Black Rice Salad with Vietnamese Dressing
(Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer)
For the dressing
2 cloves of garlic
2 Thai chilis
1 1/2 inch knob of ginger
3 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 Cup water
2 Tbsp sugar
For the salad
250 grams black rice
1 Tbsp butter
500 grams raw prawns
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Directions
- To make the dressing, finely mince the garlic, chilis and ginger.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing together in a bowl and let it steep while putting together the rest of the salad.
- In a saucepan (that has a lid) combine 1 3/4 Cups water, the rice and a pinch of salt. Bring the contents up to a boil, then cover with the lid and reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove the rice from the hob and let it stand covered for approximately 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.
- Saute the prawns in a pan with the butter, lemon and garlic until just opaque and still very tender.
- If you’re planning on eating this warm, follow the remaining steps immediately. If you’re planning on eating the salad cool (my preference, personally) let the rice and prawns cool.
- Stir the sauce and spoon a little bit over the rice. A little goes a long way. Toss and taste is the best method. Tumble the prawns into the salad once you’re happy with the amount of dressing.
I’m pretty sure this salad is intended to be eaten cold. When I read the recipe, though, I somehow got the impression you could eat it hot. Cold is definitely the way to go, I think, though it isn’t too shabby warm.
When I first made the dressing/sauce I found it really intensely salty, so my recipe uses a fair amount of water more than Nigella’s version; but I still used a little less than half of what the recipe made. Maybe I was a little salt sensitive that day, but if you just add slowly, you will be able to adjust to how you like it.
Where I was quite enamored with the nuttiness and bite of the black rice, Mr was less enthused than I was. He really liked the prawns, though.
This time last year: Beet Towers with Blue Cheese Mousse
And the year before that: Our First Kitchen
Tags: black rice, fish sauce, forever summer, garlic, ginger, lemon, lime, new ingredients, nigella, prawns, rice, Thai chili
I love carving pumpkins! For Halloween this year, I made a spider of Godzilla proportions, looming over an unexpecting city.
Mr pointed out that the spider looks a little too cute to be looming, so maybe he's protecting the city
Myself, Mr and the Godzilla Spider all hope that you had a lovely Halloween!
To go with the Halloween theme I’ve got a recipe for a pilaf full of autumn flavors; mushrooms and cranberries come together with foresty earthiness and tart astringency to make for some really really yummy rice. Normally, rice is a little bit of a take it or leave it food for me but I very much enjoyed this dish. And anyways, rice is the perfect food for when you want to eat a thousand or so of something.
Mushroom Cranberry Pilaf
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb mixed mushrooms, chopped (I used cremini and button mushrooms)
salt and pepper
1 Cup water
1 3/4 Cups beef stock
1 1/2 Cups Basmati rice
3/4 Cup dried cranberries
Directions
Find a medium saucepan that has a lid. In it, melt the butter and add to it the chopped onion. Stir occasionally, and once the onion has started to brown, add the chopped mushrooms and a dash of salt and pepper. The point of this process is to develop lots of caramelized brown flavors, so let the mushrooms and onion go for a little while. Spoon the mushroom and onion mixture into a bowl, and set aside.
Turn the heat up to high, and add both the water and beef stock. When it comes to a boil, tip in the rice, swirling it around with a spoon in order to get it evenly wet. Clamp on the lid, and turn the heat to low. Give the rice 20 minutes to steam, and don’t peek under the lid until the full 20 minutes has passed.
Fork through the rice to break up any clumps, and then add back the reserved mushrooms and onion, as well as the cranberries. Serve immediately.
I learned the steaming method of making rice from my Mum, who makes my most favorite rice. Twenty minutes seems to be just the right amount of time, but if you peek to see how its going in there the rice just doesn’t come out right. So no peeking! You just have to trust it to do its magic.
We’ve already been through how much I enjoy salty-sweet combinations, what with the kettle corn and the cheddar apple English toasts, and I think that is a part of what I like so much about this rice. At the same time, though, I really enjoyed the interplay of the complexity of the savory browned flavors against the clean clear flavor of the cranberries.
Mr says: more cranberries would make the rice even better.
This time last year: Pumpkin Seeds
