We are a Chinese long-grain rice family but I do like short-grain and relish eating it when I have a Japanese restaurant meal. Making this recipe gave me a chance to make it at home and the added bonus was that I got to recall the memory of eating charred rice years ago. Long ago in the days before rice cookers those browned pieces of rice were what happened when you cooked a pot of rice and you either forgot to take it off the heat before it started to burn on the bottom or after you had scooped out the perfectly cooked rice you purposely turned up the heat so that the thin layer of rice that stuck to the bottom of the pan got charred and crispy. The browned layer of rice would be scraped off the pan and rolled up and eaten plain or if you were a true aficionado you would pour some water over the bottom layer, heat it to near boiling, and eat the charred rice soup as a refreshing finish to your dinner. Charred rice was such a satisfying food and is not easily duplicated in my present kitchen with its heavy bottom pots that are made to discourage food from burning.
To make this dish I cooked the rice in equal parts rice to water, used wet hands to form 1/3 cup amounts into cylinders, brushed them with pork fat that was left over from a roasted pork belly, sprinkled with sea salt, and browned them in a hot cast iron pan. A crusty layer of toasted rice formed on the outside and the rice inside stayed soft and moist. I left them on the kitchen counter and we snacked on them for breakfast and lunch and by the end of the day I was ready to make another batch.
No comments:
Post a Comment