Pilaf is rice pre-cooked in oil or butter, then steam cooked in a liquid like chicken broth. By heating the rice briefly in oil, it reduces the sticky nature of the starch. As a result, the rice grains will be firm and non-sticky. The pilaf is coming from the middle and central Asia. It tastier than plain rice and can accompany dishes like curry.
I have made the pilaf with only coconut milk, and served it with a marinated tuna filet and pineapple. The result is astronishing, the acidity of the pineapple matches well the creaminess of pilaf. I’ll share this experience in a separate post.
Ingredients (2 people) :
1 cup of long grain rice
1.5 cup of liquid (water, chicken broth or coconut milk) (This quantity is 1.5 times the volume of the rice)
1 onion
Salt
Herbs of Provence, bay leaf (nice to have)
How to make a pilaf:
1. Pre-cook the ingredients: finely chop the onion into tiny bits. Heat up some butter or olive oil to stir fry the onion for few minutes until the onion is softened. Add in the rice to the onion, stir fry for a couple of minutes, make sure the grains are completely covered with the oil.
2. Add in the liquid prepared, and add a pinch of salt. Add in the herbs and bay leaf suggested or other spices as you like. Mix the whole thing well.
3. Bring it to boil, cover the pot/pan with a lid, mimimize the fire. Let the rice be cooked for about 15 minutes, then switch off the fire. DO NOT remove the lid during this cooking time, as we need to keep the steam inside to cook the rice.
Note: If you smell that the rice starts to burn, stop the fire immediately without waiting for the end of cooking time. The rice is not totally lost, you can still serve the unburned, well cooked portion on top.
4. Let the rice rest in the pot/pan with the lid covered for another 5-10 minutes, to ensure the rice has absorbed all liquid and well cooked. Remove the bay leaf.
If you are not in a diet and would like to further enhancing the taste of the rice, you can stir in some butter before serving.
French Cuisine Apprentice 