Christine's Recipes Printable Version: Rice

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Paella (Simple One-Pan Rice)

Traditionally, saffron threads are used as a key ingredient that helps add fragrance and a beautiful colour to the rice. Simply soak a few saffron threads in a few tablespoons of hot water (or hot chicken broth). Then put it into the rice to cook with the chicken broth in step 4. If not using Aboriso rice, you can replace it with short-grain rice. Due to different absorption of different rice and different power levels of utensils used, please adjust the amount of chicken broth accordingly.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

1 (about 125 gm) chorizo, roughly chopped
120 gm chicken breast, diced
1 onion, onion, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp ground paprika
200 gm Aboriso rice
4½ cups salt-reduced chicken broth, heated in a separate bowl
1 bay leaf
8 medium prawns / shrimps, shelled and deveined
100 gm fish meat, diced
1 calamari / squid, sliced into rings
8 mussels
8 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
parsley, for garnish
lemon wedges, to serve

Method:

Season chicken, fish and prawns with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large frying pan. Cook chorizo over medium heat until lightly brown. Add chicken and cook until the surface turns white, no need to be cooked through at this stage. Set aside.
Add a little oil to sauté onion until translucent. Add capsicum. Stir to combine and push vegetables to the sides of your pan. Add garlic in the middle and cook until fragrant, yet don’t burn it. Add turmeric powder, cayenne powder and ground paprika and cook until aromatic.
Add rice and stir to combine. Pour chicken broth into the pan. Add bay leaf. Toss back the chorizo and chicken. Bring it to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes with cover until the rice is almost done.
Add prawns, fish, calamari and mussels. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle parsley on top. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and salad.

Beef Mince Congee (Beef Rice Porridge)

This is an old-fashioned breakfast I always had when I was a primary-school aged kid. To me, a bowl of nice and hot congee before going to school seemed to be a luxury enjoyment, although it didn’t cost much at all. The traditional way of enjoying the congee is to go with a plate of steamed rice noodle rolls (豬腸粉) or deep-fried dough , aka “you tiao” (油條).

You can make some plain congee a day or a few days ahead, and store it in fridge. Whenever you need it, just bring it to boil and pop in some marinated beef mince. There you go, a nice and hot breakfast is served in a few minutes. This congee is best served hot. The highlight of it is the soft, tender and just cooked beef mince. That’s why Hong Kong chefs often ladle boiling congee over beef mince. You might like to replace with any meat you like, for example, pork or chicken.

Beef Mince Congee (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 100 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

145 gm (about 1 rice cup) rice
3 L (12 cups) water
salt, to taste
oil, to taste
150 gm beef mince
35 gm rice vermicelli (aka rice sticks, rice noodles)
deep-fried peanuts, to taste, optional
spring onion, diced to taste

Marinade:

1 egg white
3 tsp water
2 tsp cornflour/corn starch
2 tsp oil
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
sesame oil, to taste

Method:

Rinse rice two to three times. Drain well. Mix with a little bit of oil and salt. Set aside for 20 minutes.
Use a large pot, bring 3 liters of water to boil. Add the rice and stir to prevent from sticking to the bottom. When it boils again, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until the rice soften and the congee thickens, about 1½ hours. Be sure not to let it spill over along the way of cooking.
Heat up one-third of a pot with oil over medium heat. Put a tiny bit of rice vermicelli to test the temperature of the oil. If the rice vermicelli immediately floats to the surface with bubbles vigorously arise, the oil is ready. Deep fry the rice vermicelli until it turns fluffy, yet not brown. Immediately drain out and place on kitchen towels to absorb excess oil. Let it cool completely.
Mix the beef with the marinade. Mix in the rice vermicelli.
Put the marinated beef in the congee, or place at the bottom of individual serving bowls, then ladle boiling congee over it. Sprinkle some spring onion and fried peanuts if you like. Enjoy!

Notes:

For making best congee, I learned a trick from my mother-in-law. Mix the rinsed rice with a bit of oil and salt before cooking it with boiling water. The rice will be broken down very quickly and produce a very nice starchy texture.
Along the way of cooking, the congee is easily spill over as a result you'll loose the fantastic, smooth, starchy content broken from the rice. Thus, keep an eye on it and try not let it spill over by all means.
When it comes to mixing the beef with the marinade and rice vermicelli, it’s better to use your hand (Clean your hand of course, or wear hygienic gloves.)
Don’t over cook the beef. The beef turns tough otherwise. That’s why Hong Kong chefs often ladle boiling congee over beef mince instead of cooking it in boiling congee.

Stir-fried Glutinous Rice (生炒糯米飯)

This Stir-fried Glutinous Rice is a long-standing, classic dim-sum in Chinese restaurants. Traditionally, the cooking method is very time and effort demanding, similar to the way how Italian risotto is cooked from raw to done. To cook Stir-fried Glutinous Rice is not hard at all. In fact, I heard many chefs in Chinese restaurants confess they won’t go through this route simply because of consideration of time and labor. Many Chinese people love to cook this dish at home in winter. I religiously followed the traditional way to cook the glutinous rice in order to get the right texture I wanted. Yet, I also share a cheating way of cooking this classic dish followed the recipe.

Stir-fried Glutinous Rice (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup glutinous rice, about 140 gm
1 dried chinese sausage (lap chong), less fat
1 dried scallop
6 large dried shrimps
6 dried shiitakes
1 egg
2 tsp water
chopped spring onion (scallion), for garnish
1 cup water, including the soaking water of dried scallop

Seasoning:

1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method:

Soak glutinous rice for at least 3 hours. Soak dried shiitakes, dried shrimps and dried scallop until softened. Chop shiitakes and shrimps into dices. Shred the scallop into smaller pieces with hands. Save the soaking water of dried scallop, add some more water to make it up to 1 cup.
Add 2 teaspoons of water into the egg and beat the egg. Season with salt. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the beaten egg. Move the pan around and spread out the egg into a disc. Fry both sides until golden. Set aside. When it cools down, cut the egg into thin strips.
Add diced lap chong in frying pan. Don’t need to add any oil because lap chong would release oil when frying. When some oil release, add shiitake, shrimp and scallop and saute until cooked. Set aside.
Rinse glutinous rice and wash away the starch. Drain well. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in frying pan. Add glutinous rice, stir to coat the rice with oil. Then add 2 tablespoons of water at a time, cook on medium heat. Try to spread them in thin layer and let them cook evenly over medium heat. When the water is about drying up, add more water. Repeat the procedures of stirring, spreading the rice, adding small amount of water in between, until the rice is cooked thoroughly. The whole process takes about 25 to 30 minutes. When the rice is cooked, add seasoning and combine well. Remember to taste by yourself, then adjust to your personal taste.
Toss back lap chong, scallop, shrimps, shiitake and egg. Stir and combine. Transfer to individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion. Enjoy.

Notes:

It’s better to use non-stick frying pan to stir fry the glutinous rice. Otherwise you have to add a large amount of oil to keep them not sticking to the bottom of pan.
When it comes to cooking this dish, the texture of the end outcome is quite tricky to control. Thus, add a small amount of water at a time along the way of stir-frying rice. If it dries, add water, if the rice is too wet, stir fry them until water dries up. The best texture of the stir-fried glutinous rice is soft, yet not chewy, soggy, nor lumpy. Each grain should be cooked through inside, and can be separated individually.

To cook the glutinous rice from raw to being cooked thoroughly, the process seems to be very threatening and demanding. But it’s worth every effort when you enjoy this authentic Chinese stir-fried glutinous rice.

A cheating way:

Here’s a cheating way to cook this dish with similar results, saving more time and energy, without standing near the stove half an hour long.
After soaking the glutinous rice for 3 hours, drain them well. Place a cheese cloth on the bottom of a steamer. Spread the rice out in a thin layer. Cover and steam over high heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is completely cooked. Transfer the rice to frying pan and stir fry with other ingredients.

Mushroom Risotto

At my first encounter with risotto in an Italian restaurant, I just felt that the rice was more or less like the seasoned rice cooked in Chinese way. The way of cooking risotto and the Chinese seasoned rice we used to eat are totally different of course. The common ingredient of both kinds of rice is stock. What makes risotto so different is the unique, chewy texture of the rice, seasoned with cream and cheese, together with herbs.

To cook risotto is simple and easy, yet you need patience to stir and watch over while it’s cooking. When I enjoyed the chewy, creamy risotto, I felt all the efforts I put in was so worth. It’s a wonderful, comfort dish that can be eaten alone, not just a side.

Adapted from Mushroom Risotto (Simply Recipes)

Mushroom Risotto (Printable recipe) Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup arborio rice
oyster mushrooms & fresh shiitake, cut into 1/2inch cubes, 1/2 cup
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup thickened cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 onion, cubed
3 to 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
salt & freshly grated black pepper, to taste
parsley, for garnish

Method:

Melt half of the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté about 5 minutes (if using other mushrooms, like chanterelles, that would release plenty of moist, dry sauté first for a minute or two and let the mushrooms cook in their own juices before adding the butter). Add wine, bring to a boil, and reduce liquid by half, about 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium, add cream, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.
Bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
In a deep, heavy, medium sized saucepan, heat oil and remaining butter on medium low. Add onions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat with butter and oil. Add simmering stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring enough to keep the rice from sticking to the edges of the pan. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. This process will take about 20 minutes. The rice should be just cooked and slightly chewy.
Stir in the mushroom mixture and the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with parsley.

Notes:

My family and I have accustomed to the oriental taste of rice for many years, so I cooked the risotto for 30 minutes, until the center of the grain was completely cooked through, yet still kept the risotto very soft and chewy in texture on the whole.
When the risotto is almost done, you might test by tasting a bit of them, finding out how long it should be cooked to your liking.

Fried Rice with Minced Beef

Here’s my favourite dish for all seasons, Fried Rice with Minced Beef (生炒牛肉飯), which is also a very popular one-dish-meal offered at any Chinese restaurants. The rice has to be sty-fried really hot. Having combined with the fresh minced beef and crunchy lettuce, this dish is very healthy and nutritious. When it comes to frying rice, I love adding heaps of meat and vegetables. It’s also suitable for elderly or young kids, helping them intake more protein and veggies.

Serves 3
Ingredients:

200 gm minced beef
150 gm iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 bowls white rice, preferably leftover and reheated
2 tsp light soy sauce
salt, to taste
sugar, to taste

Marinade:

1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1/4 tsp chicken powder
2/3 tsp sugar
1 tsp water
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp shaoxing wine
a pinch of pepper

Method:

Marinate minced beef with marinade for 15 minutes.
Heat oil over medium. Cook beef until 80% done. Set aside.
Add some oil again. Stir in beaten egg. Stir constantly until 60% done. Add rice, preferably reheated beforehand as it’d shorter the cooking time. Quickly stir fry evenly. Sprinkle salt and sugar to taste. When the rice is really hot thoroughly, add light soy sauce.
Toss in beef. Continue to cook and combine well. Add shredded lettuce and spring onion until softens. If you’d like to taste the crunchy veggie, then don’t fry too long. Serve hot.

Note:

You might like to take a look at my previous post: Tips on Frying Yummy Rice.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe (海南雞飯)

Ever tried the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice? I’m not quite sure if this popular dish was originated from Singapore or Malaysia. Some friends told me that it was from Singapore. Is it right? No matter you go into a Singaporean or Malaysian restaurant, they would definitely offer this dish on their menu, not very expensive and worth trying if you didn’t. The chicken meat is very smooth and tender, going so wonderful with the unique chili sauce. I can’t describe how yummy is the rice. It’s not ordinary white rice, but is cooked with chicken broth. So you can imagine that’s a luxury treat when you order Hainanese chicken rice with not-so-expensive price, enjoying a dish with rich flavours. However, it’s quite disappointed when I go into some restaurants that only offer salty and oily rice instead of the premium rice cooked with chicken broth.

When it comes to cookIng this dish, there’s a traditional way of using the whole chicken. Due to my family’s craving for chicken legs, I simply used chicken legs so that I saved more of my energy and time for cooking. That’s good to me and my family.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs

4 to 5 slices ginger

1 spring onion (shallot), sectioned

2 cups white rice, rinsed and drained well

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

2 to 3 bay leaves

Salt, to taste

2 cups chicken stock

Cucumber, few slices for garnish

Iced water for soaking cooked chicken:

1 bowl water, should cover the chicken
20 ice cubes

Ingredients for chili sauce:

2 to 3 chilies (depends on how hot you like)
5 slices ginger
6 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lime juice
4 Tbsp chicken stock
sugar, to taste
salt, to taste

Method:

Heat oil in wok, sauté minced garlic and grated ginger until aromatic. Be cautious, don’t let them burn. Or else your rice would turn brown when cooked. Add drained rice and stir fry for 3 minutes. Toss in bay leaves and pour chicken stock into the rice. Bring to a boil. Transfer to electric cooker and cook rice as usual.
Rinse chicken and drain well. Place spring onion and ginger on chicken and steam over high heat, covered with a lid, for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Insert a chop stick or needle into the thickest part of chicken leg. If clear liquid runs out, it’s cooked. Immediately transfer chicken legs into iced water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. This is an old traditional Chinese way of making the skin and meat of steamed chicken become smoother and tenderer.
To prepare chili sauce, just process all ingredients with a food processor for a minute. Add salt and/or sugar to taste.
When the chicken legs cool down, drain well. Chop into chunks and serve with cooked chicken rice. Garnish with cucumber slices if desired. Many Chinese people like eating steamed chicken with minced ginger and spring onion sauce. Just heat up a bit oil in wok or saucepan. When the oil becomes very hot, immediately pour the oil onto minced ginger and finely chopped shallot. Add salt or soy sauce to taste. That’s the popular ginger and shallot sauce for chicken. This Hainanese chicken tastes fantastic, accompanying with both chili sauce and minced ginger shallot sauce.

Salmon Fried Rice (Quick Lunch)

Eating raw salmon is our family’s first choice when dining out in Japanese restaurants. We'll make sure they are really fresh and clean of course. Well, this salmon fried rice would be the second one then. With this rice, I can easily feed my family on a small budget. I also tried this dish at home, pretty easy and quick. Best of all, I made this quite-good-looking bowl of fried rice by using the leftovers in my fridge, feeling to have an achievement of being a housewife. Heehee..

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 bowls leftover rice
200 gm salmon, cut into small cubes
2 eggs, whisked
50 gm baby peas (fresh or frozen)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt, to taste
pinch of black pepper
2 pieces lettuce
spring onion (for garnish)

Method:

Rinse salmon and wipe dry. Cut into small pieces. Set aside. Blanch baby peas in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well.
Heat oil in a frying pan, add whisked eggs to fry until half cooked through. Toss rice in the frying pan and stir fry with the egg quickly until the rice is heated evenly. Push rice to sides of frying pan, Add salmon and peas in the middle, and stir fry for 3-5 minutes until salmon is cooked. It doesn’t need too long as the salmon is quite easily cooked through and the peas has been cooked. Sprinkle with soy sauce, sugar, black pepper. Add salt to your taste. Stir fry for another minute or two. Done. Serve Hot.

Tips:

You might like to heat up the leftover rice in a microwave oven to shorten cooking time.
I’ve shared some tips on how to fry yummy rice in a previous post. Feel free to take a look.

Combination Fried Rice (With Tips on Frying Yummy Rice)

I believe that many people including kids and adults like fried rice. I, myself, like it very much. Not only does it taste good, but also it’s easy and handy to cook. I can add whatever ingredients I like. Best of all, it helps to clear away any leftovers in my refrigerator.

Whenever my mother had to work late, my father would fry rice for us. It’s very delicious. I took it as a treat as my mother normally did the cooking for the family.

Here I'd like to share a few tricks on how to fry yummy rice that I learned from my father. If you have more tips on frying rice, feel free to leave in the comments.

Firstly, when it comes to fry rice, we have to use leftover rice because you don’t want any soggy rice. Mixing with all the other vegetables and meat, the rice would be just right, not so dry or soggy.

Secondly, use as many favorite ingredients as you like. There’s no only one rule to combine ingredients for fried rice. So, be creative and enjoy whatever you like.

Thirdly, the right order is to pan fry eggs, then followed by rice. Many people make the mistake to put in rice first, then pour in whisked eggs. This would make the rice soggy and mushy by absorbing the egg mixture.

Last but not least, don’t stir fry all ingredients with rice in the first place. You have to sauté the meat and vegetables separately. Then combine with the fried rice when it’s nearly done. Simple and easy~

Ingredients :

3 bowls leftover rice
1 onion
1 sausage (I used Continental Frankfurt this time)
1 slice ham
6 mushrooms
1/2 cup green peas
3 eggs, whisked

Seasoning:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
A pinch of black pepper, to your taste
salt, to your taste
sugar, to your taste

Method:

Blanch green peas in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Cut onion, sausage and ham into small cubes. Slice mushrooms.
Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and sauté onion on medium-heat pan, add in mushrooms until tender. Put in green peas and sauté for 2 minutes. Set aside.
Heat pan on medium heat, sauté sausage and ham until light brown. Dish up.
Clean the pan with a piece of kitchen towel. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, pour in whisked eggs. When the egg mixture is half-way cooked through, add in leftover rice. Stir well for about 10 minutes on high heat. When all rice is evenly heated up and mixed well with the eggs, add in onion, green peas and mix well. At last, add the sausage and ham. While stirring all ingredients together, generously sprinkle salt, sugar and black pepper. Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Taste it by yourself. When you’re satisfied, it’s done.

Combination Fried Rice Procedures雜錦炒飯製作圖

Tips:

You can use whatever greens you like, for example capsicum, celery. Other meat, like chicken, shrimp, beef or BBQ pork can be good choice too.
If you preheat the chilled leftover rice in a microwave beforehand, it would shorten the cooking time. Save your energy~

Enjoy your yummy fried rice !

You might like this recipe as well:

Salmon Fried Rice (Quick Lunch)