A Short Tale of Two Rices Well, one type is good for risotto and the other one idn'. The End |
On the left, a good all-purpose short grain rice. On the right, larger starchier, Arborio rice, great for risotto (named after a town in Italy).
The main problem with risotto is it messes two pots and a pan. The pan for whatever you want to go on top of the risotto.
This risotto messed even more pans because the chicken had to be roasted first, in this case within a bowl and under a plate. But then a stock was prepared in the usual manner, the bones were roasted again to put a char on them and to develop whatever marrow they contained, so another roasting pan for the bones, and then the broth prepared from the broken-open charred bones messed two more pots and a colander and a sieve. So half the effort goes to cleaning all those implements, which altogether is sufficient to put a lazy bloke off the whole idea. The rest of it is fun.
This stock is weak because the chicken from which it originated was weak. That was apparent right off from its size. The stock did not form into a gelatin when cooled, not even a layer of it, and hardly any layer of fat on the surface to speak of, which is very strange indeed. But the weakness of the stock suits the purpose of risotto just fine because a very large volume of stock will be condensed when cooked into the rice through the dual processes of absorption and evaporation.
This 1 + 1/2 cups of Arborio rice took up six measured cups of weak chicken stock.
The large starchy rice granules are expected to rid themselves of an appreciable amount of surface starch that thickens the condensing cooking stock into a silky smooth sauce while leaving each rice granule independently delectable and vaguely toothsome, nearly al dente but not quite, as if fit for the first set of teeth of a toddler. <--- I just made that up. Look, I'm trying to make a description over here, okay?
The secret to great risotto, apart from first choosing the right rice to begin with, and apart from first slightly browning that rice in butter or olive oil before adding liquid in order to help the rice remain independent instead of forming into mush, and apart from understanding the creamy concentrated sauce VS discrete rice granules described in the previous paragraph, ultimately is the finish of butter melted into the cooked rice followed by grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Ta daaaaaaaa. You are now a professional risotto cooker.
* preforms a deep elaborate salaam toward the audience, backs out stage left *
The topping could be anything or nothing. This topping was a simple roux flavored with two of my favorite things cumin, coriander, then cayenne for heat, turmeric because my wrist hurts and I heard it is an anti-inflammatory, and a non-descript prepared curry that was measured from the jars in the spice section at Whole Foods. Plus the remainder of the chicken meat from the roasted chicken mentioned earlier minus a breast and a wing which some special somebody consumed last night.
Here's the thing about that prepared curry. When the lad at the store pointed out the jar to me I must say I was put off at first because the label said something like $17.00 per oz which seemed like a lot to me and I am a cautious shopper. But then when I measured it out I got a ton of it for an ounce. Well, not really a ton, but a lot of powdered curry makes an ounce. I filled up a little bag that is the about the same amount as you get in a spice jar and it turned out to be only a couple of dollars. Less than at the spice store, and less than from the spice section within WF or any other regular store. So now I use it a lot. Now, I realize a person from India would object that prepared powder is not authentic curry and they'd be right, of course, but I haven't completed the knack of mixing my own curries from raw seeds although I could probably claim concocting fairly extravagant combinations of spices that amount basically to a curry by any other name. Which is what was done here.
Previous risottos:
Risotto
Risotto
Risotto with butternut squash
Fried eggs breakfast with risotto
Arborio risotto
This stock is weak because the chicken from which it originated was weak. That was apparent right off from its size. The stock did not form into a gelatin when cooled, not even a layer of it, and hardly any layer of fat on the surface to speak of, which is very strange indeed. But the weakness of the stock suits the purpose of risotto just fine because a very large volume of stock will be condensed when cooked into the rice through the dual processes of absorption and evaporation.
This 1 + 1/2 cups of Arborio rice took up six measured cups of weak chicken stock.
The large starchy rice granules are expected to rid themselves of an appreciable amount of surface starch that thickens the condensing cooking stock into a silky smooth sauce while leaving each rice granule independently delectable and vaguely toothsome, nearly al dente but not quite, as if fit for the first set of teeth of a toddler. <--- I just made that up. Look, I'm trying to make a description over here, okay?
The secret to great risotto, apart from first choosing the right rice to begin with, and apart from first slightly browning that rice in butter or olive oil before adding liquid in order to help the rice remain independent instead of forming into mush, and apart from understanding the creamy concentrated sauce VS discrete rice granules described in the previous paragraph, ultimately is the finish of butter melted into the cooked rice followed by grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Ta daaaaaaaa. You are now a professional risotto cooker.
* preforms a deep elaborate salaam toward the audience, backs out stage left *
The topping could be anything or nothing. This topping was a simple roux flavored with two of my favorite things cumin, coriander, then cayenne for heat, turmeric because my wrist hurts and I heard it is an anti-inflammatory, and a non-descript prepared curry that was measured from the jars in the spice section at Whole Foods. Plus the remainder of the chicken meat from the roasted chicken mentioned earlier minus a breast and a wing which some special somebody consumed last night.
Here's the thing about that prepared curry. When the lad at the store pointed out the jar to me I must say I was put off at first because the label said something like $17.00 per oz which seemed like a lot to me and I am a cautious shopper. But then when I measured it out I got a ton of it for an ounce. Well, not really a ton, but a lot of powdered curry makes an ounce. I filled up a little bag that is the about the same amount as you get in a spice jar and it turned out to be only a couple of dollars. Less than at the spice store, and less than from the spice section within WF or any other regular store. So now I use it a lot. Now, I realize a person from India would object that prepared powder is not authentic curry and they'd be right, of course, but I haven't completed the knack of mixing my own curries from raw seeds although I could probably claim concocting fairly extravagant combinations of spices that amount basically to a curry by any other name. Which is what was done here.
Previous risottos:
Risotto
Risotto
Risotto with butternut squash
Fried eggs breakfast with risotto
Arborio risotto
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