Krispy Rice

[AnxiousCowboy]

I went to Cafe Atlantico a couple seasons ago and had scallops that were garnished with "crispy rice" I've been looking for a recipe for awhile since I could not think of how they were made. There were grains of rice that were krispy similarly to a rice krispy.

I finally found a recipe from Morimoto:

2 cups steamed white rice

Vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

1. Set the oven at 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Spread the steamed rice on the sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and let the rice continue to dry in the oven for at least 8 hours or overnight. Set the dried rice aside at room temperature for up to 12 hours until ready to fry.

2. To fry the rice: Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large saucepan. In batches, carefully add a handful of rice to the oil and fry for 2 minutes or until golden. Using a fine wire-mesh skimmer or a heat-proof (no plastic) wire sieve, scoop out the rice and drain on paper towels.

So yesterday I did the whole overnight process with sushi rice that was rinsed very well before steaming. Today I fried it and it looked very similar to the crispy rice in question, but after tasting it... it was nearly as hard as raw rice...

I had to experiment more... After almost breaking my teeth I tried Morimoto's technique on two other rices that are in the oven now: Arborio and Uncle Ben's Long Grain.

I'm thinking maybe the starch heavy rice becomes harder after drying because the glue like starch hardens... I'm not sure....

What do you guys think. Has anyone done this before? I will update tomorrow night after I've tried the next two.

[tobiias]

Heston Blumenthal did puffed rice in his risotto episode.

From what I can gather from the video, here's his way:

1.5 cups of cooked basmati rice (he cooked it for a little under 10 minutes)

1 tea spoon saffron (looked like something like that)

Mix the saffron with the rice. Spread out evenly on a baking tray with parchment paper. Let it dry out in the oven for 1-2 hours at 60-70 C.

Fry the rice at 190 C. It's done when it pops up to the surface. Put the rice on a piece of paper and let the excess oil drip off.

Maybe you will have better luck with this one.

Edited December 30, 2007 by tobiias (log)

[Fugu]

Back when rice cookers were not yet invented, the pots used to cook the rice in develops a rice crust on the bottom. This crust is cut into portions or left whole, it is then deep fried until puffed. The small pieces are used as a garnish and the whole round piece is used as a serving vessel for various stirfrys.

[prasantrin]

I'd use long-grain rice, but not Uncle Ben's (isn't Uncle Ben's converted rice?). Thais use jasmine, I think, when they make the potcrusts for khao tang na tang (fried potcrusts with dip--recipe at Chubby Hubby looks good).

[hummingbirdkiss]

Persian rice has crispy rice in it..in fact the more of a crispy layer you have at the bottom the better

here is a recipe that looks really close to what I do to get that good crispiness Persian rice click here

[jvalentino]

Persian rice has crispy rice in it..in fact the more of a crispy layer you have at the bottom the better

here is a recipe that looks really close to what I do to get that good crispiness  Persian rice click here

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This recipe is a great find for crispy rice fans!

My stepfather's parents moved here from Iran a few years ago, and while she visited she made this rice a few times, and it was truly awesome. My mom "apprenticed" under her, and got the recipe down pretty good, and this recipe looks like basically what she does. The tadiq is amazing, and like others I really like it with stir fry. FWIW we were told you need a teflon pot, or a very well seasoned cast iron dutch oven for it to come out correctly.

Best,

Jeff

[HungryChris]

I wonder if this is anything like the crispy rice in the Lotus of Siam's famous Nam Kao Tod? I am sure I am not alone in wanting to try a hand at making that dish. I was under the impression the rice was cooked to the point of forming a thin brown cake on the bottom of a large skillet. Then scraped up and formed into balls which were cooled and deep fried, drained and broken apart to serve. There is a saltiness to it that I assumed came from fish sauce. The sour sausage and crispy rice are the two great mysteries in that dish.

HC

[hummingbirdkiss]

I use this pot to make rice and when I make the Persian rice it works perfectly! it is a cast aluminium very inexpenisive pot from a local Hispanic market ...makes the best rice ever

I do however use a clean dry dish towel between the lid and the pot to capture the steam ...one of my Iranian coworkers taught me that trick it absorbs that extra water so your rice does not get soggy

I am able to get a nice golden crisp layer now but it took lots of practice to get it right