It probably won’t surprise anyone to know that we eat a lot
of rice in our house. A. Lot. Of. Rice. So much rice.
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| Look how happy Yan is! This makes me happy too. |
We’re huge fans of our bare-bones Yan Can Cook rice cooker purchased
20 years ago at the Chinese mart up the road. (Technically it’s the Aroma
Housewares 14-Cup Rice Cooker, but Martin Yan’s cheery exhortation to “have a
rice day!” in the instruction manual won our hearts on Day 1, and now the rice
cooker is permanently named for him). It has zero settings, one button, and is
practically foolproof; faced with the recent prospect of needing to replace it,
we opted instead to epoxy the broken handle back to the lid and hope for
another 20 years of service.
But steamed rice doesn’t always cut it: sometimes you want
something a little more complex, something that stands on its own as a side
dish you actually invested some effort in, something creamy and decadent and
rich. Risotto is clearly the answer! But in my life, the need for comfort food
happens pretty frequently on weeknights, when the need to drive children back
and forth to activities, put dinner on the table, and manage 18,000 other
things plus supervise homework and keep the laundry from molding forgotten in the
washing machine takes precedence over standing over the stove for 40 minutes
stirring a pot of rice. No rice is good enough for that.
Yeah, I know. Imaginary Mom could do it. Whatever.
There are some recipes out there for low-effort risotto that
could probably help me solve this time crunch issue, but none of them are equal
to the challenge presented when you realize you have ¼ of Arborio rice left in the
bag and you have to feed 4 people, including a swimmer (serving equivalent: 4
people). Sweet rice to the rescue!
Sweet rice is not, in fact, sweet; that just sounds better
than “glutinous rice,” which does not, in fact, have gluten. Glutinous rice is called
that because it’s sticky or glue-like when cooked, thanks to a large amount of the
starch amylopectin – the same starch that gives risotto its distinctive and
luxurious texture.
Bonus: It’s about half the price of Arborio rice, which
becomes a factor when your household eats at least 50 pounds of rice a year (no
joke – we buy it in 25-pound bags from the Asian market). Do yourself a favor and find an Asian store to buy all your rice at, especially if you're looking for specialty rices.
Bonus #2: With 3 minutes of work and ZERO attention once it’s
in the pot, sticky rice will look and taste like a simmering pot of a Northern Italian
mother’s love in 20 minutes.
Bonus #3: It will hold on the stove without disintegrating into
mush or solidifying into a giant lump. Just take it off the heat a minute or two before you think it's perfectly done and it will
sit there minding its own business while you finish the rest of dinner.
Fast Fake Risotto
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion or 1 shallot, minced
1 ½ cups sweet rice (possibly labeled “glutinous rice”)
½ cup dry white wine
3-4 cups stocked, warmed if you’re feeling fancy and/or
expected to be making risotto
Heat the olive oil in saucepan and cook the onion or shallot
until it starts to soften. Add the rice and cook for about a minute, stirring
so it’s completely coated with oil.
Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute. Add 3 cups
of stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes
or until the rice is done, adding a little more stock towards the end if the rice
is still a little too chewy for your taste. Season with salt and pepper.
