Recipes  

6 Delicious Rice Recipes from Here and Around the World

If there’s a universal ingredient that exists, it’s rice. These small grains with big potential are just as varied as the recipes around the world that you can cook them in. From Japanese onigiri to Italian arancini, by way of a familiar rice casserole, we developed these six rice-based dishes with a grain of originality.

1. Sausage and Chicken Casserole with Brown Rice

This brown rice casserole is made all in one pot and served with roasted squash. Start by browning the mushrooms, chicken drumsticks and sausages and set aside to coat the rice in a wine reduction and then leave to simmer. Use brown rice, either long or short grain, because it’ll stand up to the long cooking time without turning mushy. It’s a satiating and comforting dish.

2. Homemade Crispy Rice Cereal

To make your own rice cereal at home, select a parboiled long-grain rice that’s already been precooked. Warm some salt on a skillet at high heat and then add the rice, stirring constantly until the grains pop. It’ll be a hit at breakfast!

3. Honey-Sesame Crispy Rice Cereal Snacks

Looking for a snack the kids will love? Try these treats made from homemade rice cereal and toasted sesame seeds. The mixture, coated in a spicy honey, is then baked in the oven and broken into bite-sized pieces. They’ll definitely disappear fast!

4. Black Rice Salad with Tofu and Apple

If you’re seeing black rice more and more at the grocery store, you’ll definitely love cooking this rice with a pronounced flavour that’s similar to a whole grain rice. It requires a longer cooking time, but it’s worth it when it looks beautiful in a dish like this warm meal salad. Made with sautéed tofu, roasted veggies, Cortland apples and a curry-honey dressing, this recipe is colourful and nourishing. Meet your new favourite rice to add to your cooking arsenal.

5. Basil Arancini

The secret to tasty arancini? Cook the arborio rice for a bit longer than you would in a classic risotto, so that it will be tender and not al dente. Don’t rinse the rice beforehand, in order to retain its starch so that it can become creamy, and then chill before shaping into balls. The word arancini means “little orange” in Sicilian; we added a basil leaf to each of these yellow risotto balls to give them a look similar to clementines.

6. Salmon and Avocado Onigiri

Onigiri is a stuffed rice ball that’s eaten as a snack in Japan. In this recipe, combine salmon, flavoured with sesame and soy sauce, with mayonnaise and avocado to make the filling. Then cook the Calrose rice like you would sushi rice, coated in a sweet and salty rice vinegar mixture. One tip for successful onigiri shaping: dampen your hands with water so that the rice doesn’t stick.

A LITTLE LEXICON OF RICE VARIETIES

There are thousands of varieties of rice on the planet. Each has different attributes in terms of shape, flavour and cooking methods. Here are some of the most common types of rice available here, plus recipe ideas for cooking them: