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The kind of rice I enjoy with Gumbos, Red Beans, Etouffee, etc., a lot of NoLA Cuisine dishes, is Creole Boilied Rice. I like it because the grains stay seperate from one another, essentially, they let the main dish be the dish. Not that the rice is second fiddle, in fact, if your rice is terrible, it will ruin the whole dish. When I have a pot of Red Beans on the stove, my Rice is as important as my Beans, which means, Very important! I take Red Beans & Rice very seriously. Well, not too seriously, nothing should be too serious, but let’s just say I hold them in high esteem (more on Red Beans later). Anyway, this is a great, simple, Accompaniment Rice. Not great because it’s simple, just great! The simple water/rice ratio is:
1 quart of Boiling water / 1 cup of Rice
The goal here is not to absorb all of the liquid into the rice like most recipes. The goal is to make the rice tender, then drain the rice! Think Pasta. I use Basmati or Jasmine Rice. Here is my recipe!
Creole Boiled Rice
1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Basmati or Jasmine Rice
2 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn….. the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)
Bring the water to a boil with the Bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn’t stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don’t trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad, Call it Al Dente, like I said, think Pasta. When it’s tender, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, and if desired, place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top for about 15 minutes; this helps dry the rice out.
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Could brown rice be cooked this way?
Even though this is a little late to comment, this is the only way that I cook rice. Last year I bought some Basmati from a local Indian grocery store. The directions had me make the rice this way. Their ratio was six cups water to 1 cup rice, however irrelevant. That was the best rice that I have had, outside of a Thai/Middle Eastern/Indian restaurant! I will not cook rice any other way now, even though my Grandmother would be very disappointed in me. As a bonus, the SMELL is incredible! Much stronger rice smell than when in a pot with a tight fitting lid.
I did use long-grain brown rice for this and it worked well. Figure on a much longer cooking time, though. After 15 minutes, I turned up the heat and fully closed the cover. After about ten more minutes, it was al dente. No stickiness at all.
When I first read this recipe I didn’t think I would ever use it because of the two step process of baking the rice to get the water out. The only rice I had was medium grain so I tried it. I do the Japanese rinse thing till the water runs clear, other then that I followed the recipe. It turns out perfect. Just a subtle bite and the right texture.
I’ll have to try this method of cooking rice.
Something as simple as rice is really an art.
I rinse my rice a few times, untill the rinsing water is somewhat clear before I cook.
Do you?
Hi Danno,
I saw your comments on Mr. Lake’s Forum, and came over to visit. Your site is terrific, I’m going to enjoy exploring it.
I had to comment on the rice – that’s the way my mother and grandmother always cooked rice, with a couple of variations. We put it in boiling, salted water and once the water returns to a boil, we only leave it there about five minutes. We always rinse it in cold water, in a metal collander, after draining it. This takes out the sticky starch, and keeps the grains seperate.
Then we put the collander over a large pot of boiling water to steam a bit, ten to twenty minutes to cook it until it’s done.
Now, having said that, after Katrina I got a wild hair and bought a rice cooker. I’ve been using that ever since, just because it cuts down on the clean up. 🙂
I tried this recipe w/brown rice and it was very good — had to extend the simmering time from 11 minutes to 35 (and honestly my rice could have stood another 5-10 minutes); but the flavor and grain separation were great!
Excellent with the shrimp etoufee recipe — thank you very much, your site made my dinner.
I just had to let you know that I made this rice today (with regular long grained rice), cooked it for 11 minutes, and it was the best rice ever. My neice and I thought it complimented the shrimp creole perfectly. Thank you for the great recipe.
What she has offered here is basically a variation on the traditional Middle Eastern/Southwestern Asain way to cook rice and it works very well for long, thin grained rices (the Basmati of the drier Middle East, not the plumper Jasmine types of SE Asia). I’m a chef by trade and have lived and traveled through these parts and from my experience working with Persian Chefs (who take rice to an art and are very serious about it!) and the Iranian way to cook rice I offer this similar technique. Boil a lot of water -as she says think pasta- but add sea salt, oil and a dash of white vineger to keep it firm and white. Wash and clean some fragrant long grain BASMATI rice (UBCR is bland processed cr*p in my book and I’m sad that it is so popular in LA where they grow excelent Basmati) cook and stir as you would pasta until the grains suddenly expand in size but are still al dente. Drain and wash till cool returning the pot to the stove to the high heat to dry and then add some whole butter to melt. (During this time you can mix in an assortment of extra ingredients to the rice if you like, such as fresh chopped dill, saffron, etc) Then add the rice to the pot piled up in a pyramid, turn down the heat to as low as it will go and preforate the rice pile with the handle of a wooden spoon (you can add more whole butter to the top if you wish) cover with a clean towel and tightly cover. Allow to “steam” for another 45+ mins, the longer you steam it the thicker the crust on the bottom will be, this golden (not burnt) ‘Tahdig’ is considered a delicacy and a sign of an expert rice cook!
just made this recipe this evening, to rave reviews!
Thanks for the inspiration!
I used to cook rice this way but I’ve been baking my rice lately – it comes out perfect. I don’t like draining since I like to use stock to cook my rice in and don’t want any flavor going to waste …
dude, didn’t know they called it creole rice!I’ve been boiling rice since the early 80’s while working in the Mississippi river on a tug boat!!!
I have been using
wild rice for the last few years. I really like the taste and texture it brings.
Could the rice possibly be done in a rice cooker?
This really brings me back to my moms rice, I always loved her rice.
My mother always “washed” her rice before cooking it, and it was always perfect, each grain seperate, and she would allow the rice to “dry” in the oven.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂