Clare's Cooking Blog

Red rice is a relatively new discovery for me - and SUCH a welcome one!  It’s nutty, colorful, flavorful, nutritious … what more could one ask for?  Sometimes it’s just called red rice, sometimes red jasmine rice, and sometimes Red Thai Jasmine Rice.  I’ve found that in our area it’s not so readily available - even Whole Foods doesn’t reliably stock it. I can get it down in Truro at Atlantic Spice Company, and they also do mail order, but rice is heavy, and shipping therefore a bit expensive.  Probably best just to keep a look out, and snap up a couple of bags whenever you find it!

If you do decide to mail order, it might be worth getting some purple sticky rice at the same time (Atlantic Spice stocks this one), along with Red Bhutanese Rice (shorter grain), and Black Forbidden Rice, often from China. Lotus Foods is one company that stocks both of the latter.  All of them really expand the vegetarian repertoire in interesting ways!  

Often you cook the rice first, and then stir fry it up - as in this recipe - with the other ingredients.  Variations on risotto, in some ways, although usually a less creamy final product.  An advantage to cooking this way is that you can cook the rice ahead of time, and then the final preparation takes less than half an hour.

This recipe, as I borrowed it from the New York Times, calls for shrimp.  But it’s not shrimp season up here in Maine, whereas lobsters are plentiful, and relatively inexpensive.  So we’ve been cooking up a couple of shedders, extracting the meat, cutting it up, and using that in lieu of the shrimp.  The lobster holds its own, in texture and flavor.  I wondered about scallops as another alternative - but their more subtle flavor might get a bit lost.

SERVES FOUR AS ONE-DISH MEAL:

• 2 tablespoons canola, peanut or olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut in 1” julienne
• 8 medium or large shrimp (about 6 ounces), peeled, deveined and chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise and then into 1” lengths
• 2 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (NB: high sodium content!)
• 2-4 tablespoons chopped cilantro (or more - how can you ever overdo?)

FOR GARNISH- OPTIONAL:

• cilantro leaves
• thinly sliced cucumber (use the long skinny English kind, or if you have to use the other, cut it in half lengthwise and de-seed it before slicing)
• lime wedges
• scallions

PREPARATION:

Heat wok or large heavy non-stick skillet over medium high heat until drop of water evaporates on contact.  Add the oil, tilt to spread across the pan, and add the carrot and shrimp.*  Stir fry until the shrimp is pink and opaque, about two minutes.  Add the garlic, and stir fry until just golden, 15-30 seconds.  Add the rice.  Stir fry for about two minutes by scooping the rice up, then pressing it into the pan and scooping it up again.  The rice should have a seared taste.  Add the scallions and fish sauce, stir together for half a minute to a minute and transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top, and serve, passing the garnishes of your choice. Each person should squeeze lime juice on to their rice as they eat.

* If using cooked seafood instead of raw shrimp, add it after the garlic rather than before, and fry, stirring, for just about a minute before adding the rice.

If you want to add a salad, one that uses mango, papaya or melon, with cilantro or even mint, and lemon or lime juice in the dressing, would be a good accompaniment.