Most people remember the special white turkish rice from their vacation in Turkey. These delicious, tasteful white rice with small brown makeroni in, which is being served to alwost every dish. I often get questions about how to make these Turkish rice, because it can be more tricky than ecpected. And there is a little catch and some tricks you need to know, when you give it a try.
And they are quite delicious these rice, if I have to say it myself (and I’m not that keen on white rice in generel). So I can understand the demand. And yes, you can use them for almost everything, not just for Turkish food.
I have to admit that my son is a picky eater some times. It’s more about the sight, the texture and the feeling in the mouth, than it is about the taste. And these Turkish rice goes straight in I must say. The positive way. He asks fore them so often, that I some times make a little bigger portion, than we really need. Just so I have some in the fridge. And he is quite pleased with that.
Mother in law again:
It was my mother in law who first introduced me to the rice here (as so much else). She has patiently helped me, when they initially burned a bit, got too sticky, etc. And the recipe and approach are really quite simple. It’s just about letting them draw in boiled water with salt before cooking. And then of course, slightle fry the small brown pasta / makeroni in abundant amounts of butter until golden. It’s really just that.
Quite easy right ?
A kind of art:
We especially use the rice for Turkish food – of course. Kuru Fasulye (the famous beansoup/stew, that is the turkish national dish), all kinds of meat, the oven baked köfte, and anything else….
And especially for grilled fish, the rice is completely phenomenal. They give a kind of fullness and fat to a good white fish. I use real Turkish rice to make this one proper (I do not know what they are called). They are shorter and slightly thicker than regular Basmati rice and less sticky than Jasmin rice.
It’s also about not touching the rice while boiling or when it’s resting. If so, you will get a sticky texture, that you prefer not to have. Each rice grain must be done without sticking to each other. And then you should be fairly careful with the water and measure up correctly, so that the water / rice ratio is correct. It is a bit of a balance or maybe somekind of an art to achieve the right result. So it’s not at all as easy as it sounds. At least I have tried to end up with some rice, that I wasn’t fully content or happy about.
Turkish rice – and some pasta:
For this type of Turkish rice, use the little brown pasta, which in fact looks a bit like brown rice. They are called “şehriye” in Turkish and are therefore this kind of dish is called Arpa şehriyeli pirinç.
Well, enough talk – you have to try again. If you follow the recipe it will probably be an success.
If you are super advanced and want the serving to look like it does in Turkey, you can grease an appropriate size bowl with some oil, put the rice in and press them slightly, and then turn it upsite-down with a plate under. Then you have the nice round shape of the serving, which you often meet in Turkey.
If you want the recipe in Danish/ Læs opskriften på dansk her
Turkish rice - tasty and delicious
Ingredienser
- 1½ cup white turkish rice
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp sehriye rice/pasta
- 2 cups water
Sådan gør du
- 1: Put the rice in a bowl with a little salt and boiled hot water. Let them rest for approx. 10 minutes2: Rinse the rice thoroughly under rinning water. Let them drip off3: melt the butter and fry the small pasta (sehriye) until golden.4: Bring the rice in and stir well. Then bring water and a little salt and boil.5: Lay the lid on when the rice boils and turn down to just below medium heat. Cook for about 10-12 minutes6: Turn the heat off, but leave the pan with the rice on the heat7: When the rice is finished, loosen them with a fork to completely separate them to make them lighter. If desired, taste with salt and serve immediately.
Noter
