Topic: Perfect pulao

[RubyDoo]

As I mentioned last night that mastering (Chinese) fried rice was, for me, an important step towards mastering pulao rice, and as I cooked fried rice this evening (tenth anniversary of my late father-in-law's death, so important to put the right food on the shrine) I thought that some might be interested to see a picture of it.  There is, of course, no "recipe" per se : well-washed rice, 1/3" boiling water, 12 minutes, then fry omelette and shred, add rice, MSG, salt; keep moving; finally add finely chopped spring onion, fry a little more, dress with sesame oil and serve.

** Phil.
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Looks good Phil. A credit to the shrine. Personally I have always had better results with fried rice when adding the cooked rice when cold.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Looks good Phil. A credit to the shrine.

Thank you.

Personally I have always had better results with fried rice when adding the cooked rice when cold.

I found the same, when I boiled my rice the traditional way; now that I use the microwave oven, I find I can cook it straight from the oven because there is no excess moisture at the end of the cooking period.  The rice you see was admittedly rested for a few minutes while I put the boiled rice on the shrine and then cooked the chicken with chilli and black bean sauce (see below), but it is fair to say that ever since I moved to a pure microwave technique I have never found any need to let it get cold.

** Phil.
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[Malc.]

M. Fray & M. Bentos studied for fifty years at L'Ecole Gastronomique in order to learn how to create such perfection in a pie; what hope has a mere amateur when he places his humble offerings alongside theirs ?

That's where  you went wrong my old friend, it should have been a F&B steak & kidney pudding

[Malc.]

As I mentioned last night that mastering (Chinese) fried rice was,


For me this was frying the egg in Sesame Oil, does anyone else find this?

[goncalo]

Although in 2011 I experimented with the "don't wash, and dry-fry" approach to pulao rice, and was quite happy with the results, I did come to realise that while the technique most definitely works and produces very acceptable pulao rice, the one thing that suffers in the process is the colour : the rice just isn't white at the end of the exercise.  With this in mind, I have started 2012 by returning to the "Wash, soak and drain" method, but have modified my subsequent technique to use no stove-top utensils at all : all takes place in the microwave oven.  So here is a step-by-step guide to what I am now happy to call "perfect pulao" : it really does lead to perfection, and I don't think can be significantly improved much further.

Step 1: place one mug of rice in a very large kitchen sieve, and stand the latter in an even larger bowl so that the sieve hangs down into the bowl for the former's full depth.  Stand under the kitchen tap in the sink, and wash thoroughly, using hot water at first and then switching to cold.  Leave the water running while you do other things, and return from time to time to give the contents of the sieve a good stir.  When stirring no longer produces any signs of cloudiness in the water, turn off the tap and leave to soak for about 30 minutes, then empty the bowl and allow the rice to drain/dry.

Step 2 : into the base of a Pyrex [R] casserole with lid, put a little ghee (maybe 1/3 of an ice-cream scoop, no more) and on top of the ghee add your pulao spices : faux cinnamon, Indian bay, kala jeera, cardamom, fennel,  a couple of cloves, and -- most important of all -- some star anise.  Place in an 850W microwave oven and cook on full power with the lid on for five minutes.  Remove from the oven, add some freeze-dried garlic flakes and the drained rice, salt to taste, and then cover with boiling water to a depth of about 1/3".  Place in an 850W microwave oven with the lid on for 12 minutes.  Remove from the microwave oven, lift over gently, add a few drops of food colouring if desired (keep each colour separate) and either return to the microwave oven at 10% for about 20 minutes, or place in a warm (80C) conventional oven for about the same period, in both cases still with the lid firmly in place.  Gently lift over once more and serve.  The pulao is even better on the second day, when the rice has been in contact with the spices and garlic for a full 24 hours, but is edible and delicious when freshly prepared.

** Phil.

Just to be clear, as I'm about to make this, do you by any chance forgot of a step to add water, or does the recipe use the water that has been soaked into the grains?

Another question, do you add bay leaf at the first stage of microwave cooking?

Thanks. I'm going to give this one a try for convenience tonight.

Cheers,
Goncalo

[Peripatetic Phil]

Step 2 : into the base of a Pyrex [R] casserole with lid, put a little ghee (maybe 1/3 of an ice-cream scoop, no more) and on top of the ghee add your pulao spices : faux cinnamon, Indian bay, kala jeera, cardamom, fennel,  a couple of cloves, and -- most important of all -- some star anise.  Place in an 850W microwave oven and cook on full power with the lid on for five minutes.  Remove from the oven, add some freeze-dried garlic flakes and the drained rice, salt to taste, and then cover with boiling water to a depth of about 1/3". 

Just to be clear, as I'm about to make this, do you by any chance forgot of a step to add water, or does the recipe use the water that has been soaked into the grains?

Another question, do you add bay leaf at the first stage of microwave cooking?

Both answered in the quote above, Goncalo : no, the "add water" step was not omitted (i.e., it is present in the quote above); and yes, torn Indian bay goes into the ghee and is fried for five minutes along with the rest of the pulao spices.

** Phil.

[goncalo]

Thanks Phil. I ended up making it in a different way and I must be honest, thank god I did it because it made the best rice I've made to date! I will give yours a spin next time :-)

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks Phil. I ended up making it in a different way and I must be honest, thank god I did it because it made the best rice I've made to date!

Then you must publish the recipe immediately !  Two "perfect pulaos" are surely better than one
** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

As I mentioned last night that mastering (Chinese) fried rice was ...

For me this was frying the egg in Sesame Oil, does anyone else find this?

Tried this yesterday & today : yesterday, beat the egg and sesame oil together, then fried in groundnut oil and added rice; today, fried the egg in sesame oil, then added groundnut oil to fry the rice.  Neither seemed to make any appreciable difference : I always dredge the fried rice lightly in sesame oil anyway, and frying the egg in the latter didn't seem to affect the flavour in any way.

** Phil.

[mr.mojorisin]

here's my Chinese special fried rice with Chinese curry sauce and onions poured over the top....mmmmm