Posted on 05/29/2020 6:22:30 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
We recently went looking online for a wok - we wanted to try and become expert at stir-frying. It surprised me that everything we liked best was sold out everywhere. Then, I realized that lots of people have been stuck at home and doing more cooking for themselves. (I saw a recent cooking video on YouTube, in which a man stated that he had gone all over to find simple 8-inch layer-cake pans, and they were sold out everywhere that he was able to look; and I noticed last weekend that the baking section in my grocery – flour, sugar, baking mixes, leavening agents – was almost bare.)
We finally found a nice wok, and went through the process of curing it. We haven’t cooked in it yet (busy week) but we did some shopping for ingredients. In the process, I found in the local health food store something called Chinese ‘Forbidden Black Rice’, which I’d heard about but had never tried.
This rice is amazing! and the strangest thing about it is that it tastes like it’s full of butter, right out of the pot – with no butter added. It’s also lower on the glycemic index than ‘regular’ rice, and very rich in antioxidants and other nutrients.
I first tried this in a traditional ‘Carolina Rice Steamer’, which is sort of like a double boiler; but it took forever. You may be able to do it in an electric rice steamer (I pitched mine when it broke down) but I would suggest doing this on the stovetop as you would do brown rice.
The product we purchased was not ‘sticky’; so I’m assuming it’s the one referred to in this article as the actual Chinese Forbidden Black Rice:
Grace Young is one of the best instructors I’ve found on stir-frying; her various books are full of history, traditional Chinese culture, and information, and the recipes are very interesting and different from the heavy food that we call 'Chinese' in restaurants in the US. Here is her video on seasoning a new carbon steel wok:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjkTPWBOf8
And here is her blog, with her recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken:
http://www.graceyoung.com/recipes/sweet-and-sour-chicken/">
I saw this cooking-coloring book for kids, on the Dover website today; it looks like a great way to keep the young ones occupied and also learning a skill that will be valuable throughout life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjkTPWBOf8
-JT
This month: Woks, Weird Rice, and some Kid Stuff.
(If you would like to be on or off of this monthly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message)
-JT
Never saw that rice before. At first it looks like bugs. But it sounds delicious.
It is. Once it’s done and you taste it, it’s very unexpected.
I will definitely try it. thanks! We eat a good amount of rice. found some online and this articlehttps://www.healthline.com/nutrition/black-rice-benefits
Thanks for the ping.
It was kind of expensive, relative to regular white rice and brown rice - I think we paid 3.99/lb. But we bought it at a high-end health food store. I’m going to look for better prices at co-op type stores and online.
But one cup of the raw rice made enough for four generous servings. It’s a lot more nutritionally dense than regular rice, and much more flavorful - so less goes a longer way :-)
Found our local health food store has it.4.22 a pound. Easy to get it and try it.
Forget the whole Wok thing unless you have the monster BTU’s the resturants have. That is a big part of the results.
Oh, I think it will work for our purposes.
If your range doesn’t get hot enough for you, a lot of the stir-fry instructors suggest a butane burner.
Also, with a Western range - or a butane burner- you want a flat-bottom wok, not a round bottom with ring. The latter causes the wok to be too far from the heat.
My first cook book was Betty Crocker “Cookbook for Boy and Girls”
https://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cook-Book-Girls/dp/B007SRW6DW
Spent many hour with my Grandma (BEST COOK EVER) making these recipes.
I still have this cook book!
Spent many hours rolling out noodle dough with her. And my daughter made noodles with me
Different days but still have her Pavitsia pan. Traditions matter.
Tradition make good memories
I had that book, too; I still have pages saved from it. You can still buy copies of it (read reviews before purchase):
https://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cook-Book-Girls/dp/B007SRW6DW
And a few years ago, I found a downloadable copy somewhere, which I saved - it may have been on archive.org.
I have seen the black rice at a small local shop. I have this revulsion to foods outside of the color we expect.....like purple potatoes & carrots. Your description of black rice makes it sound so delicious that I am going to see if I can get some when we go to town tomorrow. Thanks!
I found a bunch of soba noodles in the pantry from "who knows when" and we had them for dinner cold with ginger sauce.
Boil the noodles for about 5 minutes in salted water, they should be just al dente. Rinse in cool water and toss with the sauce.
Ginger Sauce
Two tablespoons fresh grated ginger, same of garlic, two or three green onions chopped, a teaspoon brown sugar, a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, quarter cup sushi vinegar, half cup of soy sauce. Shake to combine.
Eat then or store in fridge until hungry. Makes a great dinner with cucumber salad after you have cleaned out the garage.
Speaking of which, where in the heck did we get four, count them FOUR, sixteen inch chains? We had an eighteen and have a twenty inch chain saw but never a sixteen. Are they breeding? If we leave them alone in the back corner will they grow into 20 inchers?
LOL! I’ve bought the multi-colored carrots and potatoes; they’re pretty, but don’t seem to taste or cook up any differently than the ‘regular’ do.
We’ve often bought purple cauliflower; it’s also good, but I still haven’t noticed much difference in the taste:
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/fall-favorites/purple-of-sicily-cauliflower
If you get the less-glutinous, non-sticky black rice, I think you’ll be surprised.
This is one of my favorite ways to have rice. It was always considered a treat growing up. I either make them like this or with just tomato sauce and mozarella. This is most similar to my recipe.
Arancini di Riso
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked arborio rice
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup Italian tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 egg whites
1-1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
Oil for deep-fat frying
Directions
1. Cook rice according to package directions. Cool slightly. Stir in the egg yolk, cheese and butter. Cover and refrigerate until cooled.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, peas, salt and pepper.
3. Shape rice mixture into 11 patties. Place one heaping tablespoonful of meat filling in the center of each patty. Shape rice around filling, forming a ball.
4. Place egg whites and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip rice balls in egg whites, then roll in bread crumbs. In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry rice balls, a few at a time, for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/arancini-di-riso/
Are those like the rice balls called ‘Supplì al Telefono’?
I’ve seen them on television cooking shows, and have always wanted to try.
I had to look that up because i’ve never heard of them before. They look like they’re made a little differently, filling and croquette style. Arrancini means “little oranges”.
https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/suppli-al-telefono-recipe
https://www.ricettedalmondo.it/suppli-al-telefono.html
https://www.cookist.it/suppli-al-telefono-la-ricetta-originale-della-cucina-laziale/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.