hot take: the best rice

I am qualified to speak on the subject

elliott

Aug 30, 2022

Spoiler.

The hot take is that the best rice is Spanish rice (Mexican rice, whatever).

Yes, I’m Korean.

Hell, my second favorite rice is Persian rice.

And I don’t have a third favorite rice.

So I guess sticky white rice just falls in somewhere after that. White rice to me is more like…the air I breathe. It’s a very necessary component of my everyday life, but it’s just…there.

Is this even a hot take? Comparing something with so many more spices and flavors and ingredients to something that doesn’t have any at all?

Yes, I hear people yelling fried rice. To me, that’s just a clean-out-the-fridge staple, also doesn’t break the top two. Sorry.

Anyway.

It’s been a rough week. One of those “just-stick-whatever-in-my-mouth-for-sustenance” kinds of weeks.

I really didn’t feel like cooking shit and I didn’t feel like writing shit. But I looked in my fridge and pantry and found that I had the exact ingredients I needed for something I had actually never cooked before:

Spanish rice.

Just the thought of it brings back so many comforting memories of my Southern California childhood.

Going to a Mexican friend’s birthday party and putting way too much of that “flavored orange rice” on my plate.

Going to Chronic Tacos in high school and getting a chicken burrito and several tacos and some chips and salsa after smoking something that may or may not have been legal.

So I decided to do something I haven’t done before — write about something I have no experience making, while I make it. But I think that’s kind of the point of this silly newsletter, just to try and bullshit and cook for the common man.

Here’s the recipe I followed.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups of long grain rice
2 tbsp of neutral oil (I used canola)
A cup of tomato sauce (I used half a can of tomatoes, crushed up)
4 cups of chicken stock (I didn’t have this, I used 4 cups of water with a chicken bouillon cube)
2 cloves of garlic minced
A big pinch of salt
A couple turns of pepper
A big dash of cumin
A big dash of garlic powder

Instructions:

1 - Heat the oil in a big frying pan.

I used my big wok-like pan, and it was barely big enough. So make sure you get a big one if you’re doing this amount.

2 - Add the rice and cook until it’s golden brown.

Being Korean, my initial gut reaction was to wash the rice, but every recipe I looked at didn’t say to. Probably for the best, as it would not allow golden-brown-ness and would have oil exploding in my face. Probably. Idk.

3 - Once browned, add the four cups of stock/water and add the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and garlic powder to the pain.

Since I was kind of make-shifting the chicken stock, I microwaved the water with the bouillon cube first.
Yup, another “throw all the shit into the pan” kind of deal.

4 - Stir it all together and cover. Let it simmer for 30-40 minutes until all the liquid is left.

5 - Fluff it up after and let it sit more covered as needed. Serve and be taken back to your childhood.

Fluffing means take a fork and run it through so the air and moisture can escape.
Full disclosure, I tried it after and it wasn’t seasoned enough. I added more salt and cumin and then it was freaking delicious.

Nice. I did it for the first time, and so can you. Add it to your burritos and tortillas and your meal preps and your whatever. I’m currently shredding up some leftover chicken to eat it with. This will sustain me until I stop feeling like shit. Cheers.

tangy language

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