Cooking Rice | Pilaf Method

Edible Exercises

To start, make a simple rice pilaf using 1 cup of rice. Sweat about ¾ cup of finely diced shallots or onions in a few tablespoons of unsalted butter. Then add the rice and sauté until translucent. Add ½ teaspoon of turmeric for color before adding chicken stock as the liquid (refer to the ratios of liquid to rice on the package). Season the liquid to taste before covering to cook. Rest, fluff and serve.

Next, make another simple pilaf by varying the mirepoix. Finely dice 1 small onion, 1 stalk of celery and 1 carrot. Sauté this in some olive oil then add the rice. Sauté until translucent. For the liquid, use half chicken stock and half vegetable juice (e.g., canned tomato juice or V8). Season the liquid to taste, cover and cook. Rest, fluff and serve the rice.

Try a few of the variations below. Just know that you can improvise. If you don’t have exactly what a recipe calls for, you will have the freedom to make variations – whether it is with a different type of grain, mirepoix, spices, cooking liquid or added proteins.

Practice Recipes