Stokes Sauces: National Rice Week - from Pilaff to Paella

Rice - the world's natural health food

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Rice has been used for thousands of years and its cultivation has spread around the world.

From 17th to 23rd September, The Rice Association is celebrating its value and diversity.

Rice is quite a complex carbohydrate delivering high energy values but with slow energy release.

It's ideal for the young, elderly and infirmed because of its health values and the basic fact that it is easy to chew and digest.

But you don't have to be either of those things to enjoy it as or as part of a meal.

Its versatility is such that it comes in many forms and is used in many many ways. It covers recipes including Paella, Pilaf, Risotto, Jambalaya, and Mexican Rice to name but a grainy handful.

These have regional connotations but also differ in technique, texture and taste. Dry al dente pilafs match al dente, wetter risottos. Paellas too vary from the classic meals of southern Spain with a slightly toasted bottom layer to regional variations such as the soupy, stew of Menorca's caldereta.

Jambalaya is the 'New World’s' version of a Spanish Paella without a strong local source of Saffron.

Try something different with rice

Chorizo Pilaf

A pilaf is probably the most basic rice dish, usually using long grain rice, often substituted by basmati. It's easy to create a pilaf of anything you have resting in the fridge and turns leftover chicken and sausages into a meal in minutes.

For this example, you'll need:

1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, sliced and diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 large chorizo (about 250 g), skinned and chopped
200 g of basmati rice
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
250 ml of chicken stock
2 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (for its smoky flavours and chilli finish)
2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup (for rich tomato depth)

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Here's How:

Soften the onion in a pan with olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the pepper, chorizo and garlic and cook on for a further 6 or 7 minutes to soften the pepper and release the rich colours and flavours of the chorizo.

Stir in the two types of ketchup then the rice, tomatoes and stock. Bring everything to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. If you are adding leftover chicken, this is the time to do it.

Take the lid off after 10 minutes - if it is too dry, add a little boiling water from the kettle. If it is too wet, raise the heat and evaporate the excess liquid.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon or lime (or both).

Bibimbap

This is a very popular Korean dish which literally means 'mixed rice'. It's a simple bowl of rice topped with a variety of yumminess - fried beef, kimchi (if you can get it) bean sprouts, peppers, mushrooms (sometimes), carrot, greens and topped with a fried egg. It is served with a hot sauce and we hope you'll enjoy our version of it.

You'll need:

150 g of rump steak, cut into thin strips
Dark Soy Sauce
140 g of basmati rice
1 carrot, sliced into thin 'matchsticks'
1 green pepper, similarly sliced
1 pack of spinach
A 1 inch piece of ginger (more matchstick slicing)
An egg each.

For the sauce:

2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam (adjust for heat)
1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce (for rich dates and spices)
3 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (for smoky chipotle chilli warmth)

Here's how:

Marinate the strips of steak in the soy sauce. Cook the rice to the packet's instructions or your preferred technique to deliver a plain boiled consistency.

While this is happening, drain and fry the steak at a high heat to sear the outsides, leaving the inside of each strip pink and juicy. Rest and keep warm.

In the same pan, fry each vegetable ingredient individually - carrots, in, cook, out, rest - pepper ditto etc. You will have separate bowls of each cooked ingredient.

In individual serving bowls, assemble the meat and vegetables as a clock face over the rice. Fry an egg to top each bowl (with or without a scattering of sesame seeds).

Mix and taste the sauce ingredients adding the chilli jam a little at a time to balance the heat. More brown sauce will enrich and sweeten the sauce. More chilli jam - well, you get the picture. We know you'll like this one.

Kedgeree

With its roots in the Victorian days of the British Raj, there are varying stories of its origin. One is that it came to India with Scottish troops and adopted the flavours of the Indian subcontinent in the kitchens there. More likely is that it is a colonial version of a South Asian dish, 'khichri', a simple rice and vegetable nursery food that was easy on the tummy - perfect for colonial spice virgins as they arrived for tour of duty. With the addition of fish and eggs, kedgeree became a breakfast classic.

You'll need:

70 g of butter
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp of curry powder
1 tbsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard
Half a tsp of turmeric
450 g of basmati rice
100 g of frozen peas
A good handful of chopped parsley
1 ltr of chicken stock
750 g of smoked haddock, undyed
Milk
3 eggs, hard boiled (just) and quartered

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

Here's how:

Gently soften the onion in the butter for 7 or 8 minutes. Add the rice, curry powder, cumin and mustard, combining everything well together.

Pour the stock into the pan, cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

While this is happening, bring a little milk to the boil in a frying pan, enough to just cover the fish which you simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Keeping the cooking liquor, remove the fish to cool then flake it, removing the skin and any remaining bones.

Carefully fold the eggs, peas, parsley and fish into the the rice, adding a little of the milky cooking liquor and season well to taste. Let everything rest, keeping it warm (in a very low oven) to let the peas defrost and the flavours marry.