Sunshine Rice

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Everyday Family Recipes

Sunshine Rice

by Michael Magas





1.5 cups Jasmine Rice (or any rice with a similar grain size)
2 cups and 1 Tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon fresh diced ginger
1 clove of garlic sliced
1 tablespoon olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

DIRECTIONS

Use a large pot for this recipe, it should seem almost comically large for this amount of rice. The idea is to have the rice cook in the thin-flat layer instead of having the grains cook bunched on top of one another.

Heat your pot to medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and ginger. Once they start to sizzle and become fragrant, add in Turmeric and stir to combine and then immediately add in rice and salt. Stir again to combine and then increase heat to medium-high in order to toast the rice and continue cooking the garlic and ginger. 

The rice should become fragrant and you will see the garlic become nicely browned, should take 1-2 minutes. Before the rice or garlic overcooks, add in your water, be aware that your water will boil immediately upon being added but it will subside after a few seconds. Once it does, stir well to combine and make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Continue to stir until the water comes back to a boil, once it does, lower your heat to medium-low or low, whichever keeps your water at a gentle and consistent simmer. Immediately cover the top of the pot tightly with aluminum foil. Use a sharp knife to carefully punch 10-12 holes into the top of the foil.

Allow rice to cook totally undisturbed for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, turn heat off and continue to leave the pot totally undisturbed for another 15 minutes. After this, remove the foil and very gently scoop rice onto a sheet tray to cool.

Once cool, eat immediately or store in your fridge to enjoy at a later time.

Some context for this recipe. There are a lot of details and finesse for a very humble rice dish. The reason for the extra work is to achieve something texturally exceptional. I feel this way of cooking rice would really appeal to anyone who appreciates pasta cooked perfectly al dente. Cooking the rice in this manner should keep the grains from mushing together, it should cook the rice fully but still leave a toothsome bite. The turmeric, garlic and ginger are the warming or “Sunshine” aspects to this rice, giving way to something medicinal and healing during these times.

In the picture, the rice is paired with pickled celery and assorted veggies.