Coconut rice Pacific way

                                                                               Receta en Español

It has been a real challenge trying to find recipes , or at least the name of typical dishes, of Kiribati.

Luckily I came across this website :(http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/) where they explain what is life like in Kiribati and offers travel guides where you can find a short description of main dishes consumed in these islands.

Rice doesn't grow in these islands, but it has become a common ingredient in normal meals in Kiribati.

The dish I present today is rice cooked in coconut milk, where they take advantage of the great amount of coconuts of the islands.

This is an easy and delicious recipe.

I already cooked coconut rice for Belize : http://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2015/09/coconut-rice-belizean-style.html

Todays' recipe is very similar, adding toasted coconut which turns the rice even more delicious.

Ingredients:

•   1 clove of garlic.
•   1 cup rice .
•   1 cup coconut milk.
•   1 ½ cups of water.
•   50 grams of grated coconut.
•   Salt.

Method:

1-   We pour oil in a pot and fry the garlic for a minute over medium heat.

2-  Add the rice and fry it with the garlic a minute over medium heat.

3-  Pour into the pot a cup of coconut milk, 1 ½ cups of water and salt , put the pot over high heat until it boils, at this momento, low the heat to minimum and cook for 20 minutes.

The minutes of cooking are an approximation, it depends on the hardness of the rice, you should take care and look if it is done before those 20 minutes.
Once it is done, turn off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes covering the pot with a cloth.

4- Let rice stand, meanwhile toast grated coconut.
Put grated coconut in a saucepan whithout oil, (coconut has its own oil).
 Put the saucepan at low heat , stirr with a wooden spoon. The moment we see that coconut starts to change its color to a light golden brown , we put away from heat and continue stirring.
It will keep on toasting with the remaining heat in the saucepan.
When it reaches the desired color, put the coconut in a dish.

This is the way it should look like:

Sprinkle a little toasted coconut over the rice:

Coconut rice is used to accompany other dishes, but it also is eaten alone. I ate it as a side dish of the fish I will present you next week.

My coments to the recipe

Coconut adds a special softness and taste to the rice, besides grated coconut on top of the rice turns it even tastier, it is easy to cook and a delicious dish.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Kiribati

Verviers rice cake

                                                                               Receta en Español

Veviers is a city of the Belgian province of Liege. Rice cake is a typical dessert in this Belgian region. The recipe I present today is the way they do the cake in Verviers.

The origin of this recipe is unknown, what is clear is that in the 17 th century this cake was largely eaten in Verviers.

It must be made with round and short rice, and you can eat it heat or cold, as you prefer.
It is said that the good rice cake must have a slimy consistency.

You must remember that the filling of this cake must be prepared in advance because it needs to stand for 24 hours.

Ingredients (24 cm de diameter oven dish):

•   1 l hole milk.
•   135 grams round rice.
•   185 grams sugar.
•   1 cinnamon stick.
•   1 block of shortcrust pastry.
•   2 eggs.
•   Butter and flour  to brush the oven dish.

Method:

1-   Make the filling the previous day; put milk in a saucepan at high heat, once it reaches boiling point , set at low heat and put rice and cinnamon inside the saucepan.
Cook for 1 hour.

2-   Add sugar to the saucepan and let cook for an additional half an hour.

3-   Let cool and keep in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.
This is the result after 24 hours in the fridge:

4-   Add an egg to the rice and mix well with your hands.

5-   Take an ovenproof dish of 24 cm diameter, rub butter over the Surface of the dish and sprinkle with flour, put the block of shortcrust pastry all over the oven dish, prick the pastry with a fork.

(If you have enough time it is better to prepare shortcrust pastry by yoursekf, here is the recipe I used: Pastel de nueces de macadamia).

6-   Pour rice over the shortcrust pastry.

7-   Take the other egg, separate egg yolk from white, take the yolk and paint the surface of the cake.

8-   Preheat oven to 240 ºC , cook the cake during 25 minutes at the same temperatura, heat up and down. The last five minutes use only the grill.

My Comments to the Recipe

If you like rice pudding, this is tour dessert, for me it was delicious.
You can eat it cold or heat, accompanied by a cup of coffee. Belgian people suggest that the cake must be slimy, my cake wasn't so slimy, I should have cooked the rice for less time.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

 

Belgium