This is a video I felt I had to make.
My family had a Turkish Restaurant for most of my life. We were lucky enough to have a lot of very loyal, very passionate customers. It was quite common for us to get asked for recipes, but none more than our rice. People would ask me for it on the street.
When I was in Primary school, my best friend’s mum Mrs. Gabriel asked me if I knew how to make it. I told her that I did, despite having never made it. When I tried to show her…let’s just say it didn’t turn out…it became a running gag. Fast forward ten years, at my mate’s wedding, guests joked about not throwing the rice at the bride but giving it to my mum to cook instead.
Since closing the Restaurant, I’ve tried to put a few recipes on our Facebook to give back to the customers/friends that kept us going through the tough times.
This video was not fun to make at all! Just planning it took 3 days. I was shooting video over 2 days at my parent’s place and ended up with over 1 hour and 20 minutes of footage. Let’s just say I’ll be doing more bikini shoots before my next recipe video.
Editing the thing was a pain too. I had to place all the voice over parts on the timeline first, so it took a long time before I could get excited about how it was coming together.
I’m happy with how it turned out though. The cooking method is below the video if you are interested.
#1 – Wash the rice
Take some medium grain rice and put the amount you plan to cook in a strainer. Wash the rice under hot water, then let it sit in that water for a few minutes. This removes some of the starch which stops the rice from being sticky.
#2 – Add Vermicelli
Get your hands on some Vermicelli or some Orzo…which is also called Risoni. This will add some colour and texture to your rice. Sautee a handful of it in your choice of oil. Butter is the tastiest. Olive oil is the healthiest. When it starts to turn golden brown, strain the rice before adding it to the saucepan. Add salt to taste and stir.
#3 – Sautee the rice
Stir the rice regularly at a medium heat. Keep sautéing until much of the rice turns golden and starts to look slightly crunchy. The more you cook it in this phase the less the rice will stick together.
#4 – 1 : 1.5
Rice : HOT water
For every cup of rice add one and a half cups of HOT water. Hot tap water is fine but boiling water out of a kettle is best. Give the rice a stir and put on the lid. Bring the water to a boil, if it isn’t already, then reduce the heat over time to a simmer.
#5 – Stir again
When you see small dimples appear on the top layer of the rice, stir the rice through. We don’t want the rice on the top to get dry. Put the lid back on quickly.
#6 – Tea towel
A few minutes after stirring, turn down the heat to very low. Put a tea towel under the lid and cook for a few more minutes. The tea towel will stop drops of water dripping back down onto the rice. You’ll know the rice is cooked when it absorbs all the water.