So, what's great about rice? 🍚

This recipe is part of a Community Larder series, where the main ingredient is available to you for free from the Community Larder on campus or at the city centre location.

Rice is such a versatile source of carbohydrates. This is why they work so well as a side or the main ingredient in a dish.

Did you know?

• There are three main types of rice: white, wild and brown (wholegrain).

•  Rice expands to three times in weight during cooking.

• 28g dried rice sweels to 85 g cooked rice.

• A good sized portion of cooked rice is about 150g.

• 50g microwave rice is 20 p VS 3 p if you cook yourself from dried rice.

• Short grain rice is soft and sticky and good for dishes like Poke bowls.

• Medium grain rice is chewy and slightly sticky and good for risotto and paella.

• Long grain rice is light, fluffy and separated. Great on its own as aside or in fried rice. 

So why did we choose to focus on dried rice? A few reasons we already mentioned above, but also the fact that it can be on the table in 10 – 15 mins for plain white rice, and 20 – 30 Mins for brown rice.

Safety point 

Rice is a food that needs some extra care, so please follow these simple rules when thinking of how much to cook. Rice should be cooked and eaten within 24 hours and only ever reheated once. The good news is it can be eaten cold and is great made into a salad or used in fried rice. A recipe we are going to showcase at the end of the article.

Here is one of my favourite dishes that you can put your own stamp on depending on what food you have spare. Packed with layers of flavour, cost-effective and fighting food waste.

Special fried rice

Cooking time - 18 Mins

Prep time -10 Mins

Ingredients

•  100g basmati rice or long-grain rice

• 85g frozen peas

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil (or sesame oil, if you have it)

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 garlic clove, chopped

• 3 spring onions, sliced on an angle

• ½ red pepper, deseeded and chopped

• good pinch five spice powder

• 100g beansprouts

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 50g finely diced cooked meat (optional and whatever you have available)

• 50g peeled prawns (optional)00g beansprouts

Method

1. Boil the rice following pack instructions, adding the peas for the final minute. Drain.
2. Heat half the oil in a wok. Pour in the egg and stir-fry until scrambled. Tip onto a plate and set aside.
3. Wipe the wok with kitchen paper, then heat the remaining oil. Toss in the garlic, spring onions and pepper, and stir-fry until the pepper starts to soften. Add the five-spice, beansprouts, rice, peas and soy, then stir-fry for 5 mins more. Finally, add the egg, cooked meat and prawns, and stir-fry to heat through until it is piping hot.

Feel free to turn up the heat with some fresh or dried chillis 🔥

Make sure to check out the other Community Larder recipes.