As much as we adore a steaming pot of freshly cooked rice, we've always had trouble mustering much enthusiasm once it crosses into the land of leftovers. Sure, there's fried rice, which can be delicious with the addition of an egg or tofu or kimchee, but we must admit that we usually find ourselves pushing the cold mass of grains farther back into the refrigerator. In an effort to be more frugal and conscientious, we're looking for inspiration for our leftovers. Here are a few ideas; please share more in the comments!
Rice pudding: We love cardamom and pistachio rice pudding at Indian and Afghani restaurants. Why don't we ever make it at home?
• Recipe inspiration: Indian Rice Pudding, from Alton Brown
Soups and stews: A handful or two of leftover rice can add texture and volume to an existing soup recipe. We're thinking rice could also be the basis for a quick, light soup with any seasonal greens, vegetable broth, and a little garlic.
• Recipe inspiration: Lemony Rice Soup with Ham and Spring Vegetables, from Bon Appétit
Frittatas: We've added leftover pasta to our frittatas. How about rice?
• Recipe inspiration: Spicy Black-Eyed Pea and Rice Frittata, from Gourmet
Arancini: Rice + cheese + breadcrumbs. Fried. Not much more needs to be said.
• Recipe inspiration: Arancini recipe roundup, from The Kitchn
Vegetable rolls: Although we usually make rolls with traditional sushi rice, why not make healthy snacks and lunches by wrapping our leftover brown rice and vegetables in toasted sheets of nori?
• Recipe inspiration: Non-Traditional Sushi, from Fatfree Vegan Kitchn
Any other ideas?
Related: How Do You Reheat Rice?
(Image: Flickr member visualpanic licensed under Creative Commons)
How to Cook Rice on the Stove
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You might like your leftover rice better if you weren't keeping it in the fridge. It'll do just fine on the counter for a few days, and it won't get stiff and crunchy like it does in the fridge.
I pretty much only eat Japanese sticky rice, and I use the leftovers to make Onigiri (rice balls) stuffed with leftover bits of meat or whatever you've got. They're ment to be eaten room temperature, so they're great in lunches.
Second day rice is also great with hot brothy things, like curry or stew, poured over it to re-heat it.
i used to always watch my dad heat up a leftover bowl of white rice with butter, cinnamon, and sugar for a late-night snack. as a kid, i thought that was weird. now, i find myself making extra rice so i can do the exact same thing!
Ochazuke--pour some green tea over your lump of leftovers and top with gomashio, bits of toasted nori, and some broken rice crackers. Or buy packets of the instant mix at Sunrise Mart. Really good when salty, so if not using instant, add some salt if your gomashio isn't too salty.
We also don't store leftovers in the fridge, but leave it in the rice cooker where it will be fine for 24 hours. Longer than that it needs to go in the fridge. At which point it is used for fried rice because that fridge texture won't matter.
With leftover rice (or any other grain, for that matter), I usually throw in some chopped fresh or frozen vegetables, then take it to work for a healthy lunch. It beats making peanut butter sandwiches every day!
http://www.abreadaday.com
Ditto, fried rice!
Also, i make wonderful soup with leftover brown rice, shitake mushrooms, dashi, a touch of sake, and eggs. I usually make extra rice just so that I can make the soup the next day.
I really like rice in my green salads. I warm it up a bit and then mix with arugula or mache and whatever else is on hand.
When I ran out of bread, I put a veggie burger on some brown rice with some ketchup. It was good.
Rice pudding!
Couldn't be simpler: just boil the old rice on low for a while in milk. Throw in raisins early to plump up and add flavor. Could thicken it up with your typical thickeners or a tempered egg, but it's not necessary, especially not with glutinous rice. Sweeten with brown or white sugar to taste.
Similar to amber77's comment above, I like to make it into a warm, sweet snack--usually with hot milk (or half-and-half!), plus some cinnamon and sugar, or maple syrup, maybe even some raisin or dried cherries. It's like quickie rice pudding.
ugh.. leaving rice out on the counter really freaks me out (any food really). there are some mighty nasty things that grow on food left out, rice especially, that even high heat cooking won't kill (at least not the fast high-heat cooking of say fried rice.). Blah! gives me the food poisoning willies!
Bacillus cereus
I've been throwing my leftover brown rice into salads- with hardy greens like mustard and kale and tangy vinaigrettes. Yum.
Arancini is great, but it really only works with left over risotto. Plain white rice won't have the right consistency or flavour, I think.
Wow, The Kitchn staff always reads my mind. I made too much rice for my red beans and rice yesterday and was wondering what the heck to do with it. I used the recipe posted for rice pudding and it's definitely a keeper. Thanks!
It's best to refrigerate leftover rice for food safety reasons.
Many great suggestions already for leftover rice. I'd add congee and rice salad to the list. Or even horchata.
Dudes - where are the cabbage rolls and stuffed grape leaves?
And, as someone who recently renewed her safe food handlers certificate just last month, I can say that you should always refrigerate left over rice. It can definitely become a home for nasty organisms if left out longer than an hour or so.
I never keep leftover rice in the fridge. Mine always goes into the freezer for the next time I want soft, fluffy rice. It doesn't dry out there like it does in the fridge.
It is totally best to keep rice in the fridge! You can even freeze it if you don't think you will use it in the next few days.
As a kid, my parents leftover rice kept for 1 day in the rice cooker. I have since discovered after 1 day not refrigerated, the rice starts to grow pink mould. So if you're not going to eat it the next morning/lunch, then put it in the fridge!
I wish we had more leftover rice though I tend not to cook extra but I love love love fried rice. Don't get to make it nearly as often as I should.
Breakfast- mix with an egg or two, fry as pancakes. top with jam.
Freeze it. i freeze individual servings of rice for quick lunches or dinner. I throw in a little chopped cabbage, a few raisins and meat into the rice for tasty lunch or pour milk over the hot rice and eat like hot cereal. It's very good with mashed winter squash and cinnomon mixed in then topped with milk.
Barefoot Contessa has a great recipe for Chive Risotto Cakes: http://whatsonmyplate.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/chive-risotto-cakes/
Not sure if you can use regular white rice though...
I make gratin with homemade condensed chicken or mushroom soup and leftover chicken cut into bite-size pieces. Just stir the soup, chicken and rice together and sprinkle the top with cheese and then cook in the microwave or oven until the cheese is melted. Eat it with tabasco sauce. It's delicious.
as you say, rice frittata is good, add curry a fresh or dried mint and some shredded cheese for an interesting combination
I agree w/ everyone who said freeze it.
I also like it with milk, sugar, and cinnimon as breakfast cereal.
Ditto on milk and sugar for breakfast. My house was always deeply divided on whether this was appropriate for leftover rice (always Hawaiian-style sticky) but I've come down seriously on the pro side.
Also ditto on soup; I often make quickie clean-the-fridge soups and rice always ends up there. I find it tends to hold up a little better than pasta, which I rarely put in soup any more because it soaks up all the broth and falls apart and gets increasingly sad upon reheating, which my soups inevitably will be as I live alone and can't seem to shake this habit of making soup fill the pot no matter how much I set out to make.
Rice pancakes with a little bit of egg and maybe some extras--veggies or fruit or whatever--to give it some flavor and make it a meal.
Leftover rice seems like a good enough reason to improvise some burritos. Especially since it seems I always have leftover beans kicking around as well.
SPAM musubi! The BEST use for leftover rice.
My italian/brazilian grandma used to make these really yummy rice fritters:
2 cups of rice
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 small onion chopped fine
2 table spoons of scallions
2 table spoons of salsa or cilantro
2 table spoons of parmesan cheese
1 table spoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of milk
Salt and peper to taste
oil for frying
In a food processor mix rice, milk, egg and flour together (don't over process), then add remaning ingredients and mix some more. Remove from processor, make little balss with the dough and fry them. Guess you can bake them as well. another option is to add a small cube of cheese inside each fritter so you have a nice center of melted cheese. Not very healthy but everyone loved them!
I always cook extra rice, to be eaten later with milk and sugar----either for breakfast or a late supper, with lots of hot buttered toast. I freeze in a large container so I can stir it around and break up the grains, then wrap tight and freeze in one cup servings. I consider this comfort food.