The perfect risotto is elusive. What is the best way to achieve tender, but not mushy rice surrounded by a creamy sauce? Whitney Chen knows; she was in charge of the risotto at Thomas Keller's Per Se, and she shares some of her best tips in an article for Gilt Taste. One stand-out tip is the smear test, an foolproof way to turn out perfectly-cooked risotto.
Tasting a rice grain is the best way to check for doneness, but what if you aren't sure what texture you are looking for? Chen recommends using your finger to smear a grain on a smooth surface to check for the correct al dente texture. Undercooked rice will be chunky with a large, white center (see above photo, left), while overcooked rice will be very smooth with no opaque whiteness (above photo, right). What you are looking for is a fairly smooth smear with a little bit of white in the middle, which you can see in the center grain above.
The article includes several more helpful tips on making great risotto, along with a recipe.
Check it out: How to Make Rockin' Risotto at Gilt Taste
Do you have any tips for making risotto?
Related: Risotto Re-Imagined: Great Alternatives to Arborio Rice
(Image: Gilt Taste)
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That is reaaallly not a term I like in the context of food! Hm!
I was planning to make a risotto for dinner tonight, but between the picture and the title I want to gag.
Man, @marmite and @whiteforest, how do you feel about schmeer if that word bugs you? Now I'm suddenly hungry for both risotto AND cream cheese. Excellent tip!
That middle grain of rice looks undercooked.
@pearmelon: it's actually al dente, like pastawould lo ok like.
Mmmm.. a 'smear test' in the kitchen.
o_O
For those wondering about the queasiness, a smear test is what we Brits call a pap test, I believe.
This is a great tip!
This is an absurd a recommendation as throwing pasta against the refrigerator door and almost as messy.
How do you know if pasta AND risotto are cooked? TASTE IT.
I have to agree with Tronchin; viz., simply taste the risotto.
Sure, making good risotto takes time and trial and error but after a few attempts most home cooks will get the right consistency by tasting their product often during the cooking cycle (independent of visual charts).
Wow!!! Everyone needs to lighten up!
This is a great visual test, especially for people who don't have a trained mouth to know "al dente."
I think this is a great tip. People who haven't cooked risotto don't usually get what I mean when I talk about that white opaque spot in the middle of the grain.
Another tip I found useful for risotto: use a large heavy-bottom pan instead of a pot to get the most consistent doneness in the risotto.
Also, I think risotto is best when translucent all the way through as opposed to "al dente", it lends more to the creamy characteristic the risotto is supposed to have. Then again, I'm also one of the seemingly rare people that like mushy pasta like what you get with fresh pasta.