Rice cooker adventure

When one is away from one's native land, it's not always possible to find the exact ingredients and tools to produce the exact dishes back at home. But a new land opens up new doors to a new way of living. Authenticity becomes "being true to the new identity".

I have been fascinated by an Iranian friend's ways of cooking rice. I explored one of her own recipes, estamboli rice, with jasmine rice and electric rice cooker, both being more easily available to me.

Jasmine rice is short and thin. Unlike basmati rice, it needs less water and cooks fast, especially in a rice cooker. To keep the rice grainy, the ratio of precooked rice to water is about 1:1. If less water is used, the rice remains hard and absorbs liquid rapidly (best when served with stew). With more water, the rice becomes soggy (used in congee).

To make my friend's rice dish (see her recipe), I cook the beef separately first, along with all the seasonings. It already makes a tasty stew even by itself. To maximize the flavor of the rice, I boil off the liquid in the stew until just enough is needed for cooking the rice. The ratio of liquid to precooked rice is happily 1:1. I use this liquid from the stew to cook the jasmine rice in the rice cooker.

When the rice is almost done (at which point, you see plenty of steam coming out), I add the remaining ingredients of the stew into the rice and mix everything. Mix it well. Then add some sweet peas. I let the rice stay in the cooker for a while, until served. This way, the jasmine rice sucks up the flavor of the stew without turning soggy. It also prevents the meat from overcooking.

It's such a lovely treat for a wet and cold evening! Oh well, I wouldn't call it estamboli polo, lest it becomes a laughing stake to the Persians, like the American pizza to the Italians. I've yet to think of a new name for it. Meanwhile, lets make it a tribute to the creator of the original recipe.