Best Ever Brown Rice

Best Ever Brown Rice

I heard a lot of good things about brown rice and I have been told it is nutty and delicious, even better than the white rice. I tried it and was not impressed. But I realised it was not cool to state that I hate it. I must say I have switched from white rice and never felt better etc etc. But I am not cool enough to be that dishonest and state in public that brown rice is the tastiest thing in the world and order tacos and pizzas when no one is looking. If I do something, I need to do it somewhat honestly. So I started to think about how I can make brown rice palatable for me! This required a visit in the past.

Mince rice is a favourite in Asia Minor area. Different regions have different ways of preparing it. The most common version of mince rice we find in the west is the Lebanese mince rice. Growing up, this was one of my favourite and I used to make this for my sons when they were little. This can be done simply or flavoured and coloured with saffron, safflower, fruits and nuts.

So I thought perhaps I can cook the brown rice range or the easy cook brown rice in the same way. I did and it was nice but still wasn’t interesting enough. Then I tried it with chilli pepper and finally my taste bud could approve the brown rice range. I promise you, if you are like me and feel you are chewing on tree bark grains when eating brown rice then this method will help you to become cool again. You can too boost about having the brown range, just omit the tasty meaty bit.

This mince rice can be your one pot or one pan meal and something you can have whilst putting your feet up, watching TV with your mate. All you need is a salad.

I cannot have spicy food but the brown range can get boring without a kick so I used sweet and mild chilli pepper. You can use any mild chilli and turn the boring brown rice into “Mince and Sweet Chilli Pepper Rice” and your friends will love it for dinner. Or you can make it spicy using scotch bonnet or hot chilli peppers to suit your taste.

Ingredients:

Rice: 500 g. I am using easy cook long grain brown rice.

1 tbs of olive or vegetable oil

350 g minced beef or lamb

1 ½ large chopped onions

½ red mild or sweet chilli pepper

½ green mild or sweet chilli pepper

Cumin: 1 tsp

All spice: 1 tsp

Ground peppercorn: 1 tsp

Garlic cloves: 6/7 crushed

Ginger: 1 inch crushed or 1 tbsp. ground ginger

Cardamom: ½ tsp ground

Clove: ½ tsp ground

Salt to taste

Safflower: optional for a savoury aroma

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker and leave. Or soak the rice in sauce pan water coming up to just over an inch over the rice. Bring it to boil and put the lid on. Simmer over the lowest heat for 12 minutes and check by picking one kernel and dabbing it. If not cooked, add 3 or 4 tbs of water and simmer for approx. 4 minutes.

2. Sauté the onions and add the chilli peppers. Cook until soften.

3. Add the garlic and the ground spices and salt to bring out the favours by cooking for approx. 2 minutes.

4. Add the minced meat and stir. Make sure the mince is not holding together.

5. Add ¼ cup of water and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 5/6 minutes over low heat.

6. Add the rice and start mixing gently. Stir until all the meat and flavours are mixed with the rice.

7. Cook until all the liquid has reduced and you have fried rice.

8. Taste to check the seasonings

Serve with fresh tomato and cucumber salad.

You can actually use white rice using the same recipe if you wanted to!