pink rice and 7-minute risotto!
'of rice & yams' no.11
Hello, foodie friends! The last few weeks have been a nourishing mix of nature and fun food things, and here are some highlights:
Tofino 🌊
We couldn’t miss The Old Country Market in Coombs, known for its well-curated specialty ingredients and goats on the roof! Sadly, we were a bit early for the goats, but we still treated ourselves to some very good chocolate hazelnut gelato in a gluten-free cone at Billy Gruff’s next door. It’s always nice to find places that offer GF cones. At Roar, we enjoyed wood-fired cooking in a funky mid-century modern setting, and soaked in incredible coastal views at The Pointe, which features floor-to-ceiling windows.
The weather flip-flopped between sun and rain, but that meant that we got to see a full rainbow! Our trip ended with a meal of crispy fried calamari and tuna tostada at Al’oha Poke, which has a very well-marked menu. Vancouver Island is a great place for gluten-free eating and I’m excited to discover more.
Jungle Room 🌿
Indonesian-Japanese cuisine with gluten-free labels, live music, and lush plants everywhere? Count me IN. I love seeing chefs blend unexpected flavours, which makes for the most inspiring food. Some standout menu items include tuna tartare with green chili sambal served with taro chips, Indonesian chicken Taliwang (because chicken done right is always a good indicator), and curry butter served with milk bread—which I will definitely be recreating at home with Promise gluten-free brioche. Jungle Room has quickly rocketed its way up my list of top places to recommend for both gluten-free and non-gluten-free eaters in Vancouver.
Book Talk 📔
I really need to attend more events like last week’s book talk with Rosie Daykin, author of The Side Gardener. Her book beautifully documents her pandemic project of building a garden and the dishes that came from it. It was an inspiring evening at the stunning Inform Interiors, complete with snacks from the book, and I even bumped into my publisher! It left me dreaming about how my own book talk might look in the not-too-distant future 🙂
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FUN INGREDIENTS 👩🏻🍳
Recently, I stumbled upon a box of PINK RICE at my local market and couldn’t resist grabbing one—I love playing with colourful ingredients, and this was my first time seeing it. I’ve since learned that this fun variety is made by stone-milling the outer layer of black whole grain rice, which gives it its distinctive lavender hue. Pink rice cooks similarly to arborio rice, the quintessential risotto rice, which I always make in my stovetop pressure cooker. Mostly because it transforms special-occasion risotto into a feasible weeknight meal in just 7 minutes! Our Fagor pressure cooker has been well-loved in our kitchen for over a decade, but unfortunately, the company no longer exists. Magefesa offers a similar stovetop model, and an Instant Pot works just as well.
Last week, I served it with a Yuzu Harissa Chicken, a recipe I still have to tweak before sharing, and simple roasted asparagus:
7-Minute Risotto
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
2 medium shallots, minced
2 stalks celery, small diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup arborio rice
2 tbsp cooking sake or white wine
1 tsp (gluten-free) miso paste
1 1/2 cups unsalted (gluten-free) chicken or vegetable stock, plus up to an additional cup
kosher salt, to taste
lemon, to taste
grated parmesan, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
In a stovetop pressure cooker, heat oil over medium heat until it shimmers. If using an Instant Pot, heat oil in the bowl on sauté mode until it shimmers.
Add shallots, celery, and garlic, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant and just starting to become tender.
Add arborio rice and stir a few times.
Add cooking sake, white wine, or 2 tablespoons of water to deglaze the pot and allow all the liquid to evaporate.
Dissolve miso paste in 1 1/2 cups of stock and add to the pot (it won’t look like a lot of liquid). Cover. If using a stovetop pressure cooker, allow the pot to come to pressure on high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low. If too much steam is escaping, further reduce the heat to low.
If using an Instant Pot, cover and set to pressure cook.
Cook for 7 minutes at high pressure. Quick release. Uncover and stir in additional stock if the risotto looks too thick. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Top with grated parm and serve with your choice of main or vegetable side.
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Happy Asian Heritage Month and Celiac Awareness Month! I’ll be sharing a list of gluten-free Asian products shortly 😉
✌🏼 Peace, love, and good food,
Jannell
Pink rice? How fun!!! I’m going to look for it!!