Red Rice

Not vs Blue rice, though. Red rice is a bona-fide S.C. lowcountry treat. Sadly, this recipe will be somewhat incomplete, as the only way I know how to make it is in a truly great, yet now discontinued, kitchen implement known as the Charleston Rice Cooker. It is more or less like a double boiler, except that there is a recessed rim full of holes around the upper basket, and a tight-fitting lid, so that the contents are bathed in steam. Perfect rice every time; dry and fluffy, each grain separate. Mine is going to expire someday; it's already held together with tape and ingeniously applied tinfoil in places, though I feel that I should be able to find a tinsmith somewhere in Singapore... I imagine that you could substitute an electric rice cooker, though it may prove hard to clean afterwards, or perhaps a saucepan with a baffle under it, and a long cooktime? You guys are kind of on your own here. Sorry. Better go to some yard sales in S.C. or something. Mmm, yard sales in S.C.

Red Rice
6 slices thick-cut bacon. chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 1/2 c long-grain rice
2 1/4 c V-8 juice

1. Fry bacon to render fat; set bacon aside. Fry vegetables in bacon fat for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add raw rice and fry till rice is evenly coated with fat and grains are glistening and slightly translucent, about 1 minute. Add V-8 and bring to a boil.

3. Transfer mixture to the top of a Charleston Rice Cooker, the lower compartment of which is filled with boiling water. Or something else. Cook 25-30 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and let sit before eating.

Suggested accompaniments:
Tabasco sauce (this is more like a mandatory accompaniment, actually)
fried fish and turnip greens
ham steak and  lima beans
a plate and a fork and your hungry self

At my dad's house in Bluffton we have these plates that are plain white with a thin black line running around the rim; I think there used to be more, but they have gone the way of all things, and now there are just one or two. This is the plate I always picture heaping with red rice and greens. It's austere but stylish, kind of like a man in evening dress.

On the V-8, by the way, you might be tempted to use real live tomato juice from your own peeled, seeded summer tomatoes. I myself have done the very same thing with tomatoes from Berkeley Bowl. Verdict: don't bother. After all, if V-8 was good enough for my grandmother, it's good enough for you, ya punk. Also, don't get fancy and start thinking things like, "what if I added some garlic, or..." I guarantee my dad has tried all these things, under America's Test Kitchen type conditions, and found out the original is best.

Comments

[Jeremy Osner]

Yay -- recipe blogging is back! This looks and sounds good. I believe you could build your own Charleston cooker if you took an old double boiler (one to which you still have the lid) and drill holes in the bottom of it. Use a small bit, like 1/8"; some grains of rice will fall through when cooking but not too much.

[Jeremy Osner]

Or alternately, you can buy a Carolina Rice Cooker Here -- that looks like the product you are talking about.

[Jo]

I use the same recipe and I do it in a "bialetti" skillet from Costco. Works beautifully! It's non-stick and I've had it for years. I use wooden utensils and bamboo a lot. I love this stuff, I actually survived on it as a younger person when I couldn't afford any other food. Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane. I think this might show up on the dinner table tonight!

[belle]

Jeremy Osner, you are the greatest internet hero of all time. I'm ordering from that site today. then I'll tell you all how to make shrimp and grits...

[Mandos]

Geez, why is it all the recipes seem to be pork-based in some way? It must be so hard to keep kosher in the Waring/Holbo home.

[ben wolfson]

Because pork is great!

[Jeremy Osner]

Jeremy Osner, you are the greatest internet hero of all time.

[grins and giggles abashedly]

[Carlos]

Pork isn't kosher????

[Rebecca from Hardy Middle School]

Belle Waring, I'm so glad to find you out here in the blogosphere. Singapore seems so very far from home, but, as long as you're still fixing Southern home cooking, the world's not such a big place, after all.

[milgwimper]

Thanks for the recipe, I think I will grill up some fish, and a salad and your rice for dinner.

[A New York City High School Math Teacher]

So Red Rice could be called Tarheel Negative Anti-Risotto?

And there is no need to try to make this using an uncleanable rice cooker. There is a German ricecooking implement which is basically a sealed perforated basket with lid, which device can be suspended inside of a largish saucepot. Sort of a couscous steamer, except for rice. I think, also, that one could use a cheap strainer basket or one with the handle broken off so it can fit in the pot. We have one which has been used to illicitly steam cherrystones on the Jersey Shore.

Oh, there was a stir several years ago (fifteen?) about an indochinese species of wild pig that was rumored to ruminate, on plant food if not on great questions of the Cosmos, which quality, if in combination with the already known quality of forked hooved toesies, would have rendered said Indochinese pig liable to being eaten in Kew Garden Hills with relish.

Sadly, panned out. Veal and sheep charcuterie still are the substitutes.

[A New York City High School Math Teacher]

Correction: Palmetto Negative Anti-Risotto.

[Carlos]

A Blue Rice you could make: rice pudding with blueberries or blueberry sauce. I know it's more on the purple side (and then there's John's aversion to pudding), but what the hell. Or you could try it Persian style, with blueberries and slivered almonds scattered throughout.

(I happen to know the New York City Math Teacher above hit the jackpot picking blueberries last week. Hint NYCMT hint.)

[Emma Jane]

You know, there are cleanable electric rice cookers, too. The teflon on ours is holding out pretty well, 11 years on, despite some biryani-ish adventures along the way... I bet it could make it through this recipe with few additional scars. (Convincing my husband on the V8 would be the hard part.)

[Gia on Guam]

Woah! I first thought I had found a recipe on Chamorro Red Rice but yours is different.

Annato seeds are used to give the rice the lovely red/orange hue. Onions and bacon make it more savory. I have seen some recipes inclue black olives. I will try your recipe and compare it to Chamorro Red Rice.

[Gilbert]

Producers and Exporters of Rice, Onions, Potatoes, Dry Red Chilies, Black Grem, Tuar Dal, Mysore Dal, Moong Dal, Tamarind, Turmeric, Pepper, Cardamom, Yellow Corn, Coriander Seeds, Groundnut, Cashew Nut.

[Raymond]

Hi ,

You mentined that the Charleston Rice Steamer was discontinued...I found a link that may help you with purchasing a new one...Is this the same Steamer as yours?

Cheers

Raymond

http://www.charlestonricesteamers.com/id30.html

[B Lombardi]

I had been looking for one also and finally found one at Charleston Collections in Charleston, SC 843 556 8911. Its the only stovetop steamer I have been able to find...its not quite as sturdy as the one I had previously but it'll do in a pinch