Seductions of rice

481 Pages·2003·211.84 MB·English

by  Alford

'This is a must-have
compendium
for any serious cook.
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This award-winning book—by authors who are
squarely on the side of the home cook—will bring
ease and variety and fun back into your kitchen.
To create this book, IACP and James Beard award-
winning authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
traveled to the major rice-eating regions of the world
and experienced firsthand both the staggering
array of foods that traditionally accompany rice and
dozens of varieties of rice with unimaginable
subtleties of taste. In Seductions of Rice, they bring it
all home with hundreds of delectable dishes from the
world's greatest rice cuisines, illuminated by stories,
insights, and photographs. Chinese stir-fries served
with steaming rice, smoky Carolina low-country
pulaos, Japanese sushi, Indian thorans, Thai salads,
Turkish pilafs, and Italian risottos are shared not just
as recipes, but as time-honored traditions.
But Seductions of Rice is more than a collection of
fabulous recipes surrounded by a wealth of precious
information. It is more than enthralling photographs
taken by the authors of people and places, many
of which we can barely imagine. It is a "new" way of
putting food on the table that is as old as the ages.
You will marvel at the way of rice; how food this
simple can taste this good and be so satisfying: Thai
sticky rice with grilled beef salad, Indian basmati
with curry, Cuban black beans and rice, Louisiana
gumbo, Persian kebabs with saffron-tinted rice,
Spanish paella, Mexican rice pudding. More than
two hundred recipes from around the world attest to
the adaptability of this endlessly appealing food.
Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid understand our
yen for these vibrant flavors and have written a
book that satisfies our every craving.
of
seductions rice

seductions
of rice
Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid
Copyright © 1998 by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
All black-and-white and travel photographs copyright © 1998 by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
The following photographs are individually copyrighted by the photographers:
COLIN FAULKNER
page vi, top right, bottom left I page x, top right I page 19 I page 290(1), both
page 290(4), bottom I page 290(6), top I page 290 (7), both
BEATRIZ DA COSTA
page 290(3), top
EVAN SKLAR
page 290(2) I page 290(4), top I page 290(5), top I page 290(6), bottom
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced—mechanically, electronically,
or by any means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher.
Published by Artisan
A Division of Workman Publishing, Inc.
708 Broadway, New York, New York 10003-9555
www.artisanbooks.com
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Alford, Jeffrey.
Seductions of rice / by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57965-234-4
1. Cookery (Rice) 2. Cookery, International. I. Duguid, Naomi.
II. Title.
TX809.R5A434 1998 98-3951
641.6'318—dc21 CIP
Printed in China
10 9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
First Paperback Edition, 2003
BOOK DESIGN BY VERTIGO DESIGN
Previous page: Rice drying on a road in southern China
that Seductions of Rice
is now in paperback. For us it will always be
our Joy of Cooking, a collection of recipes that
best represents what we cook for ourselves
(and for our friends) at home. These recipes
from Thailand, China, India, Japan, and from
other places all around the world, are for all the
foods we most like to eat. And with rice as
the backbone of a meal, here is a way of eating
that is delicious, inexpensive, healthful, and
fun and easy in the kitchen.
Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
March 2003
the best traveling companions in the world

Preface viii
Rice for Every Occasion xi
Beginning with Rice 1
THE RICE DICTIONARY
The World of Rice 35
CULTIVATING AND HARVESTING
White Rice, Black Rice, Congee 59
THE CHINESE WAY
Jasmine, Sticky Rice, Thai Red 111
THE THAI WAY
Gohan, Sushi, Mochi 171
THE JAPANESE WAY
Basmati, Gobindavog, South Indian tred 231
THE INDIAN WAY
Chelo, Polo, Pulao 283
THE CENTRAL ASIAN AND PERSIAN WAYS
Pilaf, Paella, Risotto 315
THE MEDITERRANEAN WAY
Yassa, Mafe, Diebou Dien 355
THE SENEGALESE WAY
Hoppin` vJohn, Rice and Peas 381
THE NORTH AMERICAN WAY
Glossary 418
Mail-Order Sources 438
Bibliography 439
Index 443
Acknowledgments 455
Contents vii
the way it is commonly eaten in China.
We also like eating rice from a small dinner plate using a dessert spoon to pick it up, Thai
style. And when we are in South India, we eat it from a banana leaf with our hands, and
then we think that is the best way.
But at home we like to use a bowl, a largish one the size of a café-au-lait bowl. We
scoop out a generous helping of plain rice from our reliable rice-cooking pot using a
wooden rice paddle, and then reach for something flavorful to eat over it: chopped fresh
tomatoes from the garden mixed with basil and Vietnamese coriander, or roasted sesame
seeds ground with coarse salt, or spicy Sichuan torn left over from the night before, or a
hot Thai curry. We always have on hand a few different condiments to pull out from the
refrigerator: nam pla prik from Thailand, Japanese pickles, a Chinese la jiao jang.
This big bowl of rice is our everyday lunch; occasionally it's dinner, sometimes it's
even a midmorning snack. It's our comfort food, and we never get tired of it. It is, in many
ways, what this book is most about.
We didn't grow up with rice, we came to know it through travel in Asia, like people who
travel to France for the first time and there discover good cheese and good wine. But it took
a while for this discovery to happen. We were without all the little sensibilities that people have
when they grow up eating rice as a staple food. It took years for us to really appreciate
viii Preface