Red Rice

[zhemao]

Trying to keep in the habit of taking pictures of the dishes. This is my attempt at recreating Mexican style red rice. But as always, there's an Asian twist.

Ingredients:

• Dried kelp (kombu)


• Tomato paste


• Garlic


• Scallions


• Black pepper


• Salt


• White rice


• Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Make the kombu stock by soaking the kelp in cold water for 10 min. and then bringing to boil. Alternatively, if you save the kombu from the first time you make the stock, you can make a lighter second stock by boiling for 15-20 min.


2. Finely chop two cloves garlic.


3. Chop two or three scallion stocks into thin slices.


4. Wash the rice and drain thoroughly using a strainer.


5. Dissolve two spoonfuls of tomato paste in a bit of kombu stock.


6. Heat a pan on medium low and add a bit of vegetable oil.


7. Add the garlic and scallions. Stir fry until fragrant.


8. Add the rice. Stir until it absorbs the oil.


9. Add the dissolved tomato paste. Stir until evenly distributed.


10. Turn off the heat and transfer the rice to the rice cooker.


11. Measure out the stock into the rice. Use a bit less than you normally would for cooking white rice, since you already added liquid with the tomato paste.


12. Sprinkle on some black pepper and add some salt.


13. Set the rice cooker and let it cook.


14. Once the rice is done, mix it around a bit with the paddle.

For a recipe I just made up as I went along, I think this turned out quite well. The end result is very colorful and fragrant. The rice on the very bottom will be a bit crispy and very delicious. If you want something more authentic, you should probably use regular onions instead of green onions and chicken stock instead of kombu stock.

---