Ginger-Cilantro Rice

I love rice.  Even if I didn't love rice, we would eat it all the time in our apartment because Alex is verging on obsessive about rice.  He has eaten big bowls of plain buttered rice before.  Just rice with a little butter, s&p.  That's it.  I'm telling you, he's crazy about his rice.  Because I'm not quite that crazy, this isn't plain buttered rice.  Instead this is a fancy rice tossed with a ginger-cilantro-scallion sesame oil mixture.  I guess the lesson learned is that Alex goes plain and homey, I go fancy.  I really wanted this rice to go with the Miso-Marinated Chilean Sea Bass.  I originally wanted to make brown rice, but I thought that it would be fun to serve the sea bass with a more flavorful/interesting alternative.  I wish there had been a more balanced flavor profile to this rice.  The flavor and aroma of the sesame oil was a little overwhelming.  And it almost tasted a little bitter or acrid.  I assume that is from the sesame oil because there weren't any other ingredients in the rice that could result in that bitter flavor.  I wanted this rice to have more of the flavor of the herbs and less of the sesame oil.  So if I were to make it again I would cut the amount of sesame oil in half.  You could taste the ginger, but not the cilantro or the scallion and those were the ingredients that I really wanted to taste.

Recipe after the jump!

Ginger-Cilantro Rice

Adapted from Bon Appetit

June 2010

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup long-grain white rice (we used jasmine rice)

2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into 8 slices, plus plus 1 tsp ginger, minced

1 2/3 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 1/3 cups cilantro, roughly chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp Asian sesame oil

1 tsp (or more) unseasoned rice vinegar

Combine rice and ginger rounds in large saucepan. Add broth; sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil, stirring often. Cover once the broth reduces to the level of the rice. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until rice is tender and broth is absorbed, about 15-18 minutes. Meanwhile, combine chopped cilantro, green onion, and minced ginger in mini processor. Add both oils and rice vinegar. Blend until almost smooth. Season cilantro oil to taste with salt, pepper, and more vinegar, if desired.

Transfer rice to bowl. Remove ginger rounds. Mix in cilantro oil and serve.