Got a recipe for the chicken vermicelli rice?
sure do. had to look up what amounts i used so i can reply with details.
3 Tbs unsalted or salted butter (i use unsalted, salt is something to watch for in your stock our bullion, more deets to follow)
3 Tbs cooking oil
1/3 cup vermicelli
1.5 cups basmati rice - we prefer basmati for its texture, long strand grain and less starchy feel/bite
3 Tbs mustard seeds (optional but we really like it)
1 tsp ground turmeric (optional, this is used to make the rice more yellow on the finished product
3 tsp chicken bullion (i use Knorr brand in a screw top plastic jar) - the amount of bullion will depend on your bullion. the Knorr calls for 1 tsp per cup of water, thus 3 tsps here.
3 1/3 cups of water, only if you're using chicken bullion. if no bullion then 3 1/3 cups chicken stock - be aware of your salt in your chicken stock
melt butter and oil in a sauce pan (3 qts size pan works well)
as butter and oil are melting/heating, add in vermicelli, rice, mustard seeds, turmeric and chicken bullion powder and stir while cooking on medium high heat.
stir consistently and toast all these ingredients until the vermicelli start to turn a brown color. the rice will also smell nutty as you coat and toss all these ingredients. be aware that the mustard seeds can begin to pop as they toast. if you're hearing a lot of popping, just lower the temp a little.
once at desired toastiness, around 3-4 minutes depending on your burner's heat output, add all the liquid, either water if you're using bullion or chicken stock if not using bullion.
BE AWARE that you're adding liquid to a very hot pan. the liquid will vaporize AND CAN BURN you (steam burn) if you're unaware of how to add liquids to a hot pan (and one that has oil in it). i prefer to add the liquid as the burner is off and pouring the liquid into the pan towards the edge of the pan so my hand is not above the pan, but off to the side of the pan. this prevents getting a steam burn. yes, i've steamed my hands before so this warning comes with prior experience.
place the pan with all the contents and water on a medium high fire, stir to incorporate the entire mixture.
cover with pan lid and keep on medium high
depending on your cooktop's temp, once you see steam coming out of the lidded pan (around 2-3 minutes, usually), place pot on a burner on a low temp setting. i use a less powerful burner as all burners at low are not equal. not a simmering burner, but a regular output burner but on LOW.
leave covered and let cook for 10 minutes.
after 10 minutes, shut all heat off and DO NOT OPEN TO PEEK. let the rice rest for 10 minutes in its pan, LIDDED.
after the 10 minute resting period, you can uncover and fork the rice to separate all the grains and evenly mix back in the mustard seeds as sometimes they will float to the top of the rice when low cooking the rice.
serve and enjoy. goes very well with any chicken dish or grilled veggies too.
NOTES: chicken bullion can be salty. i use unsalted butter to reduce oversalting due to the bullion. if you're using a chicken stock instead of bullion, i'd recco a low salt stock. once you combine the dry and wet ingredients, you can taste the liquid if you need more salt, add some at this point. salt bomb rice is never fun. so i've perfected making this rice and haven't had salt bombed rice on 20+ years now, thankfully.
post any pics of you cook this, please.
