Ingredients
1 coconut (or 1.1/2 cups canned unswe, etened coconu
1 with 1.1/2 cups water)
3 cup long grain rice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled, slice, d very thin,
1 cut into thin sticks
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup soy sauce
Directions
Buddha rice is a vegetarian dish honored by all Vietnamese and is
eaten on certain days of the month that have religious significance
and during the moon's full phase. This recipe comes from Binh's aunt
(Binh is the author of the cookbook), one of his first cooking
teachers.
1. To make coconut milk from a fresh coconut, take a hammer or heavy
cleaver and hit the coconut over a sink all around the center,
forming a circle. The coconut should break in half easily; if not,
hit it a few more times. Discard the water that comes from the middle
and remove the outer shell. Cut the halves in smaller pieces. Peel
each piece, then gate or shred the coconut. Put the coconut meat in a
medium bowl and cover with 2 cups hot water. Let stand for about 8
minutes, then pour the coconut mixture through a fine strainer placed
over a bowl. Press hard to extract as much "cream" as possible. Add
enough water to make three cups coconut liquid or combine the canned
unsweetened coconut milk with water.
2. Rinse the rice in several changes of water and drain well in a
colander. Let the rice dry in the colander, shaking it occasionally.
3. In a large heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add
the ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice
and cook, stirring to coat it well, about 2 minutes. Stir in the
salt, bay leaf, coconut liquid, and soy sauce and bring to a boil.
Let the rice cook without stirring, uncovered, until the liquid
settles and holes form all over the top, about 5 minutes. reduce the
heat to very low, cover tightly, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from
the heat and let the rice rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and
stir the rice to fluff it up. Serve hot. The rice can sit, covered,
for up to 1 hour before serving.
Source: Simple Art of Vietnamese Cooking
From The Cookie Lady's Files
Servings: 6 servings
Com Chay (Buddha Rice) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Rice; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as an idea can be observed far back into distant history, certainly as far as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and maybe further still. However, mostly, these old cook books were just simple pictorial recipes for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe found, according to historians is a series of clay tablets in ancient Sumerian describing the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel blissful and exhilarated. As we move into The time of the roman empire around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents detailing recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius describes how the roman meals were split into appetizers, main course and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius also recounts how the early Romans made use of a wide range of aromatic flavours, including some that we all recognise for example thyme, rue and parsley. In the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and spices from the Middle-East, including parsley and basil. These new herbs and spices created an increase in cookery books, some of which are now in private libraries. Over the following few centuries, the powerful and wealthy competed to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and as a result the best cooks and their recipe collections were greatly in demand. Nevertheless, it was during the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe publications rose to prominence. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to assembling, trying out, and writing down the recipes of their peers. The arrival of TV gave us TV cooks and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Com Chay (Buddha Rice) recipe.
