What can I do with leftover rice? | Kitchen aide

How do I store cooked rice safely, and what can I make with it the next day?
Michael, by email
“It’s a bit of a running joke with rice, because I think of all the people in China who aren’t spreading their leftover rice immediately on to a tray to cool and are still alive,” says Amy Poon, of Poon’s at Somerset House in London. “But I have to be responsible and say: cool the rice as quickly as possible, within the hour, and put it in an airtight container and pop it in the fridge [or freezer] straight away.” The reason being, as food science guru Harold McGee notes in his bible On Food & Cooking, “Raw rice almost always carries dormant spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which produces powerful gastrointestinal toxins. The spores can tolerate high temperatures, and some survive cooking.” In short: good storage practices will prevent bacterial growth, not to mention open a whole world of dinner opportunities.

“Rice is the most versatile grain to have around as extras,” confirms Ping Coombes, author of Rice, but there’s another benefit, too. “When rice cools, the molecules rearrange into tighter bonds in a process called retrogradation.” This, Coombes continues, creates resistant starch, and the more resistant the starch, the slower the release of energy. “Eating chilled, pre-cooked rice makes it release sugar molecules into the blood stream more slowly, promoting the feelings of fullness for longer and preventing big variations of blood sugar.” But back to Michael’s prospective meals.

There’s fried rice, sure, which is always a good excuse for a Sunday fridge clear-out, Poon says, otherwise cooked rice could be a shortcut to congee. “Making congee from scratch takes hours, whereas if you have leftover rice, just pour over some boiling water and cook down to a similar consistency,” Poon says. It won’t have that same silkiness, but it will comfort and cosset, nonetheless. Or there’s soupy rice: “Pour boiling water or stock over cooked rice grains, then add chopped spring onions, ginger and vegetables [pak choi, say], and eat topped with toasted peanuts.”

Of course, arancini are a wonderful use for yesterday’s risotto. “The colder it is, the easier it will be to shape,” reckons Michael Lavery, head chef and co-founder of Forza Wine in London. “Typically, this is done in the round Palermo style, but if you’re feeling ambitious, go for the coned Catania shape, which works particularly well if you have plenty of risotto and want to experiment with fillings.” Let’s stick with Italy for a second: “I like turning leftover cooked rice into a frittata or riso al salto, a classic Milanese rice cake,” says Em Brightman, head of food for Angela Hartnett restaurants. “It’s all about that golden, caramelised crust.”

A similar tactic could be pop-able rice-cake canapes, because, well, drinks without snacks is criminal behaviour. “If you want to be all neat and tidy, press the rice into a cake tin, let it set a bit, then slice and pan-fry or roast,” says Poon, although you could just as easily roll the rice into balls and flatten them with your palm. Topping-wise, try chilli sauce or Poon’s daughters’ go-to: Philadelphia or grated cheese. “Just think of them as rice crackers.”

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