Coconut Rice
While the stir fry in peanut sauce did not go over well with Sam who licked it, gave me a dirty look and threw it on the floor, last night’s coconut rice was a huge success and really easy to make. I like making rice because even though it takes a while to cook (half an hour can be an eternity with a fussy, demanding toddler) you can make the rest of your meal in the time it takes for the rice to absorb the liquid. (Like a broccoli stir fry with coconut peanut sauce that I plan on eating for dinner again tonight because even though Sam hated it, I thought it was fantastic.) Sam loved the coconut rice. And I love that he loved it. I didn’t love cleaning up about a kajillion little grains of rice off of his clothes, his booster seat and the floor, but it’s the price one has to pay for a kid who refuses to eat unless he’s feeding himself.
Coconut Rice
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 cup water
a few slivers of sliced fresh ginger*
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted (optional)
Add ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Try not to mess with it. Rice does better when you don’t take off the lid and stir. Toast the coconut in a dry pan for 3 to 5 minutes over medium heat shaking often, until the coconut turns golden brown. Stir the toasted coconut into the finished rice.
*I know that fresh ginger isn’t an ingredient most people have around. It’s sort of frustrating in the same way tomato paste is- most recipes only call for a small amount and then you don’t know what to do with the rest. So here’s a tip. Ginger comes in an irregularly shaped root. Try to get the smoothest, crispest root you can find. When you get it home, peel the whole root and cut it into one inch chunks. Put it in a resealable freezer bag, pop it in the freezer, and when a recipe calls for a tablespoon of minced ginger, or a few slivers of sliced like the rice recipe, it will be ready to go.
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June 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
That’s a good tip about freezing extra ginger. I find that most stores sell ginger by weight, so if you are shopping for it to cook a specific recipe, just snap off exactly the amount of ginger you’ll need. It will probably cost less than 20 cents, too!
June 15th, 2007 at 12:22 am
A bit of nutmeg and galingale and you have turned your cocounut rice Indonesian.
June 15th, 2007 at 7:11 am
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June 15th, 2007 at 8:02 am
I used to make basmati rice with every single meal (it’s a staple for south indians such as my husband) and agree - just start it at the beginning of your cooking and it’s done before you know it. Because of my husband’s diabetes, we do cous cous now - my 19 month old loves that, too.
Great site - can’t wait to read more! We started feeding our son curries at around 10 months, so as you can imagine, I’ve been VERY frustrated with most “advice” regarding Kid Food. We Americans totally underestimate the power of a child’s palate and what they are capable of!