Skip to content
Open menu Close menu

Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

penguin logo

Buttery Rice with Toasted Vermicelli (Ruz Bil Sh’arieh)

Sami Tamimi

by Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley from Falastin: A Cookbook

The combination of rice and pasta in this store cupboard recipe makes for an addictively fluffy texture.

From the book

Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley

Introduction

There’s an old wives’ tale that a woman used to add pasta to rice only if she was an unconfident cook or couldn’t cook rice properly. The theory was that adding pasta was a guaranteed way to prevent the rice from sticking together. True or otherwise, it’s a guaranteed way to get it seriously fluffy and it’s a good few steps up from regular steamed rice. The pasta brings texture, the butter brings comfort and the cinnamon brings a hint of spice.

Ingredients note: Don’t get the flat Asian rice noodles here: you want the Italian wheat vermicelli nests. They are like spaghetti, but thinner. Regular spaghetti makes a fine alternative.

Read more Read less

Ingredients

300g basmati rice
35g unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
50g vermicelli wheat noodles or spaghetti, as an alternative, roughly broken into 3cm pieces
520ml hot water or hot chicken stock (optional)
salt and black pepper

Method

Place the rice in a bowl and allow tap water to run over it until the water is clear. Set aside to soak for at least an hour (or overnight, if you are getting ahead). Transfer the soaked rice to a sieve placed over a bowl and leave to drain for about 15 minutes.

Put 25g of butter and the cinnamon into a medium saucepan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium-high heat. Add the vermicelli or spaghetti and cook for 3 minutes, stirring continuously, until deeply golden. Mix in the rice for about 30 seconds, then add the water (or stock), along with 1½ teaspoons of salt (or slightly less – about 1 teaspoon – if using stock and it is salty) and a good grind of black pepper. Cover the pan tightly with foil and put the lid on top of this. Reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside for 15 minutes, covered, to steam.

Remove the lid and foil and dot with the remaining 10g of butter. Set aside for another 10 minutes, covered with the foil and lid, or just the lid, before serving.

Reviews

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use.

There are no comments yet

Be the first to leave a review

More Recipes from Falastin


View all

More Recipes from Falastin


View all

Spiced Salmon Skewers with Parsley Oil

Sami Tamimi

by Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley from Falastin

Ma’amoul Bars – Ma’amoul Maad

Sami Tamimi

by Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley from Falastin

newsletter

Subscribe to The Happy Foodie email newsletter

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week

From the book: Falastin: A Cookbook

Close menu