You Should Waffle Some Rice, Yes You Should
I love rice. I like freshly cooked, fluffy and tender, or fried until crispy with a runny egg. It also makes very good, satisfyingly crunchy waffles – a waffle that turned out to be the perfect platform for some gumbo my stepmother gave me.
Waffle rice, like fried rice, is best prepared with dry rice, as lack of moisture is the key to a truly crispy crust. Fresh tender rice is too moist and all this steam prevents browning and crispiness. You can refrigerate the rice overnight, or speed up the process and use a small fan (if you need rice waffles right now ).
When the rice is nice and dry, combine it with a little oil (sesame and olive oil are good too), then transfer to a waffle iron set over medium to high heat. Let the waffle maker do its thing until you have a crispy, viscous rice waffle with slightly golden edges. Pour it carefully from the waffle iron onto a plate using wooden chopsticks. Then put something on top of it. (I cannot recommend enough gumbo.)
At this ratio, 1/2 teaspoon butter or other fat is ideal for half a cup of cooked dry rice. I used unfiltered olive oil for the waffle you see above, but don’t sleep on butter (for better browning) or animal fats – bacon-fat rice waffles would be the perfect hangover helper. A word of caution: This waffle takes its sweet time, or at least a lot longer than I’m used to my varied waffle food. My rice waffle was crispy in as much as five (5!) Minutes, but the wait was worth it (and a good exercise in patience for me).
Experiment with the fillings and I think you’ll find that rice waffles are at home on your plate at any time of the day. It’s a great breakfast carbohydrate (try it with eggs and waffle spam ), but it works equally well for lunch and dinner. Did I already say what’s good with gumbo? Because it. It’s really good with gumbo.