Risotto challenge 

Sesame tuna and kaffir lime

The problem with risotto is that it is not a ‘recipe’ so much as an Italian ‘expression’ for a method of cooking rice, and there’s probably more bad risotto dishes made around the world every day than there are burnt sausages.

There’s no definitive risotto recipe, and even in Italy the dish varies between regions. While the rice is supposed to be ‘creamy’, the risotto-eating world is divided between those who like their rice to be wet and paste-like or drier like Spanish paella, where you don’t stir the rice. So don’t get your tea-towel in a twist over your perfect risotto. Stick to the formula of 1 cup of rice to 3-4 of stock, and keep tasting your rice until common sense tells you it is ready - but serve it quickly, risotto left to sit too long will turn into a gluey, porridge-like mess.

Risotto basics

We have found a recipe consensus. Your rice should be the short plump grain varieties from Northern Italy such as arborio; carnaroli (medium-grain); or vialone nano (firmer than arborio), native to the Piedmont region of northern Italy. The word ‘superfino’ on the packet indicates a high starch content that dissolves in the cooking process, giving risotto its characteristic creaminess and clingy texture. Older rice breaks down more slowly so check the date on the package.

A Foodstyle Review contributor has used all these rice varieties says you basically ‘get what you pay for’ – the more expensive brands are easier to cook with than the cheaper brands of arborio.

According to culinary technics, any starchy grain that holds up to slow cooking and constant stirring should work, including couscous, but we haven’t tried it.

The challenge is to get that starch-filled grain to release its creamy starch slowly. This starts with ‘toasting’ the rice in butter or oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a low heat with onions and garlic (don’t let them get brown). It slows down the rate at which the grains absorb the stock. Keep cooking until the grains are a little translucent.

Once the rice is ‘toasted’ many recipes at this stage have you add a little white wine (or a nice red), which will be quickly absorbed by the rice. The wine must be cooked off (the pan almost dry) before adding the stock.

Add the stock slowly

You can use homemade or commercial stock, and whether it is vegetable, fish, beef or chicken, it must have a depth of flavour otherwise the risotto will taste as bland as boiled rice.
The stock (three to four times the quantity of rice) also has to be hot so it doesn’t cool the cooking rice, and added to the rice a ladle at a time. Allowing the rice to absorb each ladle of stock means the grains slowly release their starch and gives you greater control over consistency. You are after a creamy, not gummy texture.

It takes about 18-30 minutes for the rice to absorb the stock and here’s the contentious part – how much stirring with the wooden spoon?

The purist school obliges you to stir continuously, but there’s an alternative school that says that ‘occasional stirring’ or intermittent stirring works just as well.

The only reliable way to know when your risotto is finished is to taste it. Forget all that al dente firm baloney. You don’t want rice grains crunching between your teeth or reduced to a gummy rice porridge. And if you don’t know what cooked rice is like to chew on – keep well away from attempting this recipe or any other rice recipe. 

The final touch is binding the risotto with a knob of cold butter and some freshly grated parmesan (unless it is seafood flavoured) after the risotto mixture is taken from the heat. The butter gives the rice gloss. Any cheese works, but the best are strong flavoured, low-moisture cheeses, such as Parmesan.

Risotto goes claggy very quickly so serve immediately.

Sesame tuna and kaffir lime risotto

1 cup (250ml) risotto rice
Small (or half) white onion diced
2 garlic cloves crushed and diced
Sweat off onion and garlic with a little butter or oil in a heavy pot  and add rice and toast

3-4 cups (1 litre) of hot chicken stock
Added a ladle at a time as the stock is absorbed

4 fresh kaffir lime leaves finely chopped
Knob fresh ginger finely chopped
1 Tablsp (15ml) of sweet chilli sauce
Juice and zests of 2 limes or lemons
Salt & pepper seasoning
Add to rice after the first ladle of stock has been absorbed

Knob chilled butter
Bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped
Add and stir into risotto just before serving

Fresh tuna cut into individual servings
Half cup toasted black sesame seeds
2 eggs (for the whites)
1 tabsp (15ml) water
Chives

Add water to egg white to thin it. Dunk tuna into wash mixture and then into the toasted sesame seed mixture. Pan-fry tuna quickly so just the edges are cooked.

Cut tuna servings in half and place on top of risotto with cut side exposed. Serve with a lemon or lime wedge and decorate with chive (optional).

Autumn 2010

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