Amateur Baker

Friday, October 16, 2009

I was playing a Star Ocean: The Second Story on PS the other day when I saw a dish which one of the character whipped up, 'Rabbit Risotto'. Out of curiosity, I went to google up about the dish to see what exactly it was.

It was actually a rice dish that originated from Italy from the rural areas and only specific types of grains are suited for the preparation of Risotto. The main feature of a risotto dish is the maintenance of starch at the end of cooking that binds the grains together as a cream. Today, it is usually served in high end Italian restaurants.

I got to know from my cousin that Xiaxue was demonstrating how to cook it on her blog while I was preparing it. So after the whole thing, I went to see how she prepared it and was actually quite shock at her cooking skills -_- It was seriously totally different from how other cooks prepared it... She actually used REAL CREAM for her 'risotto' thing, SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT AUTHENTIC!!!

Took some photos during the whole cooking process, it was okay until MY MOM STEPPED IN!!! OMG LA, SO FREAKING IRRITATING!!!

Anyway, the following are the ingredients

Rice, cheese, martell （White wine can also be used), cheese, Chicken Broth (Not in the picture).
The type of rice used should preferably be Carnoroli/Arborio which have very high starch content as compared to the conventional grains we Chinese use. Initially, I wanted to get either one of them from Paragon but my MOM (HERE SHE COMES!!! -_-) insists on just getting those normal Japanese rice used for making sushi because they LOOK THE SAME AS THE ITALIAN RICE which I showed her online. WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE THINKING??? I know, THE PRICE!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! In the end, we got the Japanese Rice from NTUC -_-

The main thing about risotto is how the rice turns out in the end. You can basically come up with your own type of risotto. Chicken Risotto, Mushroom Risotto, Risotto with pork/salmon/whatever.... So in the end, I've decided to go with the simplest, Mushroom & Mixed Vege Risotto! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Meat are hard to handle in my opinion. That's why I've decided to use shrooms and mixed vege :D

Anyway, before you start with the rice, you gotta cook the mushroom first :)

So, just add in onions/garlic and cook them for awhile allowing them to soften before you add the mushrooms. A little while later, I added in the mushroom and.....

My mom kicked in -_- and I thought I WAS THE ONE COOKING???!!!

Next, remove the cooked mushroom from the pan and add in the rice, WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ITALIAN RICE PURCHASED FROM PARAGON!!!!! Oh yeah, I don't remember seeing in any recipe that the rice had to be soaked. But MY MOM INSISTS that the grains to be soaked for at least an hour before cooking. So I did, but I only soaked them for 15 mins and removed them from the water while she was serving her customer. When she was done and came to meddle with my mushrooms, I told her that they had been soaked for 1 hour which is PURE BULLSHIT!!! BUT I CAN'T POSSIBLY LET HER RUIN MY DISH using her CONVENTIONAL CHINESE COOKING METHOD ON AN ITALIAN DISH!!!! ARGH!!!

Add in small splash of Martell (more if you're using alcohols which are milder) and cook with the rice until the smell of alcohol is gone and the grains turn slightly translucent

Next, add in the chicken stock BIT BY BIT!! Add a LADLE or so and allow it to be ABSORBED COMPLETELY before adding another ladle or so. Do this continuously until the rice has the sticky texture (due to the starch) and becomes al dente.

But then..... ARGH!!!!

HERE SHE COMES AGAIN!! PLUS SHE REFUSED TO FOLLOW THE PROPER PROCEDURE!! SHE FREAKING ADD IN THE WHOLE POT OF CHICKEN STOCK AT ONE GO!!! SHE JUSTIFIED HER FREAKING ACTION BY SAYING THAT WE SHOULD BE FLEXIBLE!!! WTH???!!

*RAGING FIRE*

"aiyah, sometimes we need to be flexible mah. Adding bit by bit and adding all at the same time is the same what. Eventually the rice still absorbs all the stock."
SERIOUSLY MOM! WHATEVER!! JUST GO AWAY!!!!

Now, after the stock, add in the remaining ingredients

Mixed them well, and next comes my favourite part :D

CHEESE!! :D

I used Parmesan And Cheddar :D Added extra butter at the end too :)

NICELY DONE!!! Other than my mom trying to help part -_-

Nice! Just lack the Al Dente, if not for the SOAKING!!! ARGH!!!
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If you people remember, I just talked about my new sony ericsson phone, W350 a few weeks ago.

Last week, after using it for just 4 DAYS, this is the current state....

DON'T even THINK of asking....

|Shi Hao| 10:04 PM|

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