A creamy rice dish with classic Thai flavors. I found this online somewhere, but I can't remember where.
Cilantro Coconut Rice
Ingredients:
½ cup basmati rice (or long grain white rice)
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
½ cup snipped fresh cilantro
1 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp lime juice
Directions:
In medium saucepan combine rice, water, and salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile, in blender or food processor combine coconut milk, cilantro, ginger, garlic, and lime juice. Cover; blend or process until nearly smooth. Stir into rice.
Makes 2 servings.
Now, mine didn't turn out so well. But it was my fault. I put the rice into the pot, then the salt, and then when I was getting the water, I thought I should use chicken stock instead. I had some in the fridge that needed to be used up and I thought it will add a little flavor as well. I had forgotten that I already put salt in the pot. Yeah, so it ended up way too salty. Oops! So we didn't really like it, but that was my fault and I will definitely be trying this again, the right way!
About the rice: I didn't have basmati so I used long grain white. I think basmati is a fragrant Indian rice. Next time I will try it with the basmati just to see if it adds anything to the dish. Also, the original recipe called for 2 cups of water. My regular rice recipe uses ¾ cup water to ½ cup of rice. I don't know if basmati requires more water than long grain white, but since I was using white, I cut it down to 1 cup. And it turned out just fine that way.
I really like making salmon with Thai flavors so I am always looking for simple Thai side dishes. I have a few noodle recipes that go well with it but this was my first Thai rice dish. The cilantro flavor is quite dominant, so if you don't like cilantro, I wouldn't recommend this for you. But I like cilantro and I think that if it hadn't been over salted it would have a great flavor. I can't wait to try this again.