We have been stanning pickles for therefore lengthy now, we’re working out of concepts for what else to do with them. The opposite day, I discovered myself within the dustiest nook of the web, in search of a brand new manner to make use of my leftover jars of pickles and olives. There are infinite makes use of on your leftover pickle juice, together with salad dressing, sauces, martinis, marinades, and cheffy methods, like making gelées. I hate tossing out completely good pickle juice, and rice appeared like the correct clean canvas for absorbing all that briny taste. So, the place I finally landed was the extremely easy trick of including pickle juice and different brines to the cooking water for rice.
As questionable of an thought as it might appear, utilizing pickles in and on rice is not solely new. Southeast Indian dishes like Achari Pulao embrace pickled greens or mango so as to add taste to the rice whereas it’s cooking, and naturally, pickled greens are a wonderful addition to rice bowls and kimbap, however the thought of utilizing leftover pickle brine as a cooking liquid for rice was new to me. So I gave the tactic a attempt with the liquid from a jar of fundamental grocery retailer dill pickles, in addition to with olive, caper, and candy purple pepper brine. Each condiment was suspended in a brine primarily composed of water, vinegar, and salt and there have been no lacto-fermented pickles in my checks.
My Methodology
For every of the 4 checks, I cooked a small batch of basmati rice utilizing my mini 2-cup rice cooker. For every check, I used 100g of rice, 50g of brine, and 100g of water for this check, however to do that at dwelling, simply make a customary pot of rice, changing the water with a 2:1, water-to-brine ratio. Initially, I considered changing all of the water with brine, however I didn’t need to danger making the rice overly salty.
Deliver on the Brines
Critical Eats / Kelli Solomon
B&G Kosher Dill Pickle Spears
Once I opened the jar of pickles, I used to be reminded of strolling right into a deli—these spears floating in yellow brine have the briny pickle scent and taste I grew up with. Given the robust scent of the pickles, I anticipated the rice to style extra vinegary, however itonly had a faint style of pickle and barely salty-sour aftertaste that I began to note after a couple of bites. This was not my favourite rice—the bitter style was one-note, and lacked complexity.
Divina Natural Castelvetrano Olives
There are far too many kinds of olives to select from, so I simply chosen my favourite—Castelvetrano. The rice took on the gentle, buttery taste of the olives nearly as if the slightest little bit of olive oil or butter was added to the pot. I anticipated it to style like a grimy martini, however it was much more delicate. This was the saltiest rice—not overly so, however noticeably. I loved it, and would eat this rice with delicately cooked white fish or shrimp.
Roland Capote Capers
Once I opened the jar, these capers had such a briny aroma I believed it will utterly overpower the rice, however it didn’t. The caper-flavored rice tasted well-seasoned and never overly acidic or salty. As somebody who doesn’t often go for capers, I used to be pleasantly stunned by this rice. I might serve it with baked salmon, add it to stuffed greens, or serve it with one other dish that wants somewhat punch of vinegar.
Hellenic Farms Greek Roasted Pink Peppers
There have been just a few choices of peppers packed in a vinegar-based brine as a substitute of oil. I needed the brine to be akin to the opposite preserved condiments, so I chosen this jar of roasted purple peppers. This rice was subtly candy and had a light pepper style to match its barely orange-tinged hue. After a couple of bites, I may choose up on the charred taste from the roasting of the peppers, a welcome complexity. This rice is flexible sufficient to serve with all types of dishes, however it will pair notably nicely with roasted hen or grilled steak.
Sure, Strive This at Dwelling!
By the top of this check, I had a lot pickle brine that I began to really feel pickled myself. Oddly, on this head-to-head pickled rice check, the rice utilizing dill pickle brine was really the worst. Maybe that was on account of my selection of pickle. Possibly a garlicky brined pickle would result in a pot of tasty garlic rice? I loved the roasted pepper rice a lot that I plan so as to add it to my side-dish rotation. I could even punch it up additional with some bits of diced roasted pepper as nicely. As I seemed on the half-eaten jars of pickled this or that behind my fridge, I eyed some banana peppers and artichokes. This experiment will completely be continued.
