Lebanese rice is made by frying vermicelli or barley and adding it to long-grain rice with broth or water, then cooking until tender. Cinnamon and pine nuts are added before serving, and variations include ground beef or lamb, raisins, onions, and carrots. It can also be used as a stuffing for poultry.
The Lebanese style of preparing rice involves frying a few pieces of vermicelli or barley, then adding them to the rice for a final cooking period. This popular side dish is then given a light dusting of cinnamon and pine nuts before serving, or stuffed into poultry before being cooked. Many go a step further to make their Lebanese rice with ground beef or lamb and sometimes even raisins, onions or carrots.
The paste is the main distinguishing feature of Lebanese rice, which also takes the name of ros ma’a shareeyee. Orzo is a plump, ready-made option, but vermicelli chunks can also be made by breaking thin spaghetti to the length of about the width of a fork. These are then slowly fried in butter over medium-low heat. A toasty color and texture is the goal, but cooking them too quickly will charm the exterior.
Before this, however, many chefs will soak long-grain rice in salted water for an hour before even starting to prepare their Lebanese rice dish. Approximate proportions are one part pasta to three parts rice. Once the pasta is lightly browned, it is added to long-grain rice and broth, or water and salt. Most rices require twice the amount of broth or water as the amount of rice used.
After the broth or water has come to a full boil and the rice and pasta have been stirred, the pot is covered and the heat is turned down to low. Continue steaming for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. The last step of Lebanese rice is spreading ground cinnamon on top of the rice, along with pine nuts and occasionally other types of nuts such as almonds.
Variations of Lebanese rice include caramelized onions, pine nuts, salt and pepper, then ground lamb or beef in butter before the noodles brown. This turns a side dish into a meal. Another common alternative is to prepare rice for use as a stuffing for chicken, turkey, or another type of bird. This doesn’t call for ground beef or lamb, but often does require all the spices to be added as a dry rub for poultry and as an added ingredient in rice to blend the flavors of the two. These dishes are regularly served with Lebanese flatbread known as man’ooshe.
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