What are these spaghetti-like strings in the rice I got from a Turkish shop?
I bought some rice from Turkish shop and as you can see in the picture it came with this spaghetti like strings with it, I’m not referring to the green stuff.
Do you know what it is and would it have been typically boiled with the rice or added at the end?
Best Answer
It's toasted vermicelli.
This dish is called ?ehriyeli pilav in Turkey, riz bi sh’arieh in Lebanon and Syria, shehrehi yeghintz in Armenia, and reshteh polo in Iran.
The basic idea is that you brown the noodles in a little bit of oil or butter, then add rice and cook basically as you would cook steamed rice.
Below are four sample recipes. Note that the Persian version (the last in this list) is more complicated, uses a different noodle (a kind that's more common in Iran) and has a crispy bottom.
shehrehi yeghintz - and if you read that article (it's worth a read), you'll learn that this dish was also the inspiration for Rice-A-Roni. More like the "Yerevani treat"!
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What is Pilav in Turkish?
In Turkey, pilav (pee-LAHV) is the word used to describe not only one but a whole array of dishes made with rice. They can sometimes include meats, currants, and spices or be straightforward and very versatile such as this rice pilaf with orzo recipe. This particular pilaf is cooked with butter, oil, and orzo.How do you break up vermicelli?
If you're using a rice cooker, the noodles will usually be cooked in around 10 minutes. All you have to do is put some water in the pot and turn the heat up until it comes to a rolling boil.Working in a Restaurant
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Answer 2
You can relax, they are not worms. What this is, is vermicelli. It is a mild tasting noodle typically made of flour. You can boil it with the rice, although to make a nice tasting pilaf you should brown the rice/vermicelli mixture in a little fat before adding the water. I use butter. It adds a nice nutty, browned butter flavor to my rice dish at the end.
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Images: Ekrulila, ROMAN ODINTSOV, Stephen Niemeier, Ryutaro Tsukata