Coconut Rice

The rice dish goes really well with the kumquat chicken I posted yesterday. Since it had so much flavor, I wasn’t looking for a starch that would compete with the protein. I knew I wanted to serve the chicken dish with rice and coconut kept coming to mind- especially because Spice Market in NYC serves  Thai inspired food.. and when I think of Thai, coconut comes to mind.

I saved all the lemongrass stalks and kaffir lime mixture from the dressing for the chicken and added it to the coconut milk. I let the milk simmer with the aromatic herbs till it reduced down to two cups. This ensured tons of flavor… yum!! I added jasmine rice to the delicious broth and cooked the rice.

It is amazing how delicious the rice was- I could make a meal out of it- just the rice. I obviously tasted amazing with the chicken dish. Try this rice dish with any Asian inspired dish- you will never make plain rice again…

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 3 cups coconut milk
• Leftover lemongrass stalks and Kaffir lime leaves
• Salt

Add the coconut milk to a saucepan and add the lemongrass stalks and Kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a boil and let it simmer till the liquid reduces to 2 cups. Strain and return the liquid back to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice and salt. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down as small holes appear on the surface. Cover as the liquid evaporates and lower the heat. Cook for about 15 minutes. Serve with the kumquat chicken.