Chefs share the best way to use up leftover cooked rice: ‘The perfect blank canvas’
As comedian Mitch Hedburg once said, rice is great when “you’re hungry and you want 2000 of something”.
But it’s even better the next day when you’re too tired to make something elaborate for dinner and remember there’s a bowl of leftover cooked rice waiting for you in the fridge.
A container of leftover cooked rice is the ultimate blank canvas for dinner... or dessert. iStock
Whether it’s from a batch you’ve cooked yourself, or the remains of a takeaway dinner, day-old rice is a gift – and if you ask chef Luke Nguyen, it’s even more useful than the freshly-cooked stuff.
“It’s the perfect blank canvas and gives you the foundation for a quick meal in minutes,” he tells nine.com.au.
“I also love the idea of not wasting food. Some of the best dishes come from looking at what you already have in the fridge and thinking, ‘How can I make this delicious?’
“Making congee or fried rice is a perfect example of that philosophy.”
There are countless ways you can turn leftover rice into a new meal, so we asked a group of Aussie chefs from the Good Food & Wine Show lineup how they use it at home.
As you might guess, one go-to dish came out on top, but with countless combinations of flavours.
Luke Nguyen
For the chef and restaurateur, there’s one answer: “Fried rice, without question. But I like to keep it simple.”
“I’ll take cold rice from the fridge and fry it in a very hot wok with garlic, spring onion, egg and whatever vegetables or protein I have left over,” Nguyen continues.
“A little fish sauce, white pepper and chilli, then finish it with fresh coriander. I always have XO sauce on hand too, if I feel like boosting up the flavour.”
Luke Nguyen says there’s a reason cold, day-old rice makes a superior fried rice. iStock
Nguyen says there’s a reason cold, day-old rice makes a superior fried rice: “It stir-fries beautifully and stays separate rather than becoming mushy.”
Elliot Styche
Savoury meals might be the first thing that come to mind for many of us, but Elliot Styche, aka The Singing Baker, says day-old rice is “secretly dessert waiting to happen”.
“It’s also one of the easiest ways to stop food going in the bin. I’d much rather turn last night’s rice into pudding than throw it out!” he says.
Elliot Styche says day-old rice is “dessert waiting to happen”, and loves making mango sticky rice. iStock
Case in point: “the easiest mango sticky rice”.
“Warm the rice in a saucepan with a tin of coconut milk, a spoonful of sugar and a good pinch of salt, and let it simmer until it’s thick and creamy,” Stych says.
“Pile it into bowls with slices of fresh mango and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds or coconut. If mangoes aren’t in season, I do a quick rice pudding instead: rice, milk, a splash of cream, sugar, vanilla and a little cinnamon, stirred gently until it’s soft and luscious. It’s pure comfort in a bowl.”
Miguel Maestre
“Don’t throw it away. Day-old rice is gold,” Miguel Mastre tells nine.com.au.
The Spanish-Australian chef and restaurateur loves to turn that bowl of leftovers into a quick Spanish fried rice.
“Garlic, onion, a little chorizo if you have it; toss in the rice, maybe an egg, done in five minutes,” he says.
Brendan Pang
“Rice is such an important part of my cooking, and it’s something I grew up eating almost every day,” Pang tells nine.com.au.
“Leftover rice is incredibly versatile, whether you’re making fried rice, congee or even crispy rice dishes. It’s also a great way to reduce food waste and turn yesterday’s dinner into something completely different. Just make sure it’s cooled quickly, refrigerated straight away and reheated well.”
Fried rice is his go-to meal option, too.
“It’s one of my favourite ways to use up leftovers, and the beauty of it is that you can throw in whatever you’ve got in the fridge,” he says.
“I usually start with garlic, spring onion and eggs, then add my leftover rice, some vegetables and whatever protein I have on hand. A little soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil to finish, and you’ve got a delicious meal in no time.”
Andrew Ballard
“If you open your fridge, hiding at the back somewhere there is bound to be a hastily packed container that was, at some point, last night’s leftover rice, packed in by some well-meaning family member who couldn’t stand the thought of wasting the two cups left after the evening’s curry,” Andrew Ballard says.
“They haven’t quite covered it properly, of course, so by the next morning the surface has dehydrated into a strange, chewy little roof. No matter.
“I fry up some bacon lardons, onion, garlic, green leafy veg and anything else in the fridge that needs using. I call it ‘depenso breakfast’, because it depends entirely on what’s lurking at the back of the fridge.
“Cook it hot and hard and those dried-out bits of rice, lovingly created by our little sustainability champion, become the best crispy edges in the entire fry-up.”
Ballard says the dish is a perfect example of the power of leftover ingredients.
“It turns a collection of fridge stragglers into a completely respectable breakfast, lunch or dinner. That’s not leftovers; that’s good household management.”
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