Some imagine that cauliflower rice was invented in 1998 by chef Ben Ford, who known as it cauliflower couscous, however others say it dates again additional, to the uncooked meals motion. Regardless, its recognition is linked to the rise of the paleo diet, which prohibits the consumption of grains, legumes and dairy merchandise. The ingredient has grown past that specific food regimen to be touted as a alternative for rice and different grains for anybody seeking to cut back their consumption of carbohydrates and energy, and web searches for “riced cauliflower” spike each January, in accordance with Google Trends.
Although “cauliflower rice” is the preferred time period colloquially, “riced cauliflower” is the phrasing you’re extra more likely to encounter in grocery shops. (The rice industry prefers the latter time period because it reduces the potential for complicated the minimize vegetable with precise rice.) Yow will discover packages of riced cauliflower within the refrigerated and freezer sections, however since minimize, uncooked cauliflower can begin to odor sulfurous over time, I’d suggest shopping for the frozen stuff. Or, you may make your personal at residence.
Making riced cauliflower is straightforward. All you want is a field grater, a meals processor and even only a knife. With any technique, begin by eradicating the leaves and reserving them for one more use. If the core is tender, you may flip it into riced cauliflower together with the florets; in any other case, reserve it for one more use because it gained’t prepare dinner up the identical.
Field Grater: Minimize the pinnacle into wedges by way of the core. Then, as finest you may, grate each bit on the large-holed aspect of a field grater. It might get just a little messy, so grate it on a rimmed baking sheet or in a big bowl to assist include the chaos.
Meals processor: Minimize the cauliflower into florets and grate them utilizing its grater-disk attachment. Alternatively, you may pulse the vegetable in batches with the blade attachment till it’s the dimensions of small granules resembling rice. (If any massive items stay, take away them, empty the riced cauliflower and pulse the bigger items within the subsequent batch.)
Knife: It requires loads of work, however you may finely chop the cauliflower with a big knife till you obtain the specified measurement.
As soon as minimize, the vegetable is finest used instantly or frozen, the place it may be saved for months. By way of learn how to use cauliflower rice, you may eat it raw in a salad, saute it in a skillet in a matter of minutes to function a aspect, fill burritos or stuffed peppers, or use it in a stir fry or in fried “rice.” The flavour is that of, effectively, cauliflower. So if you’re not a fan of the vegetable, then you definately’re in all probability not going to love it minimize into teeny tiny items, both.
What’s the catch? For one, it doesn’t take in liquid like rice does, so riced cauliflower alongside stews and curries might be extra watery. Additionally, it doesn’t have any starch, that means you shouldn’t use it in dishes that depend on some rice varieties’ thickening energy, resembling risotto, rice pudding or sushi. Lastly, cauliflower rice’s lack of carbohydrates means you gained’t really feel full for very lengthy in contrast with precise rice, which may very well be a professional or a con relying in your consuming schedule and metabolism.
Sure, riced cauliflower is a semi-passable substitute for rice. Higher but, consider it as its personal factor quite than anticipating the vegetable to behave like a grain. For those who can recognize cauliflower rice for what it’s, then it’s a worthy addition to your culinary repertoire.
