Dirty Rice

What should you should serve with Dirty Rice?

Dirty Rice is really a meal in itself. If you wanted to serve it as an accompaniment then you could serve a smaller portion of the rice as a side!

Can you cook Dirty Rice another way?

This recipe isn’t suitable for alternative cooking methods. It is super quick and easy to make!

How do you know when Dirty Rice is cooked?

When the rice is tender, the meat is browned and cooked through, and the vegetables tender, this recipe is cooked!

This should take approx 25 minutes on the hob.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Dirty Rice in the fridge?

Freezing and reheating rice is often a concern for a lot of people, and it’s one of the things we get asked about quite frequently.

As we all know you can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice, but, it’s not actually the reheating that can cause issues, it is, in fact, the way that the rice has been stored beforehand where the problem begins.

Without getting too technical uncooked rice can contain spores that are resistant to heat and can survive the cooking process. If cooked rice is left standing at room temperature these spores can grow into bacteria. At this point, the bacteria will be destroyed by reheating the rice thoroughly.

If you intend keeping any leftover rice dishes then you should do the following:

• Cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) then fridge or freeze it immediately. You can split larger portions up into smaller batches to cool quicker.
• Freeze as soon as the rice is cold.
• Reheat and use any leftover rice (stored in the fridge) within one day.
• When you reheat any rice, always check it is steaming hot all the way through.
• Don’t reheat cooked rice more than once.

For more information about reheating rice please take a look at the NHS website.

Can I freeze Dirty Rice?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to consider the advice above, and do the following;

• Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
• Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat Dirty Rice?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.