I’ll be honest–I have no idea when or how I first started making this rice. I like all sorts of rice dishes, and eat it a lot, and I’m pretty sure that one day I was just looking for an easy rice dish to serve that was less boring than plain white, jasmine, or basmati rice. While I love plain white rice when I’m dumping a stir fry on it, or covering it in gravy, as a stand-alone side, I wanted a bit more flavor, but didn’t want to go through the hassle of doing a fried rice dish or something similar.
I’m pretty sure I first thought of it while making my grilled jerk chicken with grilled pineapple. Coconut rice just seemed to be the perfect intermediary between the spice of the chicken and the sweetness of the pineapple–and it was! I’ve made it with a variety of other dishes since then, and it is remarkably easy and adds a nice touch to any Carribean or tropical-themed meal.
- 1½ Cups Jasmine (or other white) rice
- 1 14 oz (400ml) Can of light coconut milk
- ½ Cup fat free chicken broth or water
- 1-2 Tsp dry Thai Seasoning (I use Spice Hunter)
- Put 1½ cups jasmine (or other white) rice in rice cooker or saucepan.
- Add one can of light coconut milk and a half cup of fat free chicken broth (sub water if you wish).
- Add 1-2 Tsp Thai Seasoning (to taste)--you can skip it if you want, but it is definitely better with it.
- Press start on rice cooker (or turn covered saucepan on high, reducing to simmer when it boils).
- Rice cooker will ding in 20 minutes or so, if you did it in a saucepan, it will also be about 20 minutes--just look for the liquid to be absorbed.
- Stir and serve.
- NOTE: I have recently had a difficult time finding Thai Seasoning. Chinese Five Spice Powder or any other Asian seasoning (Emeril has one, for instance) will work fine as a substitute.
