Crème de Riz

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3 to 4-quart heavy saucepan with lid
• •Small saucepan for the reserved consommé and cream
• •Countertop blender with a vented lid
• •Fine-mesh chinois or sturdy sieve
• •Flexible spatula or small ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the foundation

   Begin with the rice fully prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273), then cooled and drained. Put it in a heavy saucepan with 4 cups (950 ml) of the white consommé. Keep the remaining 2 cups (475 ml) hot in a small pan. The preliminary blanching is part of the method, not brigade fuss: it removes loose surface starch that would make the finished cream pasty before the grain itself has softened.

2. 2

   Cook until yielding

   Bring the rice and consommé slowly to the first lazy bubbles, stir once, then cover with the lid slightly ajar. Cook over the gentlest heat for 50 to 60 minutes, scraping the pan floor every ten minutes, until the grains collapse beneath a spoon and one tasted grain has no firm or chalky center. If the liquid dwindles while the rice still resists, add the hot reserved consommé ¼ cup (60 ml) at a time and keep cooking. Ça se rattrape. Count whatever you add against the consommé reserved for dilution.

   A fierce boil thickens the liquid before the rice softens and encourages scorching. Gentle heat gives the stock time to enter the grain.
3. 3

   Purée and sieve

   Let the rice mixture settle for five minutes. Blend it in half-batches, venting the blender lid and covering the opening loosely with a folded towel, until no grain remains visible. Rinse the saucepan, then press the warm purée through a fine-mesh sieve into it. This sieving stays. It is what separates Crème de Riz from an ordinary blended rice soup. If the purée stalls in the sieve, blend the captured pulp again with a ladleful of the reserved consommé, then pass it through once more.

4. 4

   Let down the purée

   Whisk in all the remaining reserved white consommé a little at a time, keeping the purée smooth after each addition. Return the pan to gentle heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring along the floor, until the soup coats the back of a spoon in a thin veil but still pours freely. If it stands in a mound, it is too thick; the cream will loosen it further. If it runs like unthickened stock, let it simmer gently before the cream goes in. Do not reach for flour. The rice is the body.

5. 5

   Finish with cream

   Warm the cream gently in the emptied consommé pan. Take the soup off the heat and whisk in 1½ cups (355 ml), then add as much of the final ½ cup (120 ml) as needed for a smooth, flowing ribbon. Return it to the lowest heat only long enough for the surface to regain its gloss; do not let it boil hard. If the cream separates into fine specks, remove the pan from the heat, blend briefly, and pass the soup through the sieve once more. Ladle into warmed bowls or bring the soupière directly to the table. No parsley, no croutons, no little green apology. The clean ivory surface is the finish. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a plain white rice, not an aromatic or parboiled variety. The rice must surrender its structure completely; fragrance and separate grains are virtues elsewhere, not here.
• •The white consommé carries nearly all the flavor, so use a pale, clear chicken or veal consommé with enough character to taste good on its own. A dark roasted stock turns the soup beige and changes its quiet character.
• •The formula also permits a velouté treatment, but this version follows the first method, where the rice itself supplies the body. Adding roux here muddies the lesson and gives the soup more weight than it needs.
• •Crème de Riz thickens considerably in the cold. Reheat it slowly, whisking in a little white consommé or cream until the original ribbon returns; never judge its final consistency straight from the refrigerator.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice may be prepared through Blanchings (No. 273), cooled, drained, and refrigerated in a covered container up to one day ahead.
• •The soup can be completed through sieving one day ahead. Cool it promptly and refrigerate it covered, then dilute, heat, and add the cream only when serving, as the source directs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)