rice

Blue butterfly pea flower rice

You can forget the old adage that there’s no blue food. Butterfly pea flowers are beautifully blue, and when you infuse any liquid with them, it turns beautifully blue as well. It’s a great addition to drinks, both alcoholic and non. When mixed with an acid, like lemonade, it turns purple, and the swirling colors in the glass are spectacular. Check out my recipe for Lavender Lemonade and you’ll see what I mean.

The flowers add virtually no taste, so they don’t interfere with the flavor of whatever you’re adding them to. This beautifully blue rice is the centerpiece of the Malaysian dish, nasi kerabu, which consists of blue rice surrounded by various vegetables, pickles, and sometimes fish or meat.

According to Ayurvedic medicine, butterfly pea flower tea works as a memory enhancer and antidepressant.

So if we’re feeling blue we should drink some blue tea. Makes sense, yes?

You can find dried butterfly pea flowers on Amazon.

The recipe for blue rice is simple. Add a few dried butterfly pea flowers to the water when you make rice, and presto! Blue rice. You can vary the shade of blue by adding more or fewer flowers.

But as with most things, you can make it more special with a few extra twists.

I recommend that you use Jasmine rice, as that’s the rice that’s most often used in Southeast Asia.

There are definite differences among different varieties of rice. If you have a few types in your pantry, do the sniff test. You’ll see that basmati, jasmine, arborio, valencia, sushi rice, sticky rice…each smells different from the others, each one has properties that cause it to cook up with a different texture from the others, and each one is specially suited to different dishes and preparations. And that’s just white rice! Whole grain rice varieties have distinct properties as well.

Although it is much more processed than whole grain rice, sometimes only white rice will do. Such is the case here. Whole grain rice won’t pick up the color the way white rice will.

Adding herbs and spices to the rice to complement the flavors of the dish you’re preparing can enhance the dish as well. Since it’s especially used in Southeast Asian cuisine, I like to add the seasonings that are a part of many of their classic dishes. But there’s nothing wrong with fusion, blending flavors of more than one culture together. Try adding other flavors, such as cardamom, fenugreek, ginger, coriander, etc. Just be careful about using spices that will affect the color. I’m serving this rice with a dinner that will include Middle Eastern and Western flavors, including a creamy sauce of roasted garlic and roasted lemon that will be offered with a choice of Chilean sea bass or fried silken tofu. So, I could pretty much go anywhere with the flavorings. This recipe features the herbs and spices that I’m using tonight. Consider it a guide. Change the flavors any way you’d like. Use butter or olive oil instead of coconut oil for a different flavor profile. Next time I make it, it will probably be a bit different than it will be tonight.

Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Rice

I make anywhere from ¼ cup to ½ cup rice per person, depending upon whether it’s a side dish or the main feature of a dish. A good rule of thumb is to use a ratio of 1 / 2, rice to water.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed three times and drained well

• 1 cup boiling water

• 1 cup cold water

• 4 to 6 dried butterfly pea flowers

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 medium sized clove of garlic, minced

• ¼ cup finely chopped onion

• 2 pairs keffir lime leaves, torn in half

Method:

• Put the dried flowers in a small bowl and pour over the boiling water. Cover the bowl and let it stand for 20—30 minutes.

• Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan large enough to accommodate the rice—remember that it will more than double in size. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent.

• Add the rice and the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute so that the rice absorbs some of the oil.

• Remove the flowers from your now very blue water and pour the water over the rice. Add the cup of cold water and the keffir lime leaves and bring the pot to a boil.

• Turn the heat down to very low, cover the pot, and allow the rice to steam undisturbed for 18 minutes.

• Take the pot off the heat, uncover the rice, and use a fork to separate the grains and fluff it up. Then re-cover the pot to keep the rice warm until you’re ready to serve it. Remove the keffir lime leaves before serving.