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Rice Rings, Savoury
Boil some rice as for curry, mix it when cool with seasoning to taste and a little butter; add the white of an egg, spread the mass out on a tin to the thickness of half an inch, and cut out with a round cutter two inches in diameter. Cut the centres out with a smaller cutter, leaving the rings half an inch wide. Egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them in boiling fat to a nice brown. These may be used to garnish minces or hashes, or the centre can be filled in with any nice mince or with the yolks of hard-boiled eggs coated with a good sauce.
A Victorian garnish that behaves like a rice croquette. The whole business hinges on the rice being sticky enough to hold a cut shape, which is where a modern cook following this literally will come unstuck.
- "Boil some rice as for curry"In this period that means rice boiled in plenty of salted water until tender, then drained and dried so the grains stay separate. Separate grains will not cut into rings. Cook the rice soft and slightly overdone in a small amount of liquid, or use a short-grain or pudding rice, so the mass is cohesive.
- QuantitiesNone are given. About 1 cup (200 g) of raw rice makes a generous slab, enough for a dozen or more rings two inches across depending on how closely they are cut, with trimmings to re-press.
- The egg whiteThe recipe uses one white for the whole mass; add a second only if the rice will not hold together. It is there as glue and does not set until frying, so the slab must be thoroughly chilled and firm before you cut it, ideally an hour or more in the refrigerator.
- Seasoning"Seasoning to taste" here means at least salt and pepper; nutmeg or mace would not be out of place. A spoonful of grated Parmesan helps both flavour and binding.
- "Boiling fat"Deep fat at 350-375F (175-190C). Below that the crumb coating soaks and the rings collapse; above it, they brown before the inside is hot. Fry in small batches so the temperature holds.
- Egg and bread-crumbBeaten whole egg, then fine dry crumbs, pressing them on firmly. A double coating is worth the trouble on something this fragile. Handle the rings with a wide palette knife rather than fingers.
- Re-using the trimmingsThe cut-out centres and offcuts press back into a slab and chill again, so nothing need be wasted.
- ServingServe within a few minutes of frying. Filled with mince or a sauced hard-boiled egg yolk, two rings make a small first course; as a garnish, allow one per plate around a hash.
Cassell's belongs to the era when a dish was expected to arrive at table dressed, and much of a professional cook's day went on garnishes that were edible architecture: fried croutons cut into shapes, aspic dice, piped potato borders, and rings like these to hold a spoonful of mince in place. The technique is the croquette method — bind a cooked starch, egg and crumb it, fry it — applied to rice, which by this date was a familiar imported staple and was so firmly associated with curry that the book can say "boil some rice as for curry" and expect to be understood. Filling the centre with a sauced hard-boiled egg yolk is a characteristically thrifty Victorian touch.