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Rice Croquettes
Put 1/4 of a pound of rice, 1 pint of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of finely sifted sugar, 1 piece of butter the size of a small nut, and the thin rind of a lemon into a saucepan. Any other flavoring may be used, if preferred. Simmer gently until the rice is tender and the milk absorbed. It must be boiled until thick and dry, or it will be difficult to mould into croquettes. Beat it thoroughly for three or four minutes, then turn it out, and when it is cold and stiff, form it into small balls; dip these in egg, sprinkle a few bread crumbs over them, and fry them in clarified fat till they are lightly and equally browned. Put them on a piece of clean blotting-paper, to drain the fat from them, and serve them piled high on the dish.
A sweet rice fritter that lives or dies on how dry the rice porridge gets before it is shaped. Cook it further than feels right.
- The hinge: cook it dryThe rice must be stiff enough to hold a spoon upright before you spread it to cool. Any residual moisture and the balls slump in the fat and burst their coating.
- Quantities in modern termsA quarter pound of rice is about 115 g, a generous half cup; a pint of milk is 2 cups if the measure is American, 2 1/2 cups if imperial. A short or medium grain rice (arborio, pudding rice, calrose) binds most readily; long grain is less sticky and harder to mould.
- Butter the size of a small nutRoughly 2 teaspoons. The quantity is small enough that precision does not matter.
- The lemon rindPare it in wide strips with no white pith and fish the strips out before beating the rice. Grated zest can stay in, but it browns and specks the finished croquette.
- Chilling"When it is cold and stiff" means properly cold — spread the rice on a tray in a 2 cm layer and refrigerate at least two hours, or overnight. Shaping the rice while still warm is a likely cause of failure.
- CoatingSprinkling crumbs over is too casual for a deep fry. Roll each ball fully in fine dry crumbs, dip in beaten egg, then crumb again, and rest the coated balls 20 minutes before frying.
- Frying fat and temperatureClarified fat means fat with the milk solids and water removed so it will take heat without smoking; clarified butter, lard or a neutral oil all work. Hold 350–375°F and fry a few at a time — three to four minutes gives an even brown.
- Blotting-paperPaper towels on a rack. Blotting or brown paper was commonly used for draining fried food before absorbent kitchen paper existed.
- Yield and servingSixteen to twenty walnut-sized croquettes, serving four to six. They are plainly a sweet dish — good with stewed fruit, jam or a spoonful of cream.