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Rice Balls
958. To a quarter of a pound of rice add a pint and a half of milk, and boil it with a little cinnamon, sugar, and lemon-peel, until it is quite tender; allow it to remain till cold, and then make it into balls. Beat up an egg, and roll the balls in it, and afterwards in grated bread-crumbs. Fry them in lard, drain them on a piece of paper, and serve them up covered with sifted sugar.
A sweet rice croquette, and one that depends entirely on the rice being cooked down thick enough to hold together cold. Everything else is straightforward.
- Quantities in modern termsA quarter pound of rice is about 115g, roughly half a cup plus a tablespoon of short-grain pudding rice. A pint and a half in a British book of this date is imperial: 30 fl oz, about 850ml.
- Use short-grain ricePudding rice, arborio or any round-grain type releases the starch that makes the mixture cohere. Long-grain or basmati will cook tender but the balls will crumble in the fryer.
- Cook it drier than a puddingThe hinge of the recipe. Simmer gently, stirring toward the end, until the mixture is thick enough that a spoon drawn through leaves a channel. Any loose milk left in the pan means balls that collapse in hot fat.
- FlavouringsUse a cinnamon stick and pared strips of lemon zest rather than ground spice and grated peel, and lift them out before chilling. Sugar is unspecified; two to three tablespoons suits the quantity, since more is sifted over at the end.
- Chill properly"Allow it to remain till cold" means several hours, ideally overnight in the refrigerator. Cold, firm rice shapes cleanly; warm rice does not.
- CoatingOne egg is enough for a first batch but beat a second if the crumbs are not adhering. A light dusting of flour before the egg gives a more reliable crust. Chill the coated balls again for twenty minutes before frying.
- FryingLard is authentic and fries well; any neutral fat at 350-360F works. Deep enough fat to float them, two or three minutes to a deep gold, and no crowding, which drops the temperature and softens the crust.
- YieldThis makes about a dozen walnut-sized balls, serving four as a sweet course. They are best within an hour of frying.
Fried balls of sweetened boiled rice, crumbed and served under a snow of sugar, belong to a broad European family of rice croquettes that includes the Italian arancini in their savoury form and the French croquettes de riz in their sweet one. In mid-Victorian British cookery the sweet version was generally served among fritters, beignets and other fried sweets, and cookery books of the period often suggest that leftover rice pudding could be used up this way, though this recipe cooks its rice fresh. Cinnamon and lemon peel simmered in the milk were a common seasoning for boiled rice in English kitchens before this book, and the dusting of sifted sugar rather than a sauce suggests a simple family sweet rather than a set piece.