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Rice Croquettes
592. Boil half a pound of rice till soft and dry, mix it with a little grated cheese and butter and powdered mace. Mince fine some cold chicken or turkey, six oysters, nutmeg, and lemon-peel, mix and moisten RISSOLES. with cream. Take of the rice a piece about the size of an egg, flatten it and put in the centre a spoonful of the mixture, close the rice round it, like a dumpling, and form it in the shape of an egg. Brush it over with yolk of egg, and powder with bread-crumbs, or pounded biscuit. Make up the whole, and throw into a saucepan of boiling lard two at a time to brown them, take out with a perforated skimmer, drain them, and serve hot.
A Victorian arancino: a rice shell moulded round minced poultry and oysters, breadcrumbed and deep-fried. The whole thing hinges on rice dry and starchy enough to hold together, so treat that step as the recipe's real work.
- Rice quantity and textureHalf a pound of rice is about 1 1/4 cups raw, giving roughly 3 1/2 cups cooked. Cook it soft and slightly sticky, in a modest amount of water or milk so it absorbs everything rather than being drained; short-grain or pudding rice binds far better than long-grain. Spread it out and cool it completely before moulding or it will slump in the fat.
- The filling must be stiff"Moisten with cream" means a tablespoon or two, not a pour. A wet filling steams inside the shell and splits it open in the fryer. Chill the filling until firm and portion it out before you start shaping.
- OystersSix shucked oysters, chopped fine, season the filling rather than dominating it; their liquor can stand in for some of the cream. The recipe adds them raw and relies on the frying to cook them; if you do the same, make sure the centre is properly hot before serving.
- Mace and nutmegMace is the outer covering of the same seed as nutmeg, milder and more floral. Both here means a good pinch of each, no more — a scant 1/4 teaspoon between them for this quantity.
- Pounded biscuitHere this most likely means a hard, plain, unsweetened biscuit crushed to crumbs rather than a sweet one. Plain dry breadcrumbs or crushed water biscuits give the same effect; sweet cookie crumbs do not.
- Boiling lardFrying temperature, not a rolling boil: around 350F. Lard was one of the common frying fats, though any neutral high-smoke-point oil substitutes. Two at a time, as directed, keeps the temperature from crashing; give each pair a few minutes to colour and heat through.
- Egg wash and coatingYolk alone is thick and clings unevenly on damp rice; a yolk loosened with a teaspoon of water or beaten with a little white coats more reliably. A second pass of egg and crumbs on any thin spot is cheap insurance against a burst croquette.
- Yield and servingEgg-sized portions give about twelve croquettes — four to six as a first course or light supper dish. Serve immediately; they are limp within twenty minutes and do not reheat well.