How To Make Perfect Rice Like Bobby Flay

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When Bobby Flay is challenged on his competition cooking TV show, "Beat Bobby Flay," he has a whole arsenal of time-efficient tips and tricks for whipping up delectable food within time and recipe constraints. We previously covered how Flay takes a unique step to achieve better fried chicken in a time crunch, for instance. When it comes to a versatile, easy, and scrumptious side dish, we've often seen Flay turn to crispy rice. On his Instagram, Flay posted a video of his process for making picture-perfect crispy rice, the innards of which can be customized to suit whatever else he is cooking.

Basically, Flay takes cooked rice — his specific choice is Carolina long-grain rice, but either basmati or jasmine rice would work as well — and spreads it on a sheet pan to evenly dehydrate and cool (Flay also places it into a deep freeze to quickly stop the cooking process). He gets a cast iron pan nice and hot with a generous glug of light oil, then adds the rice, which he presses down with his spatula to better come into contact with the cooking surface. His aim, he says, is to get about a third of the rice nice and crispy, leaving the rest fluffy and soft for a delicious contrast in textures. At this point, you'll sprinkle on your toppings of choice, but don't flip your rice too soon! Letting it sit on the heat is key to getting a golden, savory crust and also to making sure your crispy sections don't overwhelm the whole serving of rice.

On Instagram, Flay seasoned his example of crispy rice with scallion and cilantro. We've also heard of him using full-fat coconut milk for pan-Asian flair, and he has endorsed bacon or scrambled egg as well. As part of a collaboration with Misfits Market, Flay published a crispy rice recipe that includes two kinds of mushrooms, frozen peas, and a drizzle of Calabrian chile oil. Basically, like a great fried rice, the essential form of crispy rice means you aren't limited to any one convention. Feel free to play around and choose ingredients that complement the rest of your meal and your own palate.

Across the world, we see tons of examples of crispy rice that can inspire your own adventures in cooking this dish. Persian tahdig gets its savor from butter and real saffron threads, which lend the meal its scent and golden hue. Travelers in Laos have spread the good word of naem khao on social media, hyping the crispy rice salad flavored with peanuts and pork sausage. Latino pegao is served plain, with a fried egg on top so that the yolk can spill into all those crunchy crevices and act as a sauce. Jamaican families eat bun bun rice with black beans, and, in a paella, the sofrito-flavored socarrat is considered the best part of the dish. There's basically no wrong way to enjoy crispy rice, especially with a great, simple technique as Bobby Flay has laid out.