Sayadeya rice - Egyptian seafood rice
The quintessential Egyptian seafood side dish, rice cooked with deeply browned onions pairs perfectly with any seafood dish.
Ingredients
- 3 TBS neutral oil vegetable, avocado, etc
- 2 medium yellow onions diced
- 2 cups short or medium grain rice, washed eg. Egyptian, calrose, sushi
- 1 TBS tomato paste optional
- 1 tsp cumin ground
- 2 tsp diamond kosher salt or 1 tsp table salt
- 2-3 cups water or seafood stock
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium size pot over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally. The onions will take some time to 'sweat', or lose their moisture- about 8 minutes. Then begin stirring and watching more carefully. Cook until the onions are mostly brown, and have some burnt bits on the edges- about 15 minutes more. If some pieces are burning while others are still white, turn the heat down to medium to allow them all more time to turn brown.
- Add cumin, salt, and tomato paste, if using. Sauté about 3 minutes.
- Add washed rice and stir to combine. Sauté another five minutes to toast the rice. Stir often to ensure all the rice is coating in the mixture.
- Add enough water or seafood stock to just cover the mixture, approximately 2.5 cups. It may seem like less water than needed, but the onions will also release moisture into the rice as it cooks. .
- Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to simmer on low heat. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Once done, remove the lid, gently fluff rice with a fork, then place the lid ajar on the bottom and allow the rice to rest for ten minutes before serving.