PUFFED BLACK RICE CHOCOLATE BARS
From an Italian perspective, wholegrain black rice is often associated with elegant rice salads, particularly those featuring fresh vegetables or seafood. This combination is widely regarded as an excellent pairing, especially for summery dishes. With that said, I set myself a challenge to try something totally different that I have never done before so scour the internet to in search for quirky recipes and it hit me!
I found loads of recipes for rice bars, often made with puffed left over white rice so I though, if it works with white rice can I make it work with wholegrain black rice? The answer is yes, and it retains it’s more complex flavour even after puffed as well as retaining better the shape.
The next step was to add all the delicious things like nuts, honey and seeds that will make this treat ‘edible’ for my kids too and I ended up adding even a layer of dark chocolate on top as well as a sprinkle of salt and let me tell you, they love it.
So, feel free to keep using the beautiful and healthy wholegrain Nero rice from Sustainable agriculture by Riso Gallo for salads, nothing wrong with that, but if you ever find yourself with more boiled rice that you need, I urge you to give this recipe a try!
Chef’s tips: Don’t fry the rice from raw, it’s a wholegrain, it needs to be boiled well first. I tried to puffed the rice in the air fryer for a lighter option, it works but the classic frying method gives you much better puffing results. If you make this during summer months, keep it in the freezer for weeks, they will last longer and the cold will avoid them crumbling all over the place as there isn’t a lot of butter and honey.
Lastly, you can dry your rice in the over at 120 C for about 1 h or in the dehydrator at 60/70 degrees Celsius for about 6/7h. As long as it is dry to the touch and not sticky.
Serves: about 20 bars // Prep time: 40 mins (plus drying 3h)
Ingredients:
300 gr of Wholegrain Nero rice Riso Gallo
300 ml of veg oil for frying
150 gr of almonds, chopped
20 gr Chia seeds
20 gr sesame seeds
20 gr flax seeds
100 gr dry raisins
10 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 gr of unsalted butter
30 gr of honey
150 gr of 55% dark chocolate
1 tsp of cinnamon, powdered
Salt to taste
Method
Start by boiling the Nero rice in water for about 18 to 20 minutes until fully cooked. Drain, spread on a baking tray and dry in the oven at 120 C for about 45 minutes or until well dry to the touch.
Preheat the veg oil in a pot to 180 C and drop the dry rice in (in a couple of batches, don’t overload the pot). Watch the magic happens as the dried rice starts to take life and puff into the hot oil. Mix once to allow uniform cooking and colour and cook for 1 minutes until the grains have puffed well. Drain immediately and pat the rice well on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil. Important, cooked rice that is well dried will not absorb too much oil result in puffed rice that is dry to the touch and not oily at all. Don’t skip this step!
Let the puffed rice cool then mix it in a bowl with the seeds, the almonds and raisins than season with a pinch of salt, the honey and the cinnamon. Now add the olive oil and the melted butter (not fried butter, only lightly melted!) and mix well.
Place the mixture onto a tray folded with parchment and press well. Let it set in the fridge (or freezer) for about 1h and cover uniformly with the melted chocolate and a final sprinkle of sea salt. Let it cool again then carefully remove from the tray, cut into bars or chunks or shards and store it in an airtight container refrigerated for about 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
