Use Leftover Rice – 5 Tips and Ideas For The Leftover Kitchen

Hearty use of leftover rice: fried rice – a classic

Rice can be used in a variety of ways. One of the easiest and most rewarding recipes for this is fried rice. The recipe is quick to cook and tastes delicious.

• For the fried rice, choose vegetables that you like. Traditionally, these are carrots, peas, and corn—but you can add or omit veggies as you like. The quickest way is to use frozen vegetables.
• Fry the spring onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil or butter. Set aside the green ends of the onion for garnish. Add the vegetables to the pan and allow them to thaw and soften. Now comes the already cooked rice.
• When everything is warm and lightly seared, scoop out a spot in the center of the pan. To do this, push the vegetable rice to the side. Beat 1-2 eggs in here. Let them set briefly and then whisk the egg in the pan. Then fold it into the rice.
• As a final step, pour soy sauce over the rice. Let the whole thing simmer for a while until the rice is soaked with it. Finally, garnish the dish with the remaining spring onions.

Make your own sushi from leftover rice

The next way to make good use of leftover rice is to make sushi yourself. While regular rice isn’t as sticky as sushi rice, it should still work just fine.

• Making sushi is a bit more involved than other recipes. For example, you need a rolling mat to turn the sushi. You will also need nori sheets and ingredients for the sushi filling, such as salmon, cucumber, avocado, and peppers.
• Place one nori sheet at a time on your rolling mat and spread a layer of cooked rice on top. Thinly slice your vegetables and salmon and place the ingredients on the bottom of the rice layer.
• Now you simply start to roll the sushi piece by piece. Press the roll firmly with your fingers again and again so that everything holds together well. The finished sushi roll is now cut into bite-sized pieces.
• The sushi tastes particularly delicious with wasabi, fresh ginger, and some soy sauce. If you are interested in the topic, you can find out more in our article “Make sushi yourself”. Summer rolls are also a delicious Asian idea to use up rice.

Rice as a side dish

The easiest way to use up your rice from the day before is to put it on the plate as a side dish the next day. You can use a variety of recipes for this.

• Curry with rice: For a tasty, simple curry, it’s best to buy a curry paste. Fry them in a pan with onions, ginger, and garlic and add fresh vegetables such as peppers. Pour a can of tomatoes over the whole thing and let it soak a little.
• Just before eating, add a pack of coconut milk. Chickpeas and fresh spinach are also great. Let everything simmer a little longer and serve the curry with the rice from the day before.
• Djuvec rice: Djuvec rice is a particularly tasty accompaniment to meat and fish – but can also be eaten as a main course. All you have to do is add some chopped canned tomatoes and some tomato paste to your rice. Fry some vegetables such as carrots and peas along with some garlic and mix everything in a saucepan.
• Let the tomato juice boil down a little before serving the tomato rice as a side dish or main course. Garnish with fresh parsley and set aside a cup of creme fraiche.

Rice pan as a delicious rice dish

Another hearty idea for using up rice is rice stir-fry, also known as rice meat.

• For this, you need the meat of your choice and some vegetables, such as peppers, carrots, broccoli, and spring onions. Sauté in a pan with your choice of spices and garlic until tender and the meat is cooked through.
• Fold in your rice from the day before and season again if necessary. A rice pan also tastes good with a yogurt sauce or crème Fraiche.
• You can also convert the whole thing into a casserole by baking all the ingredients with feta or cheese while still in the oven. This dish is particularly versatile because you can vary the vegetables and spices as you like.

How to do it the sweet way – rice congee

If you prefer to use leftover rice sweetly, this is the place for you. In addition to the classic rice pudding, there are other ways to prepare rice in a sweet way, such as rice congee.

• For this sweet dish that you can also eat for breakfast, all you have to do is boil some coconut milk and stir in coconut flakes and honey. Season with cinnamon, cardamom, and some ginger. It is important to let everything simmer slowly so that nothing burns.
• Then fold in the rice or pour the liquid mass onto the rice. Now you can garnish the sweet bowl with nuts, fresh fruit, and chocolate chips.
• This dish can also be easily varied. Instead of coconut milk, you can use any other plant-based milk that you like and you are also very flexible with the topping. If you want, you can also stir in cocoa with the milk for a chocolate bowl.