Breath of the Wild #77: Fried Egg and Rice

Ingredients: Bird Egg, Hylian Rice

Description: "The soft egg yolk pairs well with the fresh rice in this simple dish."

A simple dish! And I've made it simple by cooking some sticky rice already, and chopped some spring onions for the garnish. And eggs, obviously.

I dress the rice with rice vinegar, a tiny bit of mirin, and an even tinier bit of soy sauce so we don't turn the rice too brown.

Yo why did my eggs explode!? this isn't the microwave? I guess they are a bit old... so i was keeping them in the fridge... Still the yolk somehow isn't unbroken. Oh, also i cooked them with a bit of sesame oil for more flavours.

Then i char the spring onion just a tiny bit as well. And sprinkle some seaweed salt on it all.

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The rice is a bit underseasoned... it's aiight.... huh, maybe it's the heatwave talking but I feel like i used to rate fried eggs and rice a lot higher...? has this challenge raised my standards??

Breath of the Wild #76: Curry Pilaf

 Ingredients: Goron Spice, Goat Butter, Hylian Rice

Description: "The Goron spice used in this pilaf has given it a rich, spicy aroma."

Not unlike the poultry pilaf I guess, but no call for meat and eggs. Just good ol' curry spices. I decided to get spring onions, peas and sultanas, and some sort of african style curry powder this time! 

In with the rice goes chicken stock, a bay leaf, salt, plenty of that curry powder and a touch of shredded mint.

Looks like there's plenty of turmeric in that mix eh. Mixed it around in hot water so the stock cube dissolves and then in the steamer again.

I'll chop up some chives for garnish and put them to one side.

Got some nice chunky onions from the fancy grocery store. For this i'll just use the white bits and save the greens for an upcoming recipe actually... i could use a bunch of the greener bits for that.

Since its curry themed, I'll fry them with a good amount of ghee. How do they get that butter smelling so floral and aromatic? It's a mystery to me?

Once the onions are nice and soft i'll throw in the frozen peas and a handful of sultanas. 

In goes the cooked rice and a bit of extra ghee on top. Without the meats and eggs its a much simpler and quicker one.

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A bit mild, a nice gentle aromatic flavour. I could have added chillies or more curry spices (or garlic/ginger/etc). It works quite well as a light lunch or an elaborate side. You could elevate it by throwing a load of nuts in there... or stuffing a pepper or aubergine with it? 

Breath of the Wild #75: Seafood Paella

Ingredients: Armored Porgy or Mighty Porgy, Razorclaw Crab or Ironshell Crab, Rock Salt, Goat Butter, Hylian Rice

Description: "No fisherman's birthday bash would be complete without this top-shelf seafood dish."

I'm just gonna go ahead and make a paella based on a few cursory glances at paella recipes online. I think i've made a few not-that-authentic paellas before. We've got some seafood mix and some extra whole squid im hastily defrosting, proper paella rice, sweet peppers, onion, garlic, thyme, tinned tomatoes, etc.

Onions and garlic can start frying first in a bit of olive oil. Looking at the ingredients now, i forgot i was gonna use a good amount of butter! Oh well.

Once they're a bit browned i add the chicken stock, pepper cut into strips, rice and a bit of water, and we can keep adding water as we go.

Seasoned with salt and pepper, and plenty of smoked paprika and turmeric! Was that too much? We'll see. 

The tin of tomatoes go in next... Oh, and I guess ill add some white wine. i dont know when to add that. I should have looked at the instructions not just the ingredients list but im busy now. I'll use my cooking instincts!

While that cooks I'll cut up the squid into more rings (and tentacles i guess?)

When the rice is about halfway there I guess I can stir the mixed seafood and squid.

When its nearly done (looking nice and vibrant!) I'll add some lemon juice and the fresh thyme. Then i can arrange it on a plate with those jalapenos, they were the closest thing to small green peppers i could find.

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It tastes like tomatoes, peppers, and cheap seafood. That's pretty good! its not exactly taking me back to the streets of barcelona but I think its a success for the price of budget grocery store seafood. I thought the rice was soft but it seemed sliiightly undercooked actually. The spicy kick from the jalapenos was a really nice touch. A nice mix of flavours.

Breath of the Wild #74: Gourmet Poultry Pilaf

Ingredients: Raw Whole Bird, Hylian Rice, Goat Butter, Bird Egg

Description: "Made with the highest-quality poultry, every bite of this pilaf floods your mouth with flavor."

Alright we need the gourmet-est poultry and the most elaborate pilaf! Whats the biggest fanciest bird I can get... how about... ostrich!!? I think this will go well with a classic middle-eastern type spicy and fruity pilaf. We've got jasmine rice, butter, an egg, onion, chilli, peas, mint, chicken stock, raisins, almonds, and a whole bunch of spices, lets see... 

I still wanna take it easy and just steam my rice, but ill mix it with loads of flavours and stir it halfway through. So lets see... plenty of turmeric, a bit of paprika, garam masala, dried coriander, cumin, cardamom pods, star anise, and some torn up mint leaves. Is that enough? Is this... golden rice...?

I chop up the onion and chillies real small, we need lots of colourful stuff and junk in the rice.

Here's how it looks part way through, fair to say we have just enough turmeric. Stirring it around a bit should hopefully help release the cardamom and anise flavours.

When the rice is nearly done we can start frying up the veg with a bit of butter.

And chop up one of the ostrich steaks to have in the mix. They're pre-cooked so no worries! I guess we could also add some salt and pepper at this point, I didn't add any to the rice.

Oh right, raisins! I don't really like getting a big sweet raisin in my rice or salad, but i like a little bit of more dispersed sweetness, so im chopping these up smaller.

In go some raisins and peas...

I still don't know what to do with eggs and pilaf, so I ill scramble it and therell be chunks througout the dish.

Ok its heated and ready for all that rice! I may have made a lot... ill throw in a good chunk of butter, and add more if it dries out too much.

And lastly, the almonds! For that extra nutty crunch. I had a bit more mint leaves so ill throw them on as well. I just keep stirring that up and take it off the heat. Now to find a container for a mountain of hot rice... oh, and one last thing...

Heating the other ostrich steak to go on top! Now thats decadence. Unfortunately though, I DID forget to get tomatoes and greens for the garnish. IM SORRY!!! (who cares)

*****

It's a flood of flavour! Theres so many different flavours, and lots of satisfying crunchy bits. The ostrich steak is sooo nice, its like a lean flavourful red meat with a slight smokyness to it, so its a fun match with all the earthy and aromatic spices. I only ate half of whats on the plate but i just know ill be craving those leftovers. I probably committed like 10 pilaf sins a restaurant wouldn't accept, but im just... a gamer.

Breath of the Wild #73: Prime Poultry Pilaf

Ingredients: Raw Bird Thigh, Hylian Rice, Goat Butter, Bird Egg

Description: "The rice permeates the savory taste of the poultry in this Gerudo-region favorite."

Pilaf part deux! I've mixed it up a bit, instead of corn and carrot we have onion and pomegranate. Chicken breast instead of drumstick, mint instead of chives, and a few more spices. Going for kind of a mediterranean/middle eastern thing

This time we got the chicken stock, turmeric and garam masala again, but adding salt and pepper, star anise, cardamom pods, cumin seed and a bay leaf. Classy!

Again, will stir it around in hot water first to dissolve everything and mix it more evenly before I steam it.

Now, time to rip in to this pomegranate! I haven't had a whole pomegranate for years and years. It's actually easier than I remember I guess, just a bit annoying picking out all that pith for a fruit that I don't think really tastes all that good.

They look a bit pale, maybe underripe, well they are going in rice.

I'll fry up the whole breast chunks and finely diced onion in plenty of butter first. I'm keeping a whole breast in tact for presentation, and ill chop the other 3 once they are cooked to toss in the rice.

stripped off the best leaves of some big stalks of mint.

there's the rice looking done! just like last time I figured I can just make plenty of it.

Ah right, egg is also involved somehow. I'll do like last time, but I think one egg will be plenty.

In goes the chopped chicken and pomegranate, and what else...

Ah! peas!

That's looking respectable, but slightly dry, nothing another lump of butter can't fix. This has to be PRIME.

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Hmm yeah its about as good as the last one. The spices add more complex flavours. The pomegranate and mint add very little actually. The chicken breast is a little better I guess, it's not too dry. Also i garnished it with basil leaves because i forgot about greens. I guess i'm knocking off a point because we used more and fancier ingredients and it doesn't really seem like its better than the last one. Also I did the next recipe a while before these so observe me talking like i've never made a poultry pilaf before.