Newsletter: 🍚 Risotto, Pilau, Rice pudding and more in our Rice 101 + an exclusive new Japanese recipe in #ckbkclub 🍜

Our favorite quince recipes

An Introduction to Cooking with Rice

One of the world’s most important staple foods, and of paramount importance across Asia, rice is a grain of infinite variety and culinary potential. Far more than a side dish, from jollof to biryani, risotto to rice pudding, there are so many varieties and cooking methods – the world of rice deserves exploration. So, in the second of our series – following on from An Introduction to Pastry – Cat Black gives us an overview of this special grain: An Introduction to Cooking with Rice.

Our feature includes a collection of Core Rice Recipes – this is a curation of basics, from How to Cook Sushi Rice, to the most fundamental Baked Rice Pudding. These recipes will expand your knowledge of some of the main types and uses of rice.

Of course, there is huge variation regionally on even these fundamental recipes, and then endless opportunity to play with different ingredient combinations on top of that. Cat has compiled a series of collections around some of our most popular rice dishes.

Delve into a dozen Middle Eastern Rice Dishes, or what makes the perfect Paella. With over a hundred recipes across eight collections, and explanations that will ensure you know your Arborio from your Carnaroli, your biryani from your pulao, you will find all you need to get started.

And if you find yourself with cravings for even more rice, explore our Rice Bookshelf.

Click here to read An Introduction to Cooking with Rice

Pictured above: Boozy Japanese Claypot Chicken from Pimp My Rice by NIsha Katona

Tech Tip: Recipe reviews and Q&A

Did you know you can post a review of any recipe on ckbk, and read and respond to reviews and questions from other ckbk users? Often the cookbook author will join in and add a response, too!

We’ve just rolled out a number of improvements requested by users. If your review or question receives a response, you can now add your own response and continue the conversation. You can also now ask more than one question, if need be.

Please do keep the reviews coming, and watch out for more new features including the ability to post a photo alongside your review.

An exclusive new Japanese recipe in #ckbkclub

This month's #ckbkclub book is Let’s Cook Japanese Food!: Everyday Recipes for Authentic Dishes by Amy Kaneko. It's a book packed with tempting approachable Japanese recipes.

Each month we choose a cookbook for the group to focus on, and we encourage members to cook from it, chat about it, and share any photos, tips or questions they have about the recipes.

The group is a place to chat about what you’ve made from the cookbooks on ckbk, or ask for help in the Kitchen SOS chat.

In October we will be leafing through recipes for Stir Fried Vegetables with Pork, Spinach in a Sesame Dressing, Cucumber & Shrimp Salad with Vinegar Dressing, and finding it impossible to choose what to make first!

Over in the group we have a bonus okonomiyaki recipe from Amy Kaneko, featuring a surprising ingredient.

So join us, and Let’s Cook Japanese Food! We can’t wait to see what you make.

Join our #ckbkclub Facebook group

Ingredient focus: quince

There is something magical and uncommon about the quince. Originating in the Caucasus, the fruit remains important in Turkish and Persian cuisine. A relative of the apple and pear, the Ancient Greeks held the quince sacred to Aphrodite, and it has been at the centre of art and imagery ever since – many of the earliest mentions of apples, such as in the Song of Solomon, were likely actually quinces.

The quince quickly spread through Southern Europe, and although there were none native to America, they were at the height of their popularity when Europeans immigrated to the US, so were soon cultivated there.

Unlike most fruit, quinces require cooking before being edible, which might account for their relative rarity now in modern diets. When cooked, the flesh softens and they release a heady scent.

If there was ever a fruit whose scent and flavor could be called ambrosial, it is the quince. With their distinct aromatic taste, the fruit works well alongside meats and in savory dishes – try Quince and Lamb Stew.

They are also superb in many sweet dishes, including celebrated French classic Pâte de Coings (Quince Jellies). Try Baked Quinces, a perfect dessert with cold cream or vanilla ice cream.

Quince has a particularly high amount of pectin, so it is also great for preserving – try this Quince and Pink Pepper Jelly.

For more quince recipes take a look at these 12 Ways with Quince.