Waste not, want not: here are 19 easy but delicious recipes to use up your leftover rice! (And they're not all fried rice ideas)
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Do you know that almost half of the food is wasted in the US, most of it perfectly edible? It's not only bad for the environment, but also for our wallets, which is why I have an entire category devoted to recipes which use leftovers in this blog, such as What to do with leftover bak kwa/ Chinese pork jerky."
In an Asian kitchen, 1 of the most common leftover foods is rice. (If you're specifically looking for ideas regarding what to do with leftover sushi rice, click here.)
Leftover rice can make for very tasty food but here are some important things you need to know about it:
Don't leave at room temperature
Leftover rice can give you very bad food poisoning so make sure you store cooked rice correctly- whilst I'm all for reducing waste, if you're ever in doubt, toss it!
Uncooked rice has spores that can causes food poisoning which survives the cooking process- according to the NHS, if the cooked rice is left at room temperature, the spores turn into bacteria which multiply, and may produce toxins that lead to vomiting.
The longer the rice has been sitting at room temperature, the higher the possibility that it's no longer safe to eat.
Side note: similarly, it can be very dangerous to eat 5-day old pasta: people have even died after doing so!
Safe storage tips
According to the NHS:
- Eat the rice right after it has been cooked
- Cool the rice within 1 hour and store in the fridge
- Don't eat leftover rice that is over a day old
- Don't reheat rice more than once
- Rice should be steaming hot after reheating
Note: if safely stored, some scientists say that eating "leftover" rice could reduce the amount of calories absorbed by up to 60% and thus help prevent Diabetes. The rice needs to be prepared in a specific way though (click the previous link to find out more.)
Porridge
Poached Rice
Asian Fried Rice
Others
If you make any of these recipes, don't forget to tag myself (@greedygirlgourmet) or the recipe author's on social media- we'd love to see what you make!
Before you go, here are some of my most popular recipes that you may be interested in:
nancy says
love this round up for leftover rice. so many option
Zen says
Thanks Nancy, I figured Asian households will always have leftover rice and may need ideas!