Tradition teaches what works consistently, not what works easiest or most efficiently. Edit: and it also doesn’t take into account improvements in technology. I wonder if the constant stir tradition partially comes from the days of heat sources that had more hot spots that could result in burning.
I subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the constant stirring idea came about a result of either 1. The cook wanting an excuse to be in the kitchen away from everyone else for an extended period or 2. Something you tell a small child to do to keep them busy and quiet for a while
I think when you had old wooden stoves and a pot over a fire you stirred it just to make sure nothing burned since you couldn’t control the heat as well.
I think it’s more that a lot of new cooks do other things while cooking. Put rice in pot, set heat, look at phone, deal with kids, take the dog out, etc. I think “stir constantly in recipes”might be there to keep you from doing anything other than keeping a good eye on the food to prevent it from being ruined.
if the additional broth makes it too salty, you could also choose to go with a fixed amount of broth (e.g. 350ml based on your first experiment) and then add any additionally required liquid in the form of plain water; after all, in the 2nd experiment requiring additional moisture was probably due to more of the water in the broth evaporating off, so you'd simply be replacing that.
Well that depends on how much salt the stock has innit. Be it homemade or low-sodium and you can go way more ham on the stock, until you turn your rice into super savory porridge reducing it all lmao.
@@ThePr0biker sure, you can use whatever (mix of) liquids you like; I was just suggesting the option that would get the most similar results to the traditional method that used less moisture overall to be cooked to the same doneness
Pro chef here, you can in fact cook perfect risotto well in advance and still get that perfect al-dente texture. The trick is to not cook it fully and not add cheese. You want it ~85% done, it will carry to ~90% in the time it takes you to place on a sheet pan and chill in the fridge. Place it in an airtight container and you can pick it up with a little stock in a pan, add your cheese, and have perfect fresh risotto in minutes whenever you want it. Perfect for weekend meal prep.
exactly this. only I'd halt the cooking process a bit earlier, then pick it up again with different stocks to order (fish, fish+sepia, porcino, veg+sage, ...)
@@dushnozel6261 That was my exact method when working in an Italian restaurant. Just make sure to spread it over several full sheet trays and place them in front of the blower in the walk-in.
@@yankeelongshoreman9113 Thank you very much, it's something I make at home a lot, and I've wanted to put it on as a special, but was wondering how well par cooking it would work so it could be done during a busy service.
In my experience, stirring constantly only matters when you're making BIG batches, like 12 quarts-ish. There you do get a mildly thicker risotto as the very large amount of rice grinds against itself, which doesn't really happen as much with a cup or two of rice. However, the bigger reason is that you *have* to keep stirring that much rice in a huge rondeau pan. Maybe the constant stirring thing was taken from restaurants or kitchens of big noble houses and accepted as "the way" for even small home cooks, who knows.
I'm guessing it's probably more the case of evening out temperature and preventing bottom burning in the case of large quantities, rather than any friction derived free starch. If you just let 12 quarts sit around you'd end up with the bottom layer overcooked, top layer undercooked and that might very well result in a less creamy or otherwise just not great risotto.
But considering the required extra stock, the wisdom might still be valid in the modern restaurant. The tiny bit extra cumulatively equates to a massive amount in a single service. In the finances, that may be significant enough to warrant the methodology to simply reduce that cost.
@@Frag-ile Of course for paella, an overcooked bottom and not-so creamy texture is the goal. But in olden times, both were probably cooked over whatever fire they could make, so the stirring might account for lack of control on the heat.
This is how my dad (who loves to find shortcuts when cooking) originally taught me to cook risotto. So when I first heard people talk about how hard it was to make risotto it was really confused. To me it was always the dish my dad did when he didn't have time to make something complicated. Because you could literally just take all the ingredients, throw them in a pot and boil them for 20 minutes and it would come out great.
Same with my parents... I didn't know about the constant stir until I started to watch english recipe some with risotto. And I was like "why are they doing something like that? It just make no sense..."... I don't even use stock... just the wine and water (sometimes milk).
I was always told Risotto required constant stirring and so I always kind-of considered it a High Effort dish. I wish I knew otherwise earlier. Whenever I craved Risotto I never felt like I had the time or energy to hover over it constantly, so I always settled for a low-effort equivalent in just cooking rice with condensed soup in some water with whatever seasonings I had on hand. It was never as good as the real thing, but the texture was similar and it helped curb the craving, and since I didn't have to hover over it I could go do my laundry or kick back for a bit.
I actually didn't mind that effort, but then again, I enjoy the actions cooking provides and of course, the end result too. That said, it is good to know you don't have to stir it all the time to get the same results.
Cool! I enjoy a lot these "experimental" videos where you compare results of few similiar methods and sometimes debunk some myths. Even if not every variable is perfectly controlled, this gives a lot of insight into the actual processes - what matters in modern cooking and what doesn't. Thank you, Adam.
I stir risotto constantly just because I like it. I don't make it very often, and when I do, I enjoy the little traditional things. It's just fun to me. But it's good to know that if something happens and I need to get away from the pan, I just add stock and it'll still be good. Thanks Adam!
Let's face it, it's a traditional Italian peasant dish. The odd stir is not going to alter the end result very much. We all know what it should be like when we plop it on the plate.
My approach to risotto has always been less of a stir and more of a scrape, treating the rice and broth more like scrambled eggs with the layer immediately touching the pan getting scraped up and combined with the rest as the heat thickens it. Scrape the bottom and sides, wait a couple of minutes, and repeat until done. Always turns out perfect and leaves plenty of time to work on the rest of the meal.
balancing between the ideas of the traditional method of risotto and the one he describes here during my first time cooking risotto got me exactly to this spot, and it just felt natural. seeing it boiling over rice you're not stirring at ALL triggers the instinct to not let things burn
Wish you had also mentioned it, but it at least follows from your experiment with washing the free starch off - You can make perfectly textured risotto without traditional risotto style rice. I frequently make it with jasmine which I can buy in large economical quantities from my local international food store. Yes, the grains are bigger, but the creaminess and richness from the starch are there despite what the conventional wisdom would lead you to believe.
Here's the thing Adam. In restaurants, specifically mine, we pre cook the rice. Normally this is in the entremetier station. It would be impossible to time a starch with another station if we had to cook risotto from scratch. We need o be synched for a 5 to 7 minute timing with the other stations. Risotto, along with other dishes are still perfect when finished at the last minute. Thanks for your great videos. Do people really think we are magicians in professional kitchens? We are just great cooks.
I would like to add this to anybody who is apprehensive about buying arborio rice just for risotto: Any short or medium grain rice will work in making risotto. I've had good results with Calrose rice. Besides making a basic mushroom risotto, I've also made cheddar risotto which is delicious. Edit: I've found a 2.5:1 to a 3:1 ratio stock to rice is ideal for me.
Calrose works. It's what Italian Americans used in the old days in California when imported Italian rice wasn't realistic. They're both japonica at the end of the day.
Hello there! I have been making risotto for years and I think I found a balance between stirring constantly and leaving it alone. I am starting with the onion on butter. Once the onion goes translucent I add sloppily chopped asparagus (from a jar, as the season is short, and fresh white asparagus is tough) and once it is frying for a bit and loose most moisture I add some wine and wild mushrooms (that I soak thinly slices, dried porcini into hot water 15 min before). I save the mushroom-soaking water, as it is fool of flavor. I am adding rice and frying for a minute. After that, there is a splash of white wine. Once it's evaporated I am adding chicken (or vegetable) stock mixed with mushroom-soaking water. About 200mil. I am mixing and coming back when the liquid has evaporated (an=bot 4-6 min). I add another splash (about 200ml bullion with mushroom-soaking water) and mix it. Then I am coming after 5min adding the rest. Once it is grainy and evaporated I am adding a splash of cream and pecorino and/or Parmigiano. And I taste. When it is soft and I like it I serve. Most likely with fresh chopped parsley.
There’s a South Indian dish called Pongal that I think works off similar principles, and there isn’t any talk of constant stirring. The end product is typically thicker than risotto, but that’s just a matter of when you pull it off the stove. Plenty of people make it with a consistency similar to risotto, especially the sweet variant. You can make it in a pressure cooker, so no ability to constantly stir there. (Pongal is also the name of a festival during which the namesake dish is made, so keep that in mind if the Google results seem confusing)
Hi, Adam! I'm still enjoying this video, however, I just had to pause to let you know how much I appreciate you breaking down food like this. I thoroughly enjoy this. Also, I love that you are always commenting on whether it's feasible and worth it, especially on a week night dinner, ect. Thank you 🔥
I'm surprised the stirring thing is still a 'thing'. Chefs have been telling everyone for years to really lay of it. I think it probably comes from putting too little stock in (aka - a little bit and keep topping up) so stirring is done to stop sticking. One thing I know that really improves risotto is home made stock. That lifts it to the next level more than anything. Carnaroli is my favourite rice for risotto as well. Risotto is something we can all cook at home. It's a traditional peasant dish after all. Paying £20 for it in a restaurant is insane.
For me as well as other people who like to cook, I enjoy the process of cooking something like a risotto cause you’re engaged during the cooking process and it’s fun to cook dishes that require your attention that way. Having said that if I’m ever feeling lazy and want risotto I think I’ll try adding all the stock at once and just letting it go and see how it turns out.
It's tremendously useful for people like me who are disabled and mustering up the energy to cook can be almost insurmountable at times. I like to cook too, it's just a matter of what my body can accomplish and "standing for 20 minutes stirring" is just close to impossible.
i was too lazy to constantly stir my risotto and just did it like you with a little stirring in the end. Nice to see the laziness doesn't ruin the dish :D
The only italian risotto recipe I've ever looked at said to stir each time when I put stock in it. Not more than that. And as far as I could tell, the idea behind the putting the stock in more than one time is for better control. I think this comes from open fire cooking, where standardised precise recipe cooking is impossible as heat control is so much more difficult. Anway: for risotto, pressure cooker is the way to go. I always use the same rice, always the same proportions, always exactly the same cooking time, stir vigorously at the end. Viscosity correction at that moment, put the cheese in at the same time. Works every time. Edit as I was writing during the video: yes, your final point might be the most important: risotto does not wait for people, people wait for risotto 😁
I do my risotto in an instant pot, so I'll second that! Tried it the traditional way and didn't enjoy making it. Eventually discovered a recipe for pressure cooker/Instant Pot risotto, tried it, loved it. It almost feels like cheating how easy it is.
Chiming back in from last week's ramen recipe and the noodles came out great! I'm eating them right now and can't belive how easy the noodles were! Thank you, Adam!
i made my first risotto by using a no stir recipe from HalfBaked Harvest (lemon brie with asparagus), it turned out very very good, however my only misstep was needing a little more liquid. home cooking shouldnt have the ridged structure of "traditional" cooking
Cooking at higher altitudes, the simmer-&-stir stovetop method becomes REALLY odious, taking upwards of 45 minutes in some cases. Turns out, risotto made in a rice cooker or electric pressure cooker turns out great. Sauté, deglaze with wine, add hot broth at 1:2 ratio, close lid & cook on rice setting. Release pressure carefully to avoid clogging the valve with starch, stir in butter & parm, done!
These kind of videos is why I subscribe to your channel. Bravo! I've learned so much from you over the years. I went from not knowing how to cook to being a semi-profesional cook today, and I've even got the chance to compete in the Swedish MasterChef.
Thanks for this. I have made risottos in the past where I still try to stir it more often but I'm not so adamant as to stir it constantly. I give myself some time to walk away from it to chop parsley or grate the cheese and it still turns out perfect. No need to get so bogged down by tradition. I say try different things and see if they work!
Risotto is a comfort food in my (northern) Italian American family. We never stirred constantly and for a long time we would use long grain rice, now we use sushi rice. Still makes great risotto. We stir leave it alone, clean the kitchen, add broth, stir and do the dishes, towards the end watch and taste more. Thank you for showing people risotto is not as complicated as it is shown across most media.
Long grain rice is not great, it's literally used when you want the rice not to stick. Red rice is the worst, hence why it's a trend with the snobbish urban crowd. Sushi rice or any pudding style rice will do the job nicely. I suspect Adam's rice washing exercise didn't turn out to be a disaster because he barely washed it. When I want my Japanese rice to feel less sticky, I wash it several times and its texture becomes closer to a basmati style rice.
Making risotto at home and babysitting it with and the love and labour honestly adds to it and makes it just taste more rewarding to me. I don't really like the idea of just leaving it and letting it sit. I constantly am trying the risotto as I stir it and add different things to make it taste how I want or how my family wants.
That's something you only have to learn once for a rice, tho, and in any case only means adding a little more reduction time if you go over a little. (I'm someone who used to do the stir-constantly-add-broth-slowly technique, but switched to just doing it all and strirring occasionally.)
You've just saved me a bunch of time and effort, thanks! I would love to see similar experiment for pasta cooked risottata - adding the water all at once. That would also save some viewers time on some other pasta dishes if it turns out fine
thank you for saying this, i've been making risotto for years at this point by just dumping in all the rice unwashed, toasting it a bit, and then adding basically all of the water/stock, then i just stirred it once or twice to make sure it doesn't burn, i never understood why people make such a fuss about it
I learned to make risotto from my old Fannie Farmer's cookbook. I've never stirred constantly, but more like your second. I toast the rice a bit, add stock to cover well, give it a stir once in a while, and add the rest of the stock as needed, cheese at the end. Can't remember if I washed it; probably not.
Constant stirring prevents water from boiling off because it keeps moving hot liquid from the bottom before it has a chance to boil. When not stirring the rice inhibits convection, so the liquid on the bottom takes all the heat until it boils, at which point the steam is able to force its way through the mixture and escape completely. You could probably get away with using a lower heat setting for a similar result.
I make risotto quite often. Supposedly, what at least we say in Italy, toasting the rice is very important and creates small cracks in the rice grans making them release more starch, making the risotto creamier
I work in a fancy restaurant and what we do when we make the risotto is stir enough to make sure it doesn't burn, but yeah we still have stir. The rice is really fragile so if you stir a lot it will break into mush. One thing we do instead of stirring if we have to mix it is flip it towards us really fast a bunch of times. I don't think you really have to stir at home because you don't have to cook a lot of it and you don't have to rush it like in a restaurant.
No hates Italian food more than Italian food "experts" on the internet. They balk at any sort of change to "traditional" and the food, imo, suffers because of that.
All cultures are like this, but Italians are definitely some of the worst. Its pretty exhausting reading the comments on any cooking video that arent burgers, chicken, or fries. "I'm really surprised how close this white guy got to my cooking, but its still wrong because my grandma did this one specific thing THAT MAKES IT AUTHENTIC.
@@Hi-kj3hl Vincenzo is the embodiment of the annoying Italian food-purist. He's the reason why some people are afraid of cooking because they're worried they're gonna get shat on for not sticking to tradition, even if tradition's rules are rather arbitrary.
As an Italian American with family still in Italy, I can tell you that many of those "traditions" and rules are much newer than they seem to think. Take them with a grain of salt.
*I assume the constant stirring and adding stocks incrementally is there for similar reason* before modern gas/electric stoves temperature control was difficult and burning fuel was expensive. Adding stock incrementally ensured that the rice doesn't get overcooked/undercooked, thus saving fuel when cooking. Constant stirring helped prevent burns, which helped offset the difficulty of temperature control.
Whenever I make Risotto I give a basic stir at the start, then a proper stir at the end. The only other times I stir is as I add ingredients, I usually make risotto as a full meal with diced veggies and meat added in.
I think the best technique for washing risotto rice is to wash it in the pot with the broth. This way you get all of the starch from the rice into the eventual risotto but also now that the outer starch is gone you can toast the rice for longer before it burns. Its great! Here‘s my full technique: -prepare a stock in a pot -place your rice into the cold risotto sauce pan -strain the stock into the sauce pan to cover the rice with broth (the straining is to remove the solids from broth making, if your broth is already solid free, no need to do this) empty the strainer after -stir the rice vigorously for a minute -strain the rice and broth back into the broth pot. You should now have your rinsed rice in the strainer -add the rice to the sauce pan, cook off all the moisture and toast the rice until really fragrant -proceed to make risotto as shown in the video. Make sure to underestimate the time and amount of liquid you need when using the technique for the first time. Also make sure to stir the stock before adding it to the risotto to distribute the starch in the liquid.
I once saw a video about making it in the pressure cooker, and I thought "yeah, right." Then I tried it in my Fissler stovetop pressure cooker, and I have never made it the traditional way ever since. It is super fast, and it turns out even better than the traditional way. My understanding is that the stirring helps peel off the outer layers of the starch on the grains of rice, which will result in a creamy risotto. With the pressure cooker, for whatever amount of rice, I add twice the amount of broth, cook under pressure for seven or eight minutes. Then I rapidly depressurize the pressure rapidly by pouring cold water on it in the sink. Since the water in the grains of rice is superheated, it boils vigorously once the pressure is rapidly relieved and pushes off the outer layers of starch, basically doing in seconds what all the stirring does in many minutes. Initially it looks a little watery, but once you stir it a couple of times, it suddenly becomes very creamy. You can have a delicious risotto ready to eat in under 20 minutes.
This reminds me of how in my country we have dishes made from different types of flours. It is creed to constantly stir until I accidentally discovered I didn't need to. I just needed to regulate the heat, and leave these dishes alone. No more achy arm from making porridge which I have childhood memories of my grandma literally making me stir for like 10 mins.
As a non native English speaker analysing accents is really fascinating to me. I really like how Adam kind os aspirates his T's sometimes (nutty and fleeting kind of sound like nuhtty and fleehting in this video for example), but he doesn't do it always. Accents are really interesting
When I first tried making risotto, I followed the stir-stir-stir method, then one day I got lazy and just cooked it as described in this video. I've been not stirring it ever since and it's great.
I'm in Asia and I use Asian rice varieties to make my risotto, turns out well but I usually tire myself stirring the thing just as I learned from a host in Milan but thanks to this experiment I can be confident making this more often as it is less work and yes I do wash my rice before I cook it just to get rid of dust and dirt that the bagged rice could have gotten during the processing in the plant and during storage and handling.
I love this channel because when I see other techinques or recipes on youtube that don't make a lot of sense I can always count on Adam to test the myths and explain the science
I often make it in a pressure cooker, so I can't stir it until the end. It seems to end up creamy anyway. You do have to use less stock (I tend to make a more concentrated stock when I do this).
So if cooking short grain rice with the traditional stirring method helps controlling the texture of the rice, can you cook any other rice risotto-style to get it to a particular texture?
I've done risotto in a pressure cooker and it worked great! You need to experiment a bit with timing and liquid but once you know your rice and machine it's so easy and just as good. I'll never spend 45 minutes stirring again!
My family friend in her eighties has been making risotto this way my whole life! She was dogmatic about some things, not allowing parm on a seafood risotto but not about that way of cooking. I use the same method now in my restaurant job and it works great! We do parcook our risotto as a sort of base so we can finish it in the pan with more stock and seasonings. I feel it isn’t hard to maintain a good texture in the end if you only take the rice between halfway and 2/3 cooked. I wonder about the effects on the starch retrogradation on achieving that al dente bite
Ugh thank you. I watched an episode yesterday of Guys Grocery Games where a guy made risotto and kept saying the key was to add the broth slowly and stir constantly and I thought there is just no way that can be true. It just goes against cooking common sense.
My risotto method is somewhere in between the traditional ultra-high effort risotto and Adam's lazy risotto. I warm my stock in the microwave then add it one cup at a time. And it's really yummy
I thought the whole point of using a little stock at a time is because each time the rice absorbs all the liquid you let it sit a little longer to form a layer of fond at the bottom of the pan, and then when you add new stock that stock frees the fond and you build flavor one layer at a time like this.
Oh, I needed this reminder that I haven't made wild mushroom risotto for some time. A bowl of starch every night sounds perfect. Except for pizza nights.
I make risotto in a rice cooker, if has a porridge setting so if you add all the stock once the white wine cooks off then move it to a rice cooker for 20 mins it comes out perfect every single time
Adding most of the stock at first and not stirring probably evaporated more because your surface area was all stock. With smaller additions and more stirring, the rice was more of the surface area more of the time, and rice doesn't evaporate as easily as stock.
Хобби
Tradition teaches what works consistently, not what works easiest or most efficiently.
Edit: and it also doesn’t take into account improvements in technology. I wonder if the constant stir tradition partially comes from the days of heat sources that had more hot spots that could result in burning.
Rice quality has gone up too; shitty rice would absolutely benefit from being stirred constantly.
Great points
@@patricioiasielski8816 why
@@neongooroo variable grain size would alter cooking times to account for larger grains taking larger
@@vaelophisnyx9873 how would stirring help reduce the difference between smal and big grains
I subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the constant stirring idea came about a result of either 1. The cook wanting an excuse to be in the kitchen away from everyone else for an extended period or 2. Something you tell a small child to do to keep them busy and quiet for a while
I think when you had old wooden stoves and a pot over a fire you stirred it just to make sure nothing burned since you couldn’t control the heat as well.
@@ce461 all 3 might be the reason
or something to complain about later! lol
probably just old italian grandmas didnt measure anything and poured in enough stock as it needed it
I think it’s more that a lot of new cooks do other things while cooking. Put rice in pot, set heat, look at phone, deal with kids, take the dog out, etc. I think “stir constantly in recipes”might be there to keep you from doing anything other than keeping a good eye on the food to prevent it from being ruined.
if the additional broth makes it too salty, you could also choose to go with a fixed amount of broth (e.g. 350ml based on your first experiment) and then add any additionally required liquid in the form of plain water; after all, in the 2nd experiment requiring additional moisture was probably due to more of the water in the broth evaporating off, so you'd simply be replacing that.
Well that depends on how much salt the stock has innit. Be it homemade or low-sodium and you can go way more ham on the stock, until you turn your rice into super savory porridge reducing it all lmao.
Good points
Or you could use wine, whiskey etc..
@@ThePr0biker sure, you can use whatever (mix of) liquids you like; I was just suggesting the option that would get the most similar results to the traditional method that used less moisture overall to be cooked to the same doneness
That's what I do. It also helps rinse the broth can/carton.
Pro chef here, you can in fact cook perfect risotto well in advance and still get that perfect al-dente texture. The trick is to not cook it fully and not add cheese. You want it ~85% done, it will carry to ~90% in the time it takes you to place on a sheet pan and chill in the fridge. Place it in an airtight container and you can pick it up with a little stock in a pan, add your cheese, and have perfect fresh risotto in minutes whenever you want it. Perfect for weekend meal prep.
exactly this. only I'd halt the cooking process a bit earlier, then pick it up again with different stocks to order (fish, fish+sepia, porcino, veg+sage, ...)
Hope u never get a visit from Marco with this sort of ideas...
Would this work at scale? ie making a large gastro tray or stock pot worth at a time?
@@dushnozel6261 That was my exact method when working in an Italian restaurant. Just make sure to spread it over several full sheet trays and place them in front of the blower in the walk-in.
@@yankeelongshoreman9113 Thank you very much, it's something I make at home a lot, and I've wanted to put it on as a special, but was wondering how well par cooking it would work so it could be done during a busy service.
In my experience, stirring constantly only matters when you're making BIG batches, like 12 quarts-ish. There you do get a mildly thicker risotto as the very large amount of rice grinds against itself, which doesn't really happen as much with a cup or two of rice. However, the bigger reason is that you *have* to keep stirring that much rice in a huge rondeau pan.
Maybe the constant stirring thing was taken from restaurants or kitchens of big noble houses and accepted as "the way" for even small home cooks, who knows.
Back then, people cooked in much larger quantities, like a big family. Adam himself did a video about it.
I'm guessing it's probably more the case of evening out temperature and preventing bottom burning in the case of large quantities, rather than any friction derived free starch. If you just let 12 quarts sit around you'd end up with the bottom layer overcooked, top layer undercooked and that might very well result in a less creamy or otherwise just not great risotto.
@@Frag-ile I can confirm that is the case.
But considering the required extra stock, the wisdom might still be valid in the modern restaurant. The tiny bit extra cumulatively equates to a massive amount in a single service. In the finances, that may be significant enough to warrant the methodology to simply reduce that cost.
@@Frag-ile Of course for paella, an overcooked bottom and not-so creamy texture is the goal.
But in olden times, both were probably cooked over whatever fire they could make, so the stirring might account for lack of control on the heat.
This is how my dad (who loves to find shortcuts when cooking) originally taught me to cook risotto. So when I first heard people talk about how hard it was to make risotto it was really confused. To me it was always the dish my dad did when he didn't have time to make something complicated. Because you could literally just take all the ingredients, throw them in a pot and boil them for 20 minutes and it would come out great.
Same with my parents... I didn't know about the constant stir until I started to watch english recipe some with risotto. And I was like "why are they doing something like that? It just make no sense..."... I don't even use stock... just the wine and water (sometimes milk).
I was always told Risotto required constant stirring and so I always kind-of considered it a High Effort dish. I wish I knew otherwise earlier. Whenever I craved Risotto I never felt like I had the time or energy to hover over it constantly, so I always settled for a low-effort equivalent in just cooking rice with condensed soup in some water with whatever seasonings I had on hand. It was never as good as the real thing, but the texture was similar and it helped curb the craving, and since I didn't have to hover over it I could go do my laundry or kick back for a bit.
I actually didn't mind that effort, but then again, I enjoy the actions cooking provides and of course, the end result too. That said, it is good to know you don't have to stir it all the time to get the same results.
Cool! I enjoy a lot these "experimental" videos where you compare results of few similiar methods and sometimes debunk some myths. Even if not every variable is perfectly controlled, this gives a lot of insight into the actual processes - what matters in modern cooking and what doesn't. Thank you, Adam.
I stir risotto constantly just because I like it. I don't make it very often, and when I do, I enjoy the little traditional things. It's just fun to me.
But it's good to know that if something happens and I need to get away from the pan, I just add stock and it'll still be good. Thanks Adam!
Let's face it, it's a traditional Italian peasant dish. The odd stir is not going to alter the end result very much. We all know what it should be like when we plop it on the plate.
My approach to risotto has always been less of a stir and more of a scrape, treating the rice and broth more like scrambled eggs with the layer immediately touching the pan getting scraped up and combined with the rest as the heat thickens it. Scrape the bottom and sides, wait a couple of minutes, and repeat until done. Always turns out perfect and leaves plenty of time to work on the rest of the meal.
balancing between the ideas of the traditional method of risotto and the one he describes here during my first time cooking risotto got me exactly to this spot, and it just felt natural. seeing it boiling over rice you're not stirring at ALL triggers the instinct to not let things burn
Wish you had also mentioned it, but it at least follows from your experiment with washing the free starch off - You can make perfectly textured risotto without traditional risotto style rice. I frequently make it with jasmine which I can buy in large economical quantities from my local international food store. Yes, the grains are bigger, but the creaminess and richness from the starch are there despite what the conventional wisdom would lead you to believe.
Here's the thing Adam. In restaurants, specifically mine, we pre cook the rice. Normally this is in the entremetier station. It would be impossible to time a starch with another station if we had to cook risotto from scratch. We need o be synched for a 5 to 7 minute timing with the other stations. Risotto, along with other dishes are still perfect when finished at the last minute. Thanks for your great videos. Do people really think we are magicians in professional kitchens? We are just great cooks.
I would like to add this to anybody who is apprehensive about buying arborio rice just for risotto: Any short or medium grain rice will work in making risotto. I've had good results with Calrose rice. Besides making a basic mushroom risotto, I've also made cheddar risotto which is delicious.
Edit: I've found a 2.5:1 to a 3:1 ratio stock to rice is ideal for me.
Calrose works. It's what Italian Americans used in the old days in California when imported Italian rice wasn't realistic. They're both japonica at the end of the day.
oh, calrose is what I keep around anyway. That'll make risotto making easier for me.
+1 for calrose. Last couple of times, I used mochi rice which wasn't bad either.
Hello there! I have been making risotto for years and I think I found a balance between stirring constantly and leaving it alone. I am starting with the onion on butter. Once the onion goes translucent I add sloppily chopped asparagus (from a jar, as the season is short, and fresh white asparagus is tough) and once it is frying for a bit and loose most moisture I add some wine and wild mushrooms (that I soak thinly slices, dried porcini into hot water 15 min before). I save the mushroom-soaking water, as it is fool of flavor. I am adding rice and frying for a minute. After that, there is a splash of white wine. Once it's evaporated I am adding chicken (or vegetable) stock mixed with mushroom-soaking water. About 200mil. I am mixing and coming back when the liquid has evaporated (an=bot 4-6 min). I add another splash (about 200ml bullion with mushroom-soaking water) and mix it. Then I am coming after 5min adding the rest. Once it is grainy and evaporated I am adding a splash of cream and pecorino and/or Parmigiano. And I taste. When it is soft and I like it I serve. Most likely with fresh chopped parsley.
There’s a South Indian dish called Pongal that I think works off similar principles, and there isn’t any talk of constant stirring. The end product is typically thicker than risotto, but that’s just a matter of when you pull it off the stove. Plenty of people make it with a consistency similar to risotto, especially the sweet variant. You can make it in a pressure cooker, so no ability to constantly stir there.
(Pongal is also the name of a festival during which the namesake dish is made, so keep that in mind if the Google results seem confusing)
Hi, Adam! I'm still enjoying this video, however, I just had to pause to let you know how much I appreciate you breaking down food like this. I thoroughly enjoy this. Also, I love that you are always commenting on whether it's feasible and worth it, especially on a week night dinner, ect. Thank you 🔥
I'm surprised the stirring thing is still a 'thing'. Chefs have been telling everyone for years to really lay of it. I think it probably comes from putting too little stock in (aka - a little bit and keep topping up) so stirring is done to stop sticking. One thing I know that really improves risotto is home made stock. That lifts it to the next level more than anything. Carnaroli is my favourite rice for risotto as well. Risotto is something we can all cook at home. It's a traditional peasant dish after all. Paying £20 for it in a restaurant is insane.
For me as well as other people who like to cook, I enjoy the process of cooking something like a risotto cause you’re engaged during the cooking process and it’s fun to cook dishes that require your attention that way. Having said that if I’m ever feeling lazy and want risotto I think I’ll try adding all the stock at once and just letting it go and see how it turns out.
It's tremendously useful for people like me who are disabled and mustering up the energy to cook can be almost insurmountable at times. I like to cook too, it's just a matter of what my body can accomplish and "standing for 20 minutes stirring" is just close to impossible.
i was too lazy to constantly stir my risotto and just did it like you with a little stirring in the end. Nice to see the laziness doesn't ruin the dish :D
The only italian risotto recipe I've ever looked at said to stir each time when I put stock in it. Not more than that. And as far as I could tell, the idea behind the putting the stock in more than one time is for better control. I think this comes from open fire cooking, where standardised precise recipe cooking is impossible as heat control is so much more difficult.
Anway: for risotto, pressure cooker is the way to go. I always use the same rice, always the same proportions, always exactly the same cooking time, stir vigorously at the end. Viscosity correction at that moment, put the cheese in at the same time. Works every time.
Edit as I was writing during the video: yes, your final point might be the most important: risotto does not wait for people, people wait for risotto 😁
I do my risotto in an instant pot, so I'll second that! Tried it the traditional way and didn't enjoy making it. Eventually discovered a recipe for pressure cooker/Instant Pot risotto, tried it, loved it. It almost feels like cheating how easy it is.
Yes! More risotto stuff! Thank you so much adam!
No, please not... most overrated dish ever...
@@DerSaa You have clearly never had good risotto.
Chiming back in from last week's ramen recipe and the noodles came out great! I'm eating them right now and can't belive how easy the noodles were! Thank you, Adam!
I only stir everything constantly cause I’m scarred of things burning to my pan
i made my first risotto by using a no stir recipe from HalfBaked Harvest (lemon brie with asparagus), it turned out very very good, however my only misstep was needing a little more liquid. home cooking shouldnt have the ridged structure of "traditional" cooking
Cooking at higher altitudes, the simmer-&-stir stovetop method becomes REALLY odious, taking upwards of 45 minutes in some cases. Turns out, risotto made in a rice cooker or electric pressure cooker turns out great. Sauté, deglaze with wine, add hot broth at 1:2 ratio, close lid & cook on rice setting. Release pressure carefully to avoid clogging the valve with starch, stir in butter & parm, done!
My Italian grandmother did exactly that in Italy. Pressure cookers make a gigantic difference in how consistently things turn out.
Odious? ITYM arduous.
@@bordershader I meant odious, as in extremely unpleasant, dreadful. Arduous works, although tedious would be more apt.
You can also add crushed rice, or rice flour to risotto if you want that loose starch
fantastic video and experiment. so thoughtful and well executed!
These kind of videos is why I subscribe to your channel. Bravo! I've learned so much from you over the years. I went from not knowing how to cook to being a semi-profesional cook today, and I've even got the chance to compete in the Swedish MasterChef.
Thanks for this. I have made risottos in the past where I still try to stir it more often but I'm not so adamant as to stir it constantly. I give myself some time to walk away from it to chop parsley or grate the cheese and it still turns out perfect. No need to get so bogged down by tradition. I say try different things and see if they work!
Risotto is a comfort food in my (northern) Italian American family. We never stirred constantly and for a long time we would use long grain rice, now we use sushi rice. Still makes great risotto. We stir leave it alone, clean the kitchen, add broth, stir and do the dishes, towards the end watch and taste more. Thank you for showing people risotto is not as complicated as it is shown across most media.
Long grain rice is not great, it's literally used when you want the rice not to stick. Red rice is the worst, hence why it's a trend with the snobbish urban crowd. Sushi rice or any pudding style rice will do the job nicely.
I suspect Adam's rice washing exercise didn't turn out to be a disaster because he barely washed it. When I want my Japanese rice to feel less sticky, I wash it several times and its texture becomes closer to a basmati style rice.
Making risotto at home and babysitting it with and the love and labour honestly adds to it and makes it just taste more rewarding to me. I don't really like the idea of just leaving it and letting it sit. I constantly am trying the risotto as I stir it and add different things to make it taste how I want or how my family wants.
there's certainly a romantic aspect to tending to the food carefully for a while
Made some Sunday night, most of the stirring was just me being bored while I waited for other stuff to happen.
My god Adam thank you so much. I'm 5s into the video and you have already saved me so much time
I think the point of doing the broth slowly is to try and prevent a soupy risotto. Reducing the risk of using touch liquid.
That's something you only have to learn once for a rice, tho, and in any case only means adding a little more reduction time if you go over a little.
(I'm someone who used to do the stir-constantly-add-broth-slowly technique, but switched to just doing it all and strirring occasionally.)
I get it, "touch" functions as a portmanteau of "too much" here.
@@lonestarr1490 autocorrect from a typo, most likely.
You've just saved me a bunch of time and effort, thanks! I would love to see similar experiment for pasta cooked risottata - adding the water all at once. That would also save some viewers time on some other pasta dishes if it turns out fine
I have never cooked risotto, but there is so much interesting information, as well as useful comments. Thank you
Very insightful! I would love to see a similar video on the myths around Plov/Pilaw.
thank you for saying this, i've been making risotto for years at this point by just dumping in all the rice unwashed, toasting it a bit, and then adding basically all of the water/stock, then i just stirred it once or twice to make sure it doesn't burn, i never understood why people make such a fuss about it
I learned to make risotto from my old Fannie Farmer's cookbook. I've never stirred constantly, but more like your second. I toast the rice a bit, add stock to cover well, give it a stir once in a while, and add the rest of the stock as needed, cheese at the end. Can't remember if I washed it; probably not.
Talk about adding value to my life. Thank you Adam
Constant stirring prevents water from boiling off because it keeps moving hot liquid from the bottom before it has a chance to boil. When not stirring the rice inhibits convection, so the liquid on the bottom takes all the heat until it boils, at which point the steam is able to force its way through the mixture and escape completely. You could probably get away with using a lower heat setting for a similar result.
I figured this out a long while ago, also. Kudos, Adam!
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I actually just made risotto watching one of your videos, and for the most part I did it without stirring at the beginning and it turned out great.
Recent risotto research realizing regular recipe refreshments. Radical.
I found it interesting how the liquid amount changes. Useful info based on how much rice or broth you might have.
Literally the only reason I avoid making risotto is because of the constant stirring…. My life is a lie. Risotto will be had.
I make risotto quite often. Supposedly, what at least we say in Italy, toasting the rice is very important and creates small cracks in the rice grans making them release more starch, making the risotto creamier
i’m still gonna stir constantly because i think it’s a fun activity
I work in a fancy restaurant and what we do when we make the risotto is stir enough to make sure it doesn't burn, but yeah we still have stir. The rice is really fragile so if you stir a lot it will break into mush. One thing we do instead of stirring if we have to mix it is flip it towards us really fast a bunch of times. I don't think you really have to stir at home because you don't have to cook a lot of it and you don't have to rush it like in a restaurant.
No hates Italian food more than Italian food "experts" on the internet. They balk at any sort of change to "traditional" and the food, imo, suffers because of that.
So true, Vinzencos Plate being the worst. It's the most toxic part of youtube cooking in my opinion.
All cultures are like this, but Italians are definitely some of the worst. Its pretty exhausting reading the comments on any cooking video that arent burgers, chicken, or fries. "I'm really surprised how close this white guy got to my cooking, but its still wrong because my grandma did this one specific thing THAT MAKES IT AUTHENTIC.
@@Hi-kj3hl Vincenzo is the embodiment of the annoying Italian food-purist. He's the reason why some people are afraid of cooking because they're worried they're gonna get shat on for not sticking to tradition, even if tradition's rules are rather arbitrary.
@@Hi-kj3hl Check out Adam's Carbonara video comments after VP criticized the recipe. Mostly just regurgitating Vincenzo's comments.
As an Italian American with family still in Italy, I can tell you that many of those "traditions" and rules are much newer than they seem to think. Take them with a grain of salt.
*I assume the constant stirring and adding stocks incrementally is there for similar reason*
before modern gas/electric stoves temperature control was difficult and burning fuel was expensive. Adding stock incrementally ensured that the rice doesn't get overcooked/undercooked, thus saving fuel when cooking. Constant stirring helped prevent burns, which helped offset the difficulty of temperature control.
Whenever I make Risotto I give a basic stir at the start, then a proper stir at the end. The only other times I stir is as I add ingredients, I usually make risotto as a full meal with diced veggies and meat added in.
I think the best technique for washing risotto rice is to wash it in the pot with the broth. This way you get all of the starch from the rice into the eventual risotto but also now that the outer starch is gone you can toast the rice for longer before it burns. Its great!
Here‘s my full technique:
-prepare a stock in a pot
-place your rice into the cold risotto sauce pan
-strain the stock into the sauce pan to cover the rice with broth (the straining is to remove the solids from broth making, if your broth is already solid free, no need to do this) empty the strainer after
-stir the rice vigorously for a minute
-strain the rice and broth back into the broth pot. You should now have your rinsed rice in the strainer
-add the rice to the sauce pan, cook off all the moisture and toast the rice until really fragrant
-proceed to make risotto as shown in the video. Make sure to underestimate the time and amount of liquid you need when using the technique for the first time. Also make sure to stir the stock before adding it to the risotto to distribute the starch in the liquid.
I am making a Risotto I ordered from HelloFresh as I watch this. Perfect timing, gonna deviate from the instructions and give your method a go
"I'm literally not going to touch it" he says, stirring the risotto
This is a masterpiece of experimentation and myth busting! This is what I love the very most about your channel! Freeing us from kitchen dogma! ✌️🙂
I have never seen an angrier person than Adam Ragusea
A great deal of conventional wisdom in cuisine comes from deliberate efforts to convolute process and preparation, lest fewer people dine out.
I've recently (in the past three years) got into cooking and my favourite dish I've cooked so far was a risotto. So good.
I once saw a video about making it in the pressure cooker, and I thought "yeah, right." Then I tried it in my Fissler stovetop pressure cooker, and I have never made it the traditional way ever since. It is super fast, and it turns out even better than the traditional way. My understanding is that the stirring helps peel off the outer layers of the starch on the grains of rice, which will result in a creamy risotto. With the pressure cooker, for whatever amount of rice, I add twice the amount of broth, cook under pressure for seven or eight minutes. Then I rapidly depressurize the pressure rapidly by pouring cold water on it in the sink. Since the water in the grains of rice is superheated, it boils vigorously once the pressure is rapidly relieved and pushes off the outer layers of starch, basically doing in seconds what all the stirring does in many minutes. Initially it looks a little watery, but once you stir it a couple of times, it suddenly becomes very creamy. You can have a delicious risotto ready to eat in under 20 minutes.
Looks like many Italians cooking their risotto in the pressure cooker...so it must be an effective way. I use a stovetop PC and it works well
This reminds me of how in my country we have dishes made from different types of flours. It is creed to constantly stir until I accidentally discovered I didn't need to. I just needed to regulate the heat, and leave these dishes alone. No more achy arm from making porridge which I have childhood memories of my grandma literally making me stir for like 10 mins.
As a non native English speaker analysing accents is really fascinating to me. I really like how Adam kind os aspirates his T's sometimes (nutty and fleeting kind of sound like nuhtty and fleehting in this video for example), but he doesn't do it always. Accents are really interesting
When I first tried making risotto, I followed the stir-stir-stir method, then one day I got lazy and just cooked it as described in this video. I've been not stirring it ever since and it's great.
I knew it! Thank you, I've always been skeptical that you need to add the broth gradually. It doesn't make any sense.
The tone in Adam’s language/speech is like it’s written as a run on sentence haha
I've made risotto a few times, learning this makes me more likely to make it again.
Careful, you’ll provoke Vincenzo’s wrath again lol
I'm in Asia and I use Asian rice varieties to make my risotto, turns out well but I usually tire myself stirring the thing just as I learned from a host in Milan but thanks to this experiment I can be confident making this more often as it is less work and yes I do wash my rice before I cook it just to get rid of dust and dirt that the bagged rice could have gotten during the processing in the plant and during storage and handling.
Literally just opened my phone whilst making a rissoto to see this video 😂. And I can open my phone because I don't stir it constantly
yeah, ive done this experiment myself - constant stirring not necessary - warm/stock is the essence
I usually drop my concentrated (sometimes home made) stock all at once at the start, and then adjust water was we go like you did.
I love this channel because when I see other techinques or recipes on youtube that don't make a lot of sense I can always count on Adam to test the myths and explain the science
I often make it in a pressure cooker, so I can't stir it until the end. It seems to end up creamy anyway. You do have to use less stock (I tend to make a more concentrated stock when I do this).
So if cooking short grain rice with the traditional stirring method helps controlling the texture of the rice, can you cook any other rice risotto-style to get it to a particular texture?
The explanation for adding stock little by little I always heard was just so you don't end up adding too much
That makes the most intuitive sense to me
I've done risotto in a pressure cooker and it worked great! You need to experiment a bit with timing and liquid but once you know your rice and machine it's so easy and just as good. I'll never spend 45 minutes stirring again!
Very cool video. I never really liked risotto that much but this was very interesting.
My family friend in her eighties has been making risotto this way my whole life! She was dogmatic about some things, not allowing parm on a seafood risotto but not about that way of cooking. I use the same method now in my restaurant job and it works great!
We do parcook our risotto as a sort of base so we can finish it in the pan with more stock and seasonings. I feel it isn’t hard to maintain a good texture in the end if you only take the rice between halfway and 2/3 cooked. I wonder about the effects on the starch retrogradation on achieving that al dente bite
Ugh thank you. I watched an episode yesterday of Guys Grocery Games where a guy made risotto and kept saying the key was to add the broth slowly and stir constantly and I thought there is just no way that can be true. It just goes against cooking common sense.
Stirring constantly is so fun though. I like to keep my hands busy.
The stiring brings down the temperature. Classic Wok technique. That's why the non stirred version has more evaporation.
My risotto method is somewhere in between the traditional ultra-high effort risotto and Adam's lazy risotto. I warm my stock in the microwave then add it one cup at a time. And it's really yummy
I thought the whole point of using a little stock at a time is because each time the rice absorbs all the liquid you let it sit a little longer to form a layer of fond at the bottom of the pan, and then when you add new stock that stock frees the fond and you build flavor one layer at a time like this.
OMG you just saved me SO MUCH WORK! I make risotto often, and have always been scared to deviate from the traditional method! ❤❤❤
I honestly always believed that stirring regularly is merely done to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
ADAM PLEASE MAKE A PLAYLIST OF YOUR FITNESS RELATED VIDEOS
"stop stirring" don't tell me what to do adam stirring is fun
I made risotto yesterday and stired almost non-stop, should have waited a day
Amazing video. Fan for years, would love an episode about Paella!
He made it a year ago. ruclips.net/video/WfYjmrH9gSw/видео.html
I love this science show.
Love the rebellious empiricism.
Oh, I needed this reminder that I haven't made wild mushroom risotto for some time. A bowl of starch every night sounds perfect. Except for pizza nights.
I make risotto in a rice cooker, if has a porridge setting so if you add all the stock once the white wine cooks off then move it to a rice cooker for 20 mins it comes out perfect every single time
Risotto is just Italian congee confirmed.
Repeat with me… pah-eh-yah
"Usually we can only get ARBORIO RICE." We now have the most 21st century American phrase of all time. I'm not even mad. I'm impressed.
You posted this while I'm making risotto!
Adding most of the stock at first and not stirring probably evaporated more because your surface area was all stock.
With smaller additions and more stirring, the rice was more of the surface area more of the time, and rice doesn't evaporate as easily as stock.
Cooking is awesome because you have a thousand ways to come to a similar place hahahaha
Da king is back he neva miss