When it comes to fancy dining, there are certain dishes and ingredients that first come to mind—foie gras, ceviche, paella, and even risotto. Wanting to re-create a date night dish, right in the comfort of home, I perused the Internet for an easy risotto recipe.
To my luck, I stumbled across a God-sent Microwave Mushroom Risotto recipe (that we also made a fun TikTok video of!) that is incredibly easy, and it takes out the hassle of standing over the stove to watch your rice. As you know, we’ve already done quite a few simple Stay-home recipes for you over the last few weeks, and this one is sure to put an atas touch to your next meal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of starchy rice, unwashed (except long-grain rice; I used leftover Bomba rice)
- 2 ½ cups of chicken stock
- 3 cups of assorted mushrooms of your choice, chopped (I used button, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms)
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 200g butter
- 3 slices of cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
- Pepper (optional)
Tools
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Microwave oven
- Medium-sized bowl
Recipe Preparation
Preparation time: 10 minutes; Cooking time: 25 minutes
Feeds two
- Dice the ½ yellow onion, mince the clove of garlic, and chop your mushrooms into small pieces.
- Prepare the 2 ½ cups of chicken stock according to product’s instructions.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix in the minced garlic, diced onions and 200g of butter.
- Place the bowl in your microwave for 2 minutes on ‘High’ setting.
- Once the butter is melted, pour in the unwashed rice and mix well before putting the bowl back in the microwave
- Cover with a paper towel, and set on ‘High’ setting for 1 minute.
- After that, add 2 cups of the chicken stock (leaving ½ cup for later), and microwave all the ingredients in the bowl for another 5 minutes on ‘High’ setting.
- Once that’s done, set the microwave on ‘Medium’ setting for another 7 minutes.
- At this point, add in all the mushrooms, as well as the remaining ½ cup of chicken stock, and microwave for 10 minutes on ‘Medium’ setting.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Add sliced cheese in, and mix thoroughly.
- Add pepper to taste.
Recipe (In Pictures)
Step 1: Dice the ½ yellow onion, mince the clove of garlic, and chop your mushrooms into small pieces.
Step 2: Prepare the 2 ½ cups of chicken stock as per product’s instructions.
Step 3: In a medium-sized bowl, mix in the minced garlic, diced onions and 200g of butter. Place the bowl in your microwave for 2 minutes on ‘High’ setting.
Step 4: Once the butter is melted, pour in the unwashed rice and mix well before putting the bowl back in the microwave. Cover with a paper towel, and set on ‘High’ setting for 1 minute.
Step 5: After that, add 2 cups of the chicken stock (leaving ½ cups for later), and microwave all the ingredients in the bowl for another 5 minutes on ‘High’ setting.
Step 6: Once that’s done, set the microwave on ‘Medium’ setting for another 7 minutes.
Step 7: At this point, add in all the mushrooms, as well as the remaining ½ cup of chicken stock, and microwave for 10 minutes on ‘Medium’ setting.
Step 8: Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Step 9: Add sliced cheese in, and mix thoroughly. Add pepper to taste (optional).
I must say, the part I enjoyed the most was allowing the microwave to do the actual cooking. Prepping for this recipe was a breeze, and I could leave the kitchen intermittently throughout the process without having to worry about burning it down.
Also, if you happen to have actual parmesan, the flavours of the risotto will certainly be more robust. I had to resort to processed sliced cheese because the supermarkets near my house had all run out! Nonetheless, the rich earthy flavours of the mushrooms certainly more than made up for the lack of premium cheese.
The consistency of the risotto was a tad wetter than I would’ve liked, but playing around with the chicken stock ratio will certainly fix that issue—if that is an issue for you. I added in plenty of pepper at the end as well, to lend a pop of spiciness to the creamy risotto.
As for the rice, it still had a good bite, which was very satisfying, given that I’m not a fan of mushy risotto. Overall, for something that’s typically expected in high-end dining, I hope this recipe gives you more ideas on how to use your rice for recipes other than just fried rice.
Expected Damage: S$4 – S$6 for a two-person portion
