Italian chef: How to prepare a perfect risotto
Italian chef on perfectly prepared risotto: 'People usually make these mistakes, avoid them and perfect risotto is yours' We need to try it!
Although it may not seem so, the chefs say that the risotto belongs to dishes that are difficult for perfect preparation and easy to make mistakes. But now, we have everything explained by an Italian chef from a restaurant in Monte Carlo. First, he says, you have to choose the right ingredients, measure them well and take care of every step, so that the risotto does not turn out too soft or too al dente. These are, in his opinion, the seven most common mistakes people make in risotto preparation:
1. Buying the wrong rice
The biggest mistake happens in the store, not in the kitchen. Choosing the right rice is the most important thing. Although many people use arborio rice, the chef's favorite is carnaroli - rice that, he says, is responsible for its creaminess and is harder to overcook.
2. Rinse the rice with water just like sushi
Risotto must retain its sticky consistency, and washing rice removes starch from it, which is crucial for a creamy texture.
3. Choosing butter instead of oil
Towards the end of cooking, Salvatore prefers oil to the risotto rather than butter and says that it goes especially well with seafood risotto, while butter is better for vegetable-based risottos.
4. Too long frying of rice
After the oil heats up in the pan, toast the rice for just a minute, not longer - advises Salvatore. This is a step in which some chefs also add white wine, but Salvatore skips it because he thinks it gives the dish a bitter taste.
5. Too much mixing
"Don't bother stirring risottos all the time," the chef told, "It's much better to stir once every 30 seconds and let the cooking do its thing because over-mixing will quickly ruin the texture of the risotto."
6. More than 20 minutes of cooking
“One of the surest ways to ruin a risotto is to overcook it,” Salvatore says. He advises while the risotto is cooking over medium heat, to slowly add water or stock and pause until each portion of the liquid is absorbed before adding more. When you’re about halfway through this process (which should take 16 minutes), salt the rice water in a cooking pot, keeping in mind the ratio of one cup of rice to 2.5 cups of liquid (plus a little extra liquid for a creamier risotto).
7. Add finishing ingredients while cooking
After most of the liquid is absorbed, remove the pot from the stove to cool for a few minutes, then add butter or grated parmesan (never oil that would ‘break’ the texture and cause the rice to separate and lose its full flavor).
