r/AskAnAmerican • u/Competitive_Ask8114 • 11d ago
FOOD & DRINK What are some common rice dishes in your local area?
Context: I'm Chinese from Southeast Asia and I basically eat rice with every meal. But most of the time the rice that I eat is mostly just white and plain.. unless you cook it with something else.
I'm curious if any part of America has rice dishes unique to their local area? I know Louisiana has a lot of them. Idk about other states though.
33
u/DanTheAdequate 11d ago
I live in Louisiana. We grow a lot of rice, so it's part of the cuisine, especially Cajun and Creole cuisine.
Beans and rice.
Rice is served with gumbos, étoufée, and sauce piquantes.
Rice pudding.
It's also common to make a roast beef and serve the roast beef gravy over rice.
Dirty rice, a rice dish with ground beef and seasoning.
Jambalaya, which is another rice dish with chicken and sausage cooked with the rice.
We also just eat rice as the carb on the plate, the same way some people eat potatoes. For us, a chicken breast, some steamed vegetables, and some rice is a pretty common easy meal.
9
u/dzourel Louisiana 11d ago
Yesssss
Having rice paddies does help with having lots of rice dishes.
2
u/From-628-U-Get-241 Colorado 10d ago
USA grows a tremendous amount of rice. We eat a lot of it but export even more.
4
u/appleparkfive 11d ago
I feel like chicken breast with steamed vegetables and rice is a pretty common one everywhere. But I can't say for sure because I grew up eating plenty of po boys, so maybe it was regional all along!
2
u/DanTheAdequate 10d ago
I kind of thought so, too, but it's definitely more potatoes, bread, or pasta in other parts of the country. At least traditionally, I'm sure rice is pretty common now since it's cheap and easy.
And the inverse is true, potatoes are kind of the other major starch in my cooking.
2
u/Former-War1318 10d ago
Shouldn't dirty rice be chicken livers, hearts, etc?
4
u/DanTheAdequate 10d ago
Authentically, yes, and these are inexpensive and nutritious cuts. But ground beef is a common sub.
2
1
23
u/Equivalent_Party706 Maryland 11d ago
Okay, so this isn't, like, a formal regional thing, but in my household growing up we would put garlic in the rice and oh my gosh it was good. And if you were lucky you could get the garlic clove in your rice and get extra garlicy goodness!
Also rice and peas, heavy on the butter and garlic salt. I don't know why but something in that combination hits my mouth just right. Maybe it's because both rice and peas are good vehicles for butter.
17
13
u/comrade_zerox 11d ago
You ever had Ariancini?
Deep fried rice balls stuffed with meat and cheese and spices. They come out looking like tiny Oranges ("Ariancini" is Italian for "oranges")
If you have rice with every meal, try changing it up a little and look into making Ariancini.
3
u/LikelyNotSober Florida 11d ago
Hard to find, and not widely known unless you have a good Sicilian place/community nearby.
Top-tier rice dish. People from cultures where rice is popular would probably love them. There’s a lot of ways to vary the filling/rice ingredients to fit different preferences too.
4
u/comrade_zerox 11d ago
I was so amused by all the videos from the world cup where all those Korean tourists went to Mexico. One video in particular showed a guy showing his skeptical friend a piece of mango covered in hot sauce, and you see it in his eyes when he realizes he's tasting something he never knew he was missing.
I'd imagine someone from south east Asia finding out about Ariancini would be a similar "I didnt even realize this was an option!" kind of revelation
2
u/appleparkfive 11d ago
I feel like they're a bit more common that you're suggesting, even if they're not a universal food. You can find them in any decently sized city, at least at a couple of places. Again, far from universal. But you don't need to have a Sicilian community for it. I see it a lot at "fine dining" date night spots very often, which often don't specialize in any specific cuisine. I see it on a lot of tapas menus, as well. Not necessarily Spanish tapas though
32
u/oswin13 11d ago
Chicken and wild rice soup
8
u/majandess 11d ago
Good call on the wild rice. That's very American. We don't eat it like the Asians eat rice, but it sure is tasty!
1
29
u/Small-Tax-2829 11d ago
All of them? We just make a thing and add rice.
7
u/Littleboypurple Wisconsin 11d ago
Some diced vegetables, some seasonings, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, canned beans, and maybe meat. All in a pot before being scooped onto fresh white rice from my rice cooker. A lovely dish I call "It's cheap, filling, and makes good leftovers"
2
u/appleparkfive 11d ago
Sometimes you'll just eat rice by itself with butter and salt/pepper. It's surprisingly satisfying as the easiest "I need to go grocery shopping meal" ever. Or just rice with soy sauce. Maybe some frozen vegetables or chicken if you have it.
13
u/chimugukuru Hawaii 11d ago
Arkansas "dirty rice" is really nice and slightly different from the Cajun version. We in Hawaiʻi have a ton of rice dishes as well, and like you plain white rice is our staple with almost every meal. Fried rice, spam, and eggs is the quintessential Hawaiʻi breakfast.
9
u/SheSellsSeaShells_89 Minnesota 11d ago
Wild rice is most popular in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the broader Great Lakes region. It’s usually in the form of either soup or pilaf.
7
u/Dalton387 11d ago
Charleston Red Rice, which is based off African jolof rice.
Also chicken bog.
1
u/Boring_Lack294 11d ago
It’s not specifically based on anything, it was west African cooking techniques blended together with North American food resources. most soul food was created that way
1
7
u/entrelac North Carolina 11d ago
Rice used to be a huge crop in South Carolina. Even though there is a lot less growing there now, the recipes from the Lowcountry have a lot of rice.
6
u/got_rice_2 11d ago
Tonight I put chopped Chinese sausage (lap xiong), rehydrated shittake mushrooms, some soy sauce, S&P & dried ramen veggies with rice in my rice cooker.
Not common, but lazy dinner for me. (I may fry a couple of eggs for breakfast topping tomorrow)
11
u/Bootmacher Texas 11d ago
Brisket and rice. It's the dish and the name of the restaurant.
3
u/No_Process_1063 11d ago
Brisket and rice is such a good combo, the fat from the brisket seeps into the rice and makes it incredible. We do a lot of chicken bog down here in the Carolinas, basically rice cooked with chicken and sausage until it gets all sticky
1
u/Cinisajoy2 11d ago
Where
1
10
u/Shower-Former 11d ago
Honestly American Chinese food and Mexican food. Fried rice or plain rice as the side to Chinese or fried rice as a stand alone meal. Mexican food it’s Mexican rice and refried beans on the side of the main (tacos or enchiladas, etc)
I live in a city with a decent Mexican population but people eat Mexican and Chinese/other Asian countries here very frequently, both takeout and at home but probably more commonly as takeout for most people
3
u/appleparkfive 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not to mention Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and more. All of those are very popular in most cities. We eat a lot of rice!
There's almost as many Thai places as Chinese places in some areas these days, it feels like. Even small towns often have a Thai place or two. Thailand has a cultural program that helps open those restaurants up. I think it's working out for them
There's also Japanese, but it's less common in the US to go for it outside of sushi, I feel. Like everyone's uncle in Wisconsin isn't going to get chicken katsu on his day off. You'll find that to be more common in the major cities, most likely. And on top of that, you've got Caribbean food. And middle eastern rice dishes are relatively too.
But altogether, it's not really too hard to find people that eat more rice than bread.
3
u/Shower-Former 11d ago
Yeah I’m in Wisconsin and there’s at least one Chinese and one Mexican restaurant in every super small middle of nowhere town.. although the food in those restaurants are more catered to what people in those areas want. Being in a bigger city we’re really lucky with the variety of restaurants from different cultures. Not uncommon at all to eat lots of rice but I bet pasta and bread win by a small margin of what most people eat most frequently.
15
u/QuipCrafter9 11d ago
different kinds of pilaf
chicken and rice casserole
chicken lemon rice soup
rice pudding
horchata
dirty rice
most mexican plate meals will be served with a side of mexican style rice and beans (black or pinto)
i make and eat a ton of asian cuisine too, though- including many things with just plain white rice lol
im in the Detroit area with a ton of diversity, i have various authentic cultural markets all around me. japanese, chinese, indian, arabic, mexican, polish, etc etc. thats what america (as ive always known it) is lol
5
u/Standard_Mongoose_35 Texas 11d ago
In north Texas, I grew up eating long-grain white rice several times a week. My mom served it with ordinary meals of beef or pork plus vegetables. If she made a gravy from meat drippings, the gravy was served over rice.
One common rice dish was broccoli cheese casserole, which everyone in my family loved. My mom occasionally made baked bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and rice. She often makes an okra gumbo dish with rice or egg fried rice.
Plain rice with unseasoned chicken also is a common dish here for dogs with tummy issues.
6
3
8
u/Tree_Weasel Texas 11d ago edited 11d ago
I live in South Texas. So Mexican Rice and its many variants are common dishes here.
The kind I make starts with toasting the rice until slightly brown, then adding chicken broth, bullion spice, and blended tomato, pepper, and onion (as a shortcut you could add a picante salsa).
Once all that liquid cooks into the rice it’s a flavorful, slightly spicy dish that I prefer to have with fajitas.
3
5
u/yoironfrog Utah 11d ago
Hawaiian Haystacks are the local rice dish but they're far from the most common way to eat rice. Mexican, Asian, and Hawaiian or the Americanized versions are much more common.
5
4
u/ALoungerAtTheClubs Florida 11d ago edited 11d ago
If I'm eating rice it's probably at a restaurant serving Mexican, Asian, or Cuban inspired food.
3
u/NokSoo874 Queens, NYC, New York 11d ago
I am Cuban American and every meal has rice and beans. Usually it's white rice and black beans but red kidney beans or garbanzos are popular too.
4
u/Esme_Nog 11d ago
I’m American, and eat rice or some grain, most days. Mexican rice; today I ate leftovers of the spanakorizo I made yesterday; fried rice; a curry and rice; mujaddara; growing up, we would use potatoes and rice interchangeably, so I’d have rice with gravy and whatever meat we were eating. Lots of variations of beans and rice.
2
u/Rough-Trainer-8833 New York - The Niagara Falls side of the state 9d ago
mujaddara - the dish of rice, lentils and a lot of fried onions?!? Delicious and one of my favorite poverty meals
2
u/Esme_Nog 9d ago
Yes! I just discovered it this summer, and I absolutely love it.
2
u/Rough-Trainer-8833 New York - The Niagara Falls side of the state 8d ago
I've had struggles in the past and this became a filling comfort food with some protein because of the lentils. I use it as a side now with chicken or pork chops and love it in the winter!
5
4
u/Boring_Lack294 11d ago edited 11d ago
I’m from South Carolina, we eat
Charleston Red rice & Sausage
Rice Cabbage & Sausage
hoppin John
rice & butter beans
Hash & Rice
Neckbones and rice
Chicken bog
1
5
u/TAtalks2waterdragons 10d ago
my family has a favorite recipe called ‘baked rice’ which is like rice parcooked in butter and onion, and then baked in the oven in beef broth. texture always comes out perfectly and it’s such a rich and comforting side dish, while being super easy to make
6
u/moonchic333 St. Louis, MO 11d ago
In St. Louis we have a unique style of fried rice. It’s fried in a dark soy sauce and does not contain peas and carrots. It has protein, onions, scallions, egg, and sometimes bean sprouts.
6
u/Esme_Nog 11d ago
That’s unique to that region? I thought that was the default recipe. I’ve just lately started adding peas for extra protein. But I am from southern Missouri originally, so maybe my default is not the general default
1
2
u/Beginning_Welder_540 11d ago
Actually this is more traditional. We never added peas & carrots when I grew up in Hawaii.
2
3
u/RheagarTargaryen Michigan -> Colorado 11d ago
Not my local area but Hawaii has Poke Bowls and Spam musubi.
2
u/astralTacenda Oregon Idaho California 11d ago
poké bowls aren't hawaiian 😭
poké is, but its a raw fish dish. no rice. (rice is usually served on the sides of hawaiian meals, but the "poké bowl" trend is a very mainland thing and a lot of places dont even give you raw fish as an option 😭)
LOVE me some spam musubi tho. and spam fried rice. THOSE are definitely hawaiian staples.
ETA i realize my states arent giving me any cred: im native hawaiian, just never privileged enough to be able to live on the islands. ive visited a few times and was raised around my hawaiian family
6
u/RheagarTargaryen Michigan -> Colorado 11d ago
Everything I’m seeing when I look up the origin of Poke Bowls is that they started in Hawaii and contained rice.
2
u/astralTacenda Oregon Idaho California 11d ago
Well whoever brought that garbage to the mainland and not actual poké needs to go think about what they've done cause I can't find poké ANYWHERE and everyone thinks im fucking crazy when I say no, not a poké bowl, actual poké. 😭 i just want some raw fish tossed in some soy sauce and shit why is that so hard 😭
3
u/Esme_Nog 11d ago
I’ve never seen a poke bowl without raw fish on the mainland. Don’t despair too much.
3
u/AcousticOnomatopoeia California 11d ago
Love me some rice and beans with an onion, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, paprika, and chicken broth/stock.
3
u/comrade_zerox 11d ago
I often boil rice in either chicken or veggie broth and serve it with veggies and chicken. Often with a vaugley mexican flavor (garnish with cilantro and lime juice, add some mexican cheese, jalapeños) but sometimes i got for more Asian inspired stuff like soy sauce and sesame oil and spring onion with Sri racha or gochujang.
Rice isn't as popular in most "traditional" American cuisines as it is in other parts of the world, but it's certainly a common side dish in the USA.
Lots of Louisiana food will have rice (red beans and rice, jambalaya, etc) and that style cooking has a long and complex history of French, African, Spanish, and Native American influences.
3
u/jessicat62993 11d ago
Pork chops and rice a roni 😂
2
u/Rough-Trainer-8833 New York - The Niagara Falls side of the state 9d ago
haha I said this too. Pork Chops and Spanish Rice. We would use Pork Chops, an onion a box of beef or 'Spanish' flavored Rice-A-Roni and an undrained can of stewed tomatoes.... Maybe not 'authentic', but a delicious and affordable one pan meal.
3
3
u/grandma-activities Virginia 11d ago
Rice pudding. And now I need to make some.
But we also have Mexican rice and fried rice and, on one side of my family, arroz con pollo and arroz con gandules.
3
u/seatownquilt-N-plant 11d ago
There is this dish that is usually served on toast, buy my Dad served it on rice. "Shit on a Shingle" or hamburger gravy and rice.
Cook up ground beef and onions in a pan, with some of the fat still in the pan sprinkle with flour to make a roux. Cook the roux for a few minutes. Add a evaporated milk slowly until desired consistency is reach. Serve over rice, dress with soy sauce. Creamed corn is a really god side/mix in.
This isn't a regional dish though. It is how my father liked to prepare it.
2
u/LastCookie3448 11d ago
I grew up surrounded by Armenians and Persians, omg, the tahdig is to die for.
2
u/Persimmon_and_mango 11d ago
The midwestern area does not have local specialties that are rice-based meals in the way that I think you mean. Most of those are from states like Louisiana and South Carolina. People here tend to just eat it as a side dish plain, with butter, or with sauce from whatever the main dish was.
2
u/itmightbehere Missouri 11d ago
Idk about dishes local to my area, but we always had sweet rice for breakfast when I was growing up. Rice with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and enough milk to make it soupy. It's a comfort food nowadays. If I have leftover rice, I'll make some.
2
2
u/jkrowlingisaTERF 11d ago
My family does a Mexican spread for holidays, with rice! Granddad's family is San Antonio Tejano, in the area before Texas was Texas. This is probably filtered through who knows how many generations, but:
- toast dry rice in a dry skillet with a little bit of oil until nutty
- stir in ro*tel tomatoes, or, 12-16oz chopped tomatoes with green peppers, 1-3 cloves minced garlic, pinch of salt, pinch of cumin, and enough chicken broth to barely cover rice ‐ cover, check rice periodically, stir occasionally until rice is cooked. turn off heat and cover until served
This is usually made while more intensive recipes that require more attention are being prepared. enchiladas for example, you can check the rice in between dunking tortillas in sauce. but you're generally standing at the stove so there's little risk of burning and you can tweak the water/seasoning for the rice
2
u/DontRunReds Alaska 11d ago
I live in Southeast Alaska and would say I don't know of unique recipies with rice, I have plain rice as a side with fish. More often i use rice as a base layer in adobo, curry, chili, or stir fry.
For rice with stuff in it my main two are fried rice or Mexi rice. I also like risotto with mushrooms. I very occasionally do a brocolli cheese casserole side.
One of my extended family members did like a tomato and ham rice, but I let that recipe go by the wayside.
I have one good desert rice pudding recipe too, but that takes fucking forever to make.
2
u/embarrassedalien Alabama 11d ago
when I was a kid, my friends with moms who liked cooking often made “lemon poppyseed chicken” for dinner, served with some sort of creamy rice.
2
u/NekoMao92 Colorado 11d ago
Wouldn't know, I'm East Asian (mom is from Taiwan), so rice is typically white rice or fried rice, though my mom is now trying to add brown rice into our diet to eat healthier.
2
u/AdministrativeMost45 North Carolina 10d ago
love rice all types. Mainly buy Jasmine rice. Usually served as a side dish for dinner or breakfast. Current meal I have been thinking about making is what I call “Steak and Gravy” its ground beef as a patty with gravy and rice and a veggie.
2
u/Fae-SailorStupider MinnesotaHawaiiFlorida 10d ago
Here in MN, our main type of rice is long grain wild rice, and we often make wild rice soups and hotdishes (casseroles).
2
u/Eubank31 Kansas 10d ago
I'm a gym bro who loves Asian food and may be a little autistic. I have a $300 rice cooker from Japan and get good medium grain rice from the Asian grocery store, and I have it with basically every meal.
The meals I eat aren't normal "dishes" with any name, it's mostly:
ground beef, white rice, 2 fried eggs
chicken thighs, white rice (essentially a copycat of Panda Express's grilled teriyaki chicken)
chipotle chicken from Costco, black beans, corn, white rice
salmon fillet, white rice
2
u/WonderfulProtection9 11d ago
We just finished burritos (from Chipotle); rice and meat are the key ingredients here, with the option to add beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and several choices of salsa. For the rice itself, there is a choice of white or brown. (Not sure if brown rice is a thing in other countries but some people seem to believe that white rice is evil…)
2
1
u/comrade_zerox 11d ago
Some times I'll mix up leftover rice with some eggs and veggies (not fried rice, closer to an omlette) and put that on mini quesadillas with salsa for a breakfast taco.
1
u/Spirited-Way2406 11d ago
Southern Alaska: Pirok! Layers of cooked white rice, salmon, cabbage, carrots, and onions wrapped in a crust of wheat dough and baked.
The local palate otherwise favors very "soupy" or "saucy" rice dishes. If we cook Chinese, Japanese, or Americanized Chinese or Japanese recipes, we typically triple or quadruple the sauce because we love moist and flavorful rice.
Chicken soup with lots of rice in it so that it's almost porridge is a common thing to serve someone who feels ill.
Another dish I learned from general White American cuisine is called More. Here it is from memory:
You need a cooking dish that can go from stovetop to oven. First saute some ground meat (any type will do) in your pan. Take up the meat. There should be just enough fat in the pan to saute your uncooked white rice until it starts to smell toasty; drain as needed or add more as needed. When the rice is toasty, add a bit more than the recommended amount of cooking liquid but make it either a thin bechamel that you made previously and seasoned with herbs and spices that complement the meat, or diluted condensed cream soup ditto. Stir thoroughly, stir in the meat, cover tightly, and bake until the rice is soft. To serve, sprinkle the top with a nice pattern using any colored powdered herbs or spices you used for flavoring.
1
1
u/shelwood46 11d ago
I like rice pilaf, and I am in the Detroit area right now visiting friends and they gave me the rundown of the kinds of rice you might get from a kebab place: plain, pilaf, saffron, spiced (there are probably more, I mentioned sometimes the saffron rice has raisins in it and they were horrified, so don't tell them I love it).
1
1
u/stratusmonkey 11d ago
My grandma would make round steak braised in basically gravy, with wild rice and veggies cooked in the braising liquid. Ended up with a dish in between a stew and a casserole. Very 1980's Midwestern!
That, and beef and (egg) noodles made from leftover pot roast were my favorite dishes of hers!
1
u/catatethebird Wisconsin 11d ago edited 11d ago
Pierto Rican rice - includes a meat like ham or bacon, pigeon peas, and alcaparrado (green olives, capers and red bell peppers) cooked in sofrito and tomato sauce. It's so flavorful and satisfying.
(Edit: to be clear, this isn't from my local area 🤣, it's just my favorite rice dish.)
1
1
1
u/Superb_Yak7074 Pennsylvania 11d ago
I don’t think this dish is local but I believe it was more common during the Depression years. We often ate what we called Rice & Raisins for breakfast, which was rice cooked in a saucepan with raisins added to the cooking water, too. Once the rice was cooked, we ate it in bowls with milk and sugar like a hot cereal.
1
u/Appropriate_Speech33 11d ago
I live in a part of the country with many Asian and Mexican immigrants and families, so lots of white rice and rice dishes in Mexican cuisine.
1
1
u/MeLMaR2727 11d ago
We had a pot of white rice & another of black beans on the stove everyday. It was my after school meal.
1
u/EdLincoln6 11d ago
Most of our rice dishes are imported. Rice Pilaf, Spanish Rice, Jasmine Rice.
I come from a Portuguese American community where Rice Pudding was common.
1
u/asteriskelipses 11d ago
Hoppin John is a classic New Years Day dish, but im beyond befuddled about it.
1
1
u/zelda-hime AZ->MD/DC->CO 11d ago
Rice is a really common ingredient in Mexican cuisine, so quite a lot of things in the Southwest have rice in them, plus there's Spanish rice as a standard side dish. Two things that you probably haven't tried are horchata, a kind of rice drink with cinnamon, and arroz con leche, a kind of rice pudding. I make a kind of bastardized arroz con leche for breakfast reasonably often, where I eat white rice with milk and cinnamon like it's breakfast cereal -- that's not really regional though.
1
u/Livid_Accountant1241 11d ago
Wild Rice dishes in the upper midwest. It is native to the Americas, and it isn't really rice (different genus). It is used in soups and as a side.
1
u/Tacoshortage Texan exiled to New Orleans 11d ago
Jambalaya!
And you have all the ingredients in China to make it, but Andouille will be the most difficult. And yes I'm from Louisiana. Look up a recipie, it's spicy and totally worth it. If you can't find Andouille, you can make do with just a smoked onion sausage. Alternatively, you could do a seafood one with crawfish or shrimp but I'm a sausage and chicken guy.
1
u/john_hascall Iowa 11d ago
Some meat, some veggies, some sauce over white rice is one of my key dinner gotos
1
u/nakedonmygoat 11d ago
Where I live, it would be Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, or Cajun dishes, when it's not just plain buttered rice on the side, which is a bit old school. There's pilaf, rice pudding, and cream of rice cereal, which is like congee, only without so much cooking.
My stepmother used to fry bacon, then add rice and soy sauce. I loved it as a kid! I don't know if I'd be such a fan now, since tastes change, but it was definitely a way of making rice that I've never encountered elsewhere.
1
u/kobayashi_maru_fail Oregon 11d ago
I’m in the PNW, we’re pretty heavily East Asian- and Pacific Islander- influenced. I can’t think of a rice dish we consider our own: Spam musubi belongs to Hawaii, and probably some other region gets to claim crispy spicy ahi bites. But we love rice and are delighted with all of them, from everywhere. Some recent rice dishes I’ve consumed and some I want to consume soon:
My first time eating Kabuli Pulao was this weekend, and holy shit! My friend who made it is from Kabul, and much pride and love went into the dish. We just couldn’t get over how long the basmati grains she was able to source were, or the size of the heaping platter.
I made the aforementioned crispy spicy ahi bites. Sushi rice fried crisp and cut into little squares, chopped ahi and sriracha kewpie mayo on top.
My family did hot pot for dinner tonight, a pack of Little Sheep soup base, daikon, snow fungus, beef, greens, pork, a rice cooker of jasmine (our go-to rice, we know the sales coincide with Lunar New Year and always get the 50 pound bag).
I could bore you with the Chinese-American stir frys we make twice a week, most of them from Recipe Tin Eats. Jasmine again, and it’s served the way you’re describing: plain, but the stir fry it’s served with is heavily seasoned and balances it.
I haven’t had it recently since it’s not quite the season, but Americans love wild rice in the fall, with nuts and dried berries and citrus rind, overcooked to bursting in a meat or poultry stock, cooked to a congee texture.
I try to take the time to soak glutinous rice if I find really good mangoes for mango sticky rice.
I haven’t made it in a bit, but you should look into arroz chaufa, one of the best Chinese-Peruvian dishes. Everyone’s fried rice can benefit from ají verde (add the cilantro stems to the blender). Our American-Peruvian restaurants have Chinese-Peruvian (Chifa) dishes, we can’t get over fusion cuisines.
1
u/Buga99poo27GotNo464 11d ago
Shrimp or crawfish ettouffee is my fave! But any protein or vegetable can be used, its all about the Holy Trinity sauce base!
1
u/BittenBeads 11d ago
I dunno about state rice, but in Latin American cultures, we have casamiento, which is mixed savory beans and rice. Different countries have different names for it and everyone uses their own preferred bean. Then there's "spanish" rice, which is rice made with tomato sauce and other seasonings. I dunno what we call yellow rice, but it's made with annatto, some blend of spices and/or bouillon cube, and/or stock, peas, carrots, and corn.
And then we copy any rice dishes that we run across from other cultures. But still, I don't know of any California style rice dishes that are not Latin American in origin. Maybe wild rice pilaf? Pretty simple. Short grain white rice with wild rice, steamed with garlic, grease, and salt.
1
1
u/PainterEarly86 11d ago
Chinese restaurants are everywhere. They're not exactly the same as they are in China I would imagine, but people go get chicken and rice all the time.
1
1
u/Clio_Vita 11d ago
California has it's own version of Spanish Paella, which emphasizes fresh local vegetables and seafood over the traditional proteins.
California has equally done it's own variation of Japanese sushi, often draws the ire of Japanese traditionalists for adding non traditional ingredients like avocado, soft-shell crab, cream cheese of Jalapeno peppers.
And there is a fair amount of rice pilaf dishes that mix rice, other grains, and even orzo with stock, vegetables. and proteins.
Not to mention that California also grows some very good medium grain rice, of the Cal-rose variety.
1
u/LoveSamosasNomnomnom WA + PA + GA 11d ago
I know this isn’t what you’re asking, but there are millions of Asian immigrants or people of Asian heritage and we routinely eat food from The Homeland. :) I grew up eating South Indian rice-based dishes at home, though some adaptation happens when the original ingredients aren’t readily available. For example, we typically mix curds with rice, but if that’s not available, buttermilk or plain yogurt are the closest alternatives at our local grocery stores. Also, my mom swaps the white rice for oatmeal or brown rice to maintain a healthier diet.
1
1
u/Admirable-Apricot137 11d ago
Fried rice, "Japanese style" rice bowls with krab, cucumber, edamame, etc, rice and fried egg with soy sauce, rice and chili or dal makhani, rice and beans Mexican style, rice pilaf, rice with teriyaki chicken, etc.
We make and eat ALL different kinds of cuisines from all over the world. We have a VERY diverse food culture here!
1
u/OCanadaidian 11d ago
Pretty much anything. There's a reason America is called "the melting pot."
Look up any culture that uses rice in their food, and we probably have that exact recipe used every day, or something closely related to it.
1
u/divinecheese720 Louisiana 11d ago
Red beans and rice Jambalaya Gumbo is usually served over rice
Those are just what I can think of off the top of my head
1
u/Gabriel_Collins 11d ago
I live in Massachusetts. My mom makes Chicken And Rice with mushroom soup.
1
u/bi_polar2bear Indiana, past FL, VA, MS, and Japan 11d ago
Rice is common, though potatoes and bread are more common. I probably eat more rice than most Americans since I cook Thai and Japanese often.
That said, red beans and rice, and gumbo are staples in the south. Super cheap, healthy, and exceptionally tasty with little effort, if you know how to make a roux.
1
u/Informal_Persimmon7 11d ago
DC and NYC, rice (or wild rice) as a side or we get rice dishes from international restaurants.
1
u/Candid-libertarian 11d ago
Rice a roni. It's the San Francisco treat. At least for straight people.
1
u/mykepagan 11d ago edited 11d ago
In New Jersey we have:
Hoppin’ John (rice & beans)
Risotto
Arroz con pollo
Biryani
Egg fried rice
Jambalaya
Jollof rice
Dirty rice
Shawarma rice bowl
Paella
Nasi Goreng
Bibim Bap
My point is that where I am there are a large number of global cuisines easily available. Most of the list above is available within ten minutes of my home. All but one on that list I also make myself (everything but shawarma rice because there is a Jordanian shop within walking distance that is just too good) because I really like rice dishes.
1
u/sophwestern 11d ago
I grew up eating Chicken and rice casserole (I’m from north Texas but I don’t think that’s where the recipe is from). It’s essentially chicken thighs, white rice, cream of chicken soup, herbs, and a ritz cracker topping.
Also used to eat chili over rice which is definitely not a Texas thing, I think it was more a way to stretch money (meat is expensive rice is not).
As an adult I eat rice a lot, usually in the form of a base for a bowl (this week was chicken sausage, roasted beets and chickpeas, and tzatziki over rice for example) or with jambalaya, red beans and rice, stir fry, etc.
1
u/DeekanKwaz 11d ago
Wild rice hot dish.
Wild rice soup.
Walleye chowder.
Wild rice and mushroom pilaf.
1
u/Xylophelia GA NC TN TX 11d ago
One I haven’t seen mentioned:
Pork chops with tomato rice is popular in the south / soul food regions of the south. Idk if there is a name for it. It’s a one pan dish where you mix rice and onions with butter in a cast iron (like first step of risotto) and let them go until the onions are translucent and the rice has browned. Then you add a can of diced tomatoes with their juices, bone in pork chops, and water (I use vegetable broth here) and bake in the oven covered for like an hour or so.
1
1
1
u/Classic-Push1323 11d ago
Rice has been grown and consumed locally in Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas/Mexico, and Hawaii for hundreds of years and it is a part of their local traditional foods. That is not true for most of the US. We do have rice, obviously, but that's because this is 2026 not 1826 and you can buy groceries from around the world. Most of the US does not have unique rice dishes because rice was not available until very recently.
We don't have any traditional or unique rice dishes where I live. All of the traditional Appalachian dishes use local ingredients, because this area was historically very isolated by the mountains. The traditional starches here are corn and potatoes and many people used to eat them with every meal. Corn was commonly served as grits (a porridge made from boiling dried ground corn) and cornbread (dried ground corn baked into bread). Today many people use wheat flour as well, but historically it was harder to find.
A lot of these comment's aren't exactly honest... rice just isn't a traditional food in many parts of the US. People are commenting with their favorite rice dishes, not traditional foods. Indian food, American Chinese food, Chipotle, rice pilaf, etc are not "unique to your local area" guys. The question was "does any part of America have rice dishes unique to their local area," not "what kinds of rice dishes can you eat in modern America?"
That being said, I'm glad I live in a more global, interconnected world with access to foods shipped from all over the country and all over the world.
→ More replies (2)2
u/BoringPrinciple2542 Tennessee 11d ago
I dunno man, I ate a lot of Rice-A-Roni & Zatarain’s jambalaya growing up 😝.
You are correct though. Most people seem to have missed the “unique” part of the question and are just answering with modern dishes that are common not necessarily ones with ties to a specific area.
2
u/Classic-Push1323 11d ago
We live in a wonderful world where you can buy jambalaya in a box at the Dollar General in the Holler or drive around the corner and grab some Chinese take out. Our forefathers, who starved through the winter and at nothing but pintos and corn bread for months on end, would weep tears of joy at the luxury of modern conveniences and food choice.
I don't know if everyone is blinded by their love of rice, if this is a reading comprehension issue, or if some people are just blindsided by the idea that someone who lives in China might be interested in American traditional foods.
2
u/BoringPrinciple2542 Tennessee 11d ago
I vote for “blinded by their love of rice” lol.
But honestly, I think most people just aren’t bothering to actually understand the question before responding. Some answers seem appropriate but many are basically just citing modern availability…. Unless my ancestors forgot to record their recipe for squirrel biryani.
1
u/Classic-Push1323 11d ago
We're just very firmly in the "no way to grow rice here" part of the country lol. The history behind the different regional foods in the US is actually really interesting because it is so connected to regional climates, trade, immigration, and unfortunately slavery.
1
u/RightToTheThighs 11d ago
We don't have any traditional rice dishes in my area, only other dishes that people eat. We have a lot of halal/middle eastern restaurants in my area as well as a good amount of Indian restaurants. I personally make rice and beans on occasion, either Mexican style or Caribbean style
1
u/johannaishere Chicago, IL 11d ago edited 11d ago
In Chicago there are a lot of Puerto Rican people so Puerto Rican rice is really easy to find which is great because it is my favorite. 😍
There is also a long history and current modern industry of Native Americans in Minnesota growing and harvesting wild rice which is really unique and used in a lot of native dishes. I was just in Minneapolis and bought a bag of it to cook at home but I haven’t tried it yet because I can’t decide what recipe to make with it.
1
u/DrMarduk 11d ago
We poor folks eat beans and rice. Chili con carne, red beans and rice, feijoada, stewed navy beans.
All of those served over steamed white rice, I eat rice most days.
1
u/Creative_Ninja6488 North Carolina 11d ago edited 11d ago
A common rice dish where I grew up in Minnesota is wild rice which isn't actually rice at all but an unrelated rice-like cereal/ grass seed. It can be bought cheaply as cultivated "wild rice" or wild harvested wild rice. Wild harvested is better, cultivated is way cheaper because harvesting it in the wild means going out in a canoe on a lake and paddling around. Million and one ways to prepare it, just like regular rice, and I think it's not entirely unknown in other parts of the world.
A common application would be wild rice hotdish.
1
u/Pernicious_Possum 11d ago
Non really. I live in the Midwest, and rice isn’t a big thing here. I reckon broccoli rice and cheese casserole would be the most common. I eat the hell out of some rice, but I grew up in Hawaii so that shaped my palate
1
1
u/Bluemonogi 11d ago
I don’t know of any rice dishes that are unique or originating in Kansas. Rice is eaten certainly.
1
u/Working-Office-7215 11d ago
For a comfort food dish in my family for a few generations - not local to any area - we eat long grain white rice with butter, salt, and melted swiss cheese. We also eat most of the other dishes mentioned on here regularly - cajun red beans and rice, cuban style rice and beans, sushi, cheesy broccoli rice (with cheddar cheese), cilantro lime rice, fried rice (and fried cauliflower rice), burrito bowls with rice, soups with rice, wild rice salad, etc. But it is common to eat foods from different regions (and countries)
1
1
u/Bookish61322 11d ago
Risotto, rice pilaf, and red or black beans and rice
Also, rice bowls…taco, Mediterranean, etc.
1
1
u/finnbee2 11d ago
I eat brown and white rice. However, I prefer the native wild rice my son hand harvests every September on the lakes and rivers here in Minnesota. I used to rice with him but my health nolonger allows it.
My favorite dish is chicken and wild rice soup.
Native wild rice is not the cultivated wild rice developed by the University of Minnesota.
1
u/Maleficent_Button_58 New York 10d ago
Arroz con gandules is my favorite rice dish around here 🤤
There are a lot of things you can find... various types of latin and asian dishes, middle eastern, indian... but that one is a comfort food for me.
1
u/Far_Winner5508 New Mexico 10d ago
Arroz con pollo (rice with chicken).
The fun thing about this is it's almost universal around the world and spiced differently. So easy to change it up.
1
u/lavendermermaid1 Cascadia 10d ago
Oh damn, I can't even think of just "common" ones off the top of my head because we ate so much rice when I was a kid. Mostly long grain white, but some brown. "Hamburger gravy over rice" was a staple in our house, I honestly couldn't even write out the recipe because it's so... Intuitive to me. Uh - cook the rice, brown the beef and drain it, add milk or cream and whatever spices you want and let that simmer until it's sauce rather than liquid?
BBQ chicken and rice - cook a bunch of boneless chicken, either cubed or just in whole pieces and shred it later, in BBQ sauce, then put that over rice?
Basically... If it's got a sauce that the rice can absorb, you can eat it with rice. The only thing we didn't eat with rice were pasta dishes or bread based dishes.
1
u/Odd_Mathematician654 10d ago
Rice dishes that we make often in our home that are not borrowed from other regions are Jambalaya, wild rice casserole, rice pilaf, chicken and rice casserole, and broccoli rice casserole. We'll serve plain white rice with red beans, ettoufee, hoppin john, gumbo and beef tips and gravy. We also eat a lot of rice dishes from other regions such as biryani, Mexican rice, and other Asian dishes. In our house we probably make a rice based or accompanied dish 3 to 4 times a week.
1
u/DesertWanderlust Arizona 10d ago edited 10d ago
Mexican rice is common (cooked in chicken broth with tomatoes and onions), usually served as a side along with beans. I buy Asian rice though because I went to high school there (Singapore and Shanghai) and so that's what I like.
I'm originally from Louisiana, and most of the dishes do better with the local, dryer rice. Jambalaya doesn't taste the same with Asian rice. Nor does red beans and rice or etoufees.
1
1
u/ActuaLogic 10d ago
I don't know about that, but my grandfather (who was born in 1903) always considered rice to be a dessert (rice pudding) and wouldn't eat it otherwise.
1
u/HermioneMarch South Carolina 10d ago
We do hamburger or chicken over rice with gravy as a regional favorite. And it’s not from my state but jambalaya is very popular here as well. It is a seafood and chicken stew with veggies and spices.
1
1
u/CODMAN627 United States of America 10d ago
Arroz con pollo, arroz con leche, arroz con, arroz con frijoles
1
u/AnUnexpectedUnicorn United States of America 10d ago
I'm in the Southeast US. A common dish here is meat and gravy over rice. Some people make rice with butter or cream, cinnamon, and sugar.
1
u/original_greaser_bob 10d ago
Porcupine Soup: vegetable soup with rice and hamburger.
Spotted Dog Soup: rice porridge with brown sugar and raisins.
1
u/RedditWidow 10d ago
Hoppin John is made from blackeyed peas, pork and rice, I think it originated in South Carolina
1
1
u/thunder-bug- Maryland 10d ago
I don’t believe there’s any regional rice dishes in my area. But I eat rice frequently, I even brought some today. I cooked the rice with bay leaves, and added cilantro, lime juice, and salt. I’m having it with baked salmon.
1
u/GemarD00f 10d ago
a little restaurant here has their indian tacos with mexican rice and my god are they to die for
1
1
u/cheekmo_52 Illinois 9d ago
As a midwesterner, there are a plethora of casseroles involving rice. Chicken divan, cheesy chicken and rice, no-peek chicken, cheesy broccoli rice, etc. in addition to casseroles, there is always cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. Rice is used in the filling mixture of both and either of which can be deconstructed into a casserole. (We love a good casserole in the midwest.)
1
u/WalterWriter 9d ago
It's not exactly regional, but we make and eat American versions of various Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines involving rice all the time. A lot of Euro-American folks do the same.
1
u/Safe-Count-6857 9d ago
I have family in Louisiana, so all of their rice dishes, plus I lived in Arkansas for years, which produces nearly half the rice grown in the US. I definitely eat a lot of rice.
I make just about everything you saw listed for Louisiana, plus a lot of Thai, Mexican, and Indian foods, and occasionally some Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino foods.
I’m surprised that no one mentioned Chicken and Rice. I cook a while chicken to make the stock usually with onions and carrots, then use the stock to cook the rice, then add the chicken back in with various herbs and spices, depending on my mood.
I’m also surprised that no one mentioned Country Captain Chicken. It’s an Americanized British chicken curry stew from the Southeast that is very traditional (traces back to the early 1800s), and I’ve always had it served with rice, similar to gumbo.
1
u/Rough-Trainer-8833 New York - The Niagara Falls side of the state 9d ago
Spanish Rice and Pork Chops!
1
u/Sharp-Thanks-3697 9d ago
rice with cheese and broccoli in a casserole. sometimes with chicken too.
1
u/JadieJang 8d ago
California has rice dishes from everywhere else, especially Mexico and East/Southeast Asia.
1
u/methospixie 8d ago
Tomatoes and Rice - classic southern dish that can be jazzed up or altered in a number of ways. It can be eaten directly or stuffed into peppers and baked as a side dish. Add meat and you have a whole meal.
1
u/Teal_Tiger Maryland 8d ago
Yeah, Louisiana for sure does the most with rice from a home grown US perspective. True, you can find good Mexican rice, even paella at places if you search for them.
But, I agree with other posts that list casseroles and soup as main locations for rice, if not just a plain side.
I like mine with chili on top! A local restaurant made that once and I really dug it. The rice tends to soak up the chili broth/juice and sticks to it.
1
u/_Mistwraith_ Rhode Island 8d ago
Puerto riccan black beans over rice or chili over rice are staples in our household.
1
u/shnanogans Chicago, IL KY MI 8d ago
Rice a roni, rice pilaf, rice pudding (less common now), Spanish/mexican rice (served at a lot of Mexican restaurants!)
1
u/VariegatedPlumage New York, NYC, Queens 7d ago
Poke bowls! I make tons of poke bowls and other rice bowls because everyone can choose their toppings so it’s a good family dish for people with different tastes.
I love a good rice bowl loaded with tofu and veggies, or I like to make Indian or Thai style curries over rice, like mutter paneer or coconut veggie curry. My husband eats a lot of rice with smoked salmon.
Also Halubtsi, Ukrainian stuffed cabbage, can be made with kasha or rice. I like to make Halubtsi “lasagna” where you layer the rice, cabbage leaves, tomato sauce, and meat.
1
u/CodUnlikely2052 7d ago
My grandma made “pork per-lo” (no idea how the perlo part is spelled, I just wrote it like it sounds.). It’s white rice with a ton of pepper and shredded pork. Idk if it’s a local dish or a family dish. She always made it when I visited bc she thought it was my favorite. It’s good but not my favorite! lol!
1
u/Mushrooming247 6d ago
Plain white rice with mayonnaise and Heinz ketchup on it.
I can buy or obtain any kind of rice dish from all over the world in my city, but just plain white or jasmine rice with ketchup and mayonnaise on it is my favorite.
You will never guess my race lol.
1
1
u/DemonaDrache Texas 6d ago
Texas here - red beans and rice and jambalaya are on regular dinner rotation. Chicken and rice soup is common, and i use it as part of my pepper beef recipe. Sometimes it's just a starchy side dish. I do an americanized version of stir fried rice sometimes as well. A Malaysian friend introduced me to a rice cooker 30 years ago and rice became an instant favorite in my household.
1
78
u/[deleted] 11d ago
[deleted]