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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
16/02/2026
Rice is one of the most widely consumed staples on the planet, forming the backbone of countless iconic dishes. It’s like the quiet grandmother who hands you warm hugs and food after a long spell of tired days or even weeks. It is not as flashy or flamboyant as the bread that is almost always shown as a Parisian rake, and always in your face. But the dishes that are made out of the starchy rice always hit the spot, and deserve the bragging rights too.
Pick India itself, it has countless rice dishes, the crowning jewel being biryani, which in itself has countless varieties within the country. Then there are creamier versions from across the globe. Like the Italian risotto, Persian pilaf, Spanish paella and more. What makes these rice dishes iconic isn't just the recipe, the spices, or the cooking technique – it's the specific variety of rice chosen, too. Grain length, starch content, and aroma all play a crucial role in shaping texture, flavour absorption, and the final character of the dish, making rice far more than just a base ingredient. Let’s find out more by going through famous rice dishes from around the world.
With origins going back to the Mughal times, biryani’s journey began in Persia, where rice and meat were cooked separately and then combined. When Mughal emperors brought it to India in the 16th-17th centuries, locals transformed it entirely. They introduced the ‘dum’ cooking method – layering partially cooked rice with marinated meat in a sealed pot, slow-cooking it over charcoal. Northern biryanis, influenced by Mughal royalty, embraced fragrant basmati rice, while southern biryanis tend to use the indigenous seeraga samba rice.
Using long-grain parboiled rice, the West African jollof rice is cooked in a tomato-based sauce with spices. The rice must withstand prolonged cooking in liquid without turning mushy, while absorbing the rich tomato, pepper, and spices. Parboiled rice's firm texture and resistance to overcooking make it ideal. Using regular white rice, sticky Asian rice varieties, or even basmati would dissolve into mush in Jollof's slow-cooking sauce. This dish is also called benachin, meaning ‘one pot’ in Wolof, which originated with the Wolof people in the Senegambia region between the 14th and 16th centuries.
The Koreans use ‘ssalbap’, which is a short-grain white rice, in their bibimbap. The dish itself heavily relies on rice, and the name ‘bibimbap’ translates to ‘mixed rice’. This particular dish requires rice that stays cohesive when vigorous mixing occurs at the table, and ssalbap's sticky nature ensures vegetables, meat, and savoury gochujang (fermented red chilli paste) coat every grain evenly. The rice's stickiness also creates the prized crispy rice crust (nurungji) at the bottom.
Originating in Valencia's rice fields near Albufera lagoon, where rice was introduced by the Moors during their rule of Spain (8th-13th centuries), paella is Spain’s saffron rice. The word ‘paella’ comes from the Latin ‘patella’ (pan) via the Valencian word for the wide, shallow cooking vessel. In the 15th-19th centuries, Valencian farmers and labourers cooked rice (Bomba variety) over open fires in the fields, using ingredients at hand: rabbit, duck, snails (from the rice paddies), green beans, and tomatoes. The dish was cooked in large pans and eaten directly from the pan. Even today, many restaurants serve the paella in a pan-like container. Paella can have seafood, meat, or just veggies.
This Japanese delicacy originated as a preservation method in Southeast Asia, where fish was fermented with rice (the japonica rice was discarded). In Edo-period Japan (1603-1868), this evolved into modern sushi when vinegar was added to fresh rice to mimic fermented flavour without the wait. Nigiri sushi (hand-pressed rice with raw fish) was invented in Edo (Tokyo) in the 1820s as fast food at roadside stalls. The rice is so important in sushi that the word ‘sushi’ actually refers to the seasoned rice, not the fish. Master sushi chefs (itamae) spend years perfecting just the rice preparation.
Hailing from Northern Italy, where rice cultivation began in the 15th century, risotto developed in Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region, where rice paddies flourished (Carnaroli rice). Risotto alla Milanese, the golden saffron risotto, was said to have been created in 1574 at the wedding of a master glazier's daughter. An apprentice who used saffron to colour glass convinced the cook to add it to the rice, creating the iconic yellow risotto. It’s the khichdi of Italy, and the rice used contains high levels of amylopectin, which creates risotto's signature creaminess.
The secret to the perfect fried rice is its age, and freshly cooked rice, regardless of variety, contains too much moisture and surface starch for the dish. You need at least a day-old rice, which has undergone something called retrogradation. Since fried rice originated in the Sui Dynasty China (589-618 CE), as a clever way to use leftover rice, the Chinese standard, medium-grain white rice, is perfect. Chinese fried rice uses soy sauce and keeps it simple, while Thai fried rice adds fish sauce and Thai basil. Indonesian nasi goreng includes sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and sambal. Japanese yakimeshi might include mirin and dashi (sauces).
Originating in Persia, or modern-day Iran, pilaf (also pilau, plov, pulao, polo) originated in ancient Persia, spreading through the Middle East, Central Asia, and India. The technique of sautéing rice in fat before simmering in broth creates a flavour and texture impossible to achieve by boiling rice alone. Long-grain rice, like basmati, is essential for pilaf because the grains must remain completely separate and dry. Short or medium-grain rice would clump together even with the sauté method, creating sticky rice rather than fluffy pilaf. The Iranian polo uses saffron and barberries, Turkish pilav uses vermicelli, Central Asian plov puts lamb and carrots, while Indian pulao uses vegetables and spices.
Rice is the heart and soul of all of these rice dishes, but putting Chinese rice in pulao or basmati in jollof rice will cause a mess of epic proportions. Bomba rice for paella, carnaroli for risotto, seeraga samba for South Indian biryani, parboiled long-grain for Jollof, short-grain japonica for sushi – these aren't mere suggestions. They're the result of centuries of evolution, where the dishes sprouted from the grain of the land.
