Lebanese rice with vermicelli

Howcome did I never thought of this, to combine rice with vermicelli? It's so simple, but so good. Instead I had to detect it in my recent favourite cookbook: A Lebanese Feast of Vegetables, Pulses, Herbs and Spices by Mona Hamadeh. There is a recipe for Lebanese Rice with Vermicelli (p. 264-265) in the Basic Recipes section. I have often eaten this combination in koshari, but making it as a side to a lovely Lebanese vegetable dish was new to me. It turns out that in Lebanese cuisine vermicelli is very often added to rice. 

To make this rice, just take a nice rice, like the mixture of a few rice sorts that I used here or healthy brown rice. Put the rice (about 250 g) into a saucepan with little added salt and cover it with water, just about 1 cm above the rice. More can be added, if needed, but this method should keep the rice fluffier. The Lebanese don't seem to like sticky rice very much. Simmer until the rice is done.

Simultaneously break the vermicelli (about 70 g) into about 1 cm long pieces and fry the pieces quickly in hot oil until they turn golden brown. This happens very quickly. Remove the oil and put the vermicelli in with the rice and cook there until the rice is done.

I scattered some fresh coriander on the top and it looked like an attractive side dish. I will soon post also the dish that I served this with, but I think that this rice could also be a stand-alone dish.

Your VegHog