Each month in Well Stocked, our staff shares unfussy recipe ideas that you can call upon any day of the week. Because yes, our editors love to cook, but sometimes we need to get dinner on the table 12 minutes ago. That’s when we look to pantry and fridge staples that can quickly morph into delicious meals. This month, it’s all about leftover rice.. There’s a reason fried rice recipes tell you to start with leftover rice. The time in the fridge allows the cooked grains to firm up and dry out. “[The rice] has crystallized. The starches in it have made it hard,” explains Pecking House chef and founder Eric Huang. This is a great thing for stir-frying. When slicked with oil over high heat, the morsels crisp into a textural marvel, jumping a long way from their original sticky form.. That’s one of our favorite ways to use leftover rice, but there are other fish in the sea. Pack down day-old rice in a roaring-hot skillet and you’ve got crispy rice to stretch a salad. Simmer it in bone broth until the grains fall apart and you’ve made short-cut congee. Or cover it in coconut milk instead, let that bubble away, and poof, rice pudding. Limitless options! Read on for our editors’ favorite ways to use leftover rice.. Fridge-clearing fried rice. If I have cooked rice in the fridge—almost always!—it is there to accompany an upcoming dinner. Usually a stir-fry (love this sesame tofu) or curry (love this saag feta). But if I have an awkward amount left over—often!—I’ll turn it into a fridge-clearing fried rice. Sometimes it’s ripe kimchi and crumbled tofu. Other times it’s scrambled eggs and fresh ginger, based on this cure-all recipe from cookbook author Hetty Lui McKinnon. Her trick is to finely chop the ginger instead of grating it, so there are spicy-sweet nubs in each bite. It always hits the spot. —Emma Laperruque, director of cooking. Ginger Fried Rice. You don’t need a lot of ingredients—just a lot of ginger—for this quick comfort food.. View Recipe. Dessert for one. When I’ve got one awkward scoop of rice left over, I take it as a sign from the universe to make myself dessert. I just toss the rice into a pot and drown it in coconut milk, plus an overflowing spoonful of honey and a pinch of salt. (Any milk you have on hand works.) Let the mixture heat up and break down till it resembles a custardy porridge. Top the rice pudding with whatever fresh, dried, or frozen fruit you have around. My favorite will always be tart cherries. —Kelsey Jane Youngman, senior service editor. Laotian-style crispy rice salad. When I lived in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, I would often order from Rainbow Thai, an unassuming take-out spot. They specialize in heady Northern Thai cuisine and truly excel with their naem kao tod, a celebration of crunchy-chewy rice mixed with red curry paste, peanuts, and fish sauce. It’s been years since I’ve had the pleasure of ordering from Rainbow, but I’ve been craving those flavo
