What are these spaghetti-like strings in the rice I got from a Turkish shop?

Question

I bought some rice from Turkish shop and as you can see in the picture it came with this spaghetti like strings with it, I’m not referring to the green stuff.
Do you know what it is and would it have been typically boiled with the rice or added at the end?

Juhasz · Accepted Answer

It's toasted vermicelli.
This dish is called şehriyeli pilav in Turkey, riz bi sh’arieh in Lebanon and Syria, shehrehi yeghintz in Armenia, and reshteh polo in Iran.
The basic idea is that you brown the noodles in a little bit of oil or butter, then add rice and cook basically as you would cook steamed rice.
Below are four sample recipes.  Note that the Persian version (the last in this list) is more complicated, uses a different noodle (a kind that's more common in Iran) and has a crispy bottom.
şehriyeli pilav
riz bi sh'arieh
shehrehi yeghintz - and if you read that article (it's worth a read), you'll learn that this dish was also the inspiration for Rice-A-Roni.  More like the "Yerevani treat"!
reshteh polo

ep weirdcalm · Answer

This is single alfalfa sprout. My research: knowledge of the earth our giver of life.

Auntie KK · Answer

You can relax, they are not worms. What this is, is vermicelli. It is a mild tasting noodle typically made of flour. You can boil it with the rice, although to make a nice tasting pilaf you should brown the rice/vermicelli mixture in a little fat before adding the water. I use butter. It adds a nice nutty, browned butter flavor to my rice dish at the end.

Answered by Auntie KK on October 5, 2021

What are these spaghetti-like strings in the rice I got from a Turkish shop?

3 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question