35 min · Vegan · Side dish · For beginners
Chum Marp
In German: Roter Bhutan-Reis
For 4 servings · US units
Bhutanese red rice, cooked fluffy and finished with butter
Chum Marp is Bhutan's red rice, semi-milled so the grains keep a gentle bite even once they're cooked through — filling, but never heavy. Traditionally you fold in yak butter at the end until it coats every grain; if you'd rather skip the fat, season with Sichuan pepper and orange zest instead. It's served alongside Ema Datshi, and that's where it shows what it can do: it soaks up the sauce and still stays grainy.
Ingredients
- 9⅔ ozBhutanese red rice, semi-milledRice with a reddish-brown bran, in the Himalaya mostly a semi-milled short-grain rice from Bhutan; nutty and slightly sticky.Substitute: Red Camargue rice or short-grain brown rice comes close in nutty flavour; brown rice takes longer, stays more separate and lacks the red colour.Read more
- 2½ cupsWaterfor cooking
- 1 tspSaltin the cooking water or stirred in
- 2 tbspButteryak butter or unsalted butter, folded in after cooking (optional)
- to taste (optional)Dried husks of a citrus-family shrub, not a true pepper. Lemony and floral, with a tingling, numbing effect on the tongue.Substitute: Timur and Sichuan pepper stand in for each other well. Black pepper with a little grated lemon zest roughly matches the aroma, but the tingling and numbing are lost entirely.Read more
- 1Orangezest only (optional)
Method
- Put the red rice in a bowl and rinse it two or three times in cold water, until the water stays more or less clear. Drain it well.
- Bring the water to a boil with the salt in a pot with a well-fitting lid.
- Stir in the drained rice, turn the heat down and simmer covered over low heat for 20 to 22 minutes, until the water has been completely absorbed.
- Take the pot off the heat and let the rice steam, still covered, for another 5 minutes — don't lift the lid.
- Fluff the rice gently with a fork so the grains separate. Dot the butter over the top and fold it through until it has melted and coats every grain.
- Season to taste with grated orange zest and freshly ground Sichuan pepper, if you like.
- Serve warm right away as a side, classically with Ema Datshi. The grains should be tender with a light bite.
Tips and variations
The amount of liquid decides the texture: with plenty of water (around 1:2.2) the rice turns softer and looser, with less liquid (around 1:1.5) it stays noticeably firmer. For the mild, rounded version, fold the butter — traditionally yak butter — in only after cooking; if you want to cook without fat, lean on Sichuan pepper and orange zest instead, which gives the rice a fresh, peppery edge. It looks best in a bowl next to Ema Datshi, so the sauce and rice mingle bit by bit as you eat.
Allergens
May contain if you use the optional ingredients: Milk (including lactose)
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
