Rice Dishes

🇸🇦Saudi Arabia

Ruz al Bukhari

رز بخاري

Ruz Bukhari is aromatic rice with star anise, nutmeg, fennel, saffron, long grains, and often julienne carrots and raisins.

🇮🇷Iran

Sabzi Polo ba Mahi

سبزی پلو با ماهی

Rice steamed with chopped coriander, dill, parsley and fenugreek, served with fried white fish — the fixed meal for Nowruz.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Sabzi Qovurma Plov

Səbzi qovurma plov

Lamb browned with a great weight of chopped coriander, dill, spring onion and fenugreek, served beside saffron rice.

🇸🇨Seychelles

Saffron Rice

Rice cooked with saffron (turmeric) giving it a golden colour; a staple accompaniment to Seychellois curries; the saffron (turmeric in local usage) adds both colour and a subtle earthy flavour; the base of nearly every Creole meal.

🇲🇫Saint Martin

Saint Martin Crab and Rice

Crabe et Riz

One-pot dish with land crabs, salted pig tails, smoked bacon, tomatoes, chili, herbs (thyme, parsley), cooked with rice and annatto oil for color; traditionally eaten during Easter weekend when families gather on the beach to camp and cook.

🇸🇦Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Saleeg

سليق

Saleeg is Hijazi short-grain rice cooked in milk and meat broth, topped with roasted chicken and served with daggus sauce.

🇦🇪United Arab Emirates

Saliq

صليق

Saliq is a creamy rice dish cooked with meat broth until soft and porridge-like, a Saudi preparation also popular in the UAE.

🇳🇵Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Samay Baji

समय् बजि

Beaten rice anchors a Newari ceremonial spread with spiced meat, black soybeans, egg, ginger, and sharp accompaniments.

🇮🇹Naples, Italy

Sartù di riso

Neapolitan baked rice timbale with meatballs, peas and cheese.

🇱🇧Lebanon

Sayadiya

صيادية

White fish fried and laid on rice cooked in a stock darkened with deeply caramelised onion, topped with toasted pine nuts and a tahini sauce.

🇰🇷South Korea

Scorched Rice

누룽지

The crispy, golden crust of rice that forms at the bottom of a stone pot or iron cauldron, often served with hot water or broth as a comforting snack.

🇨🇻Cape Verde

Seafood Blood Rice

Arroz de Cabidela de Marisco a Dadal

Rice cooked in seafood blood and broth with prawns, squid, and white fish, a dish of São Vicente island.

🇪🇸Spain

Seafood Paella

Paella de mariscos

A saffron rice paella loaded with shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, and sometimes langoustine, cooked over wood fire along the Mediterranean coast.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Shah Plov

Şah plov

Saffron rice, dried fruit and lamb sealed inside a drum of overlapping lavash, baked until the bread crust goes deep gold, then cut open like a cake.

🇯🇵Japan

Shirasu-don

しらす丼

A rice bowl topped with raw or boiled whitebait (shirasu), a Kanagawa and Shizuoka specialty.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Shirin Plov

Şirin plov

Sweet plov of saffron rice with dried apricot, raisin, chestnut and almond fried in butter — served at weddings and Novruz.

🇮🇷Iran

Shirin Polo

شیرین پلو

Rice with candied orange peel, slivered pistachio and almond, saffron and sugar — the wedding rice.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Shola Ghorbandi

شله غوربندی

Short-grain rice and mung beans cooked until sticky with lamb, turmeric and dried dill, served with a chunk of fat on top.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Sierra Leonean Jollof Rice

Jollof Rice

Sierra Leonean one-pot rice cooked in a tomato, pepper and onion base with meat or fish.

🇵🇰Sindh, Pakistan

Sindhi Biryani

سنڌي بریاني

Rice layered with mutton or chicken cooked in yoghurt, tomato, dried plum and a heavy hand of green chilli and mint, so the rice runs sour and hot.

🇩🇯Djibouti

Skoudehkaris

Djiboutian spiced basmati rice pilaf with lamb, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and cilantro; served at celebrations.

🇰🇷South Korea

Soybean Sprout Rice

콩나물밥

Rice cooked with soybean sprouts and ground meat, served with a spicy soybean paste sauce and raw egg mixed in at the table.

🇬🇺Guam

Spam Fried Rice

Spam fried rice stirs diced luncheon meat with rice, egg, soy sauce, and vegetables into a savoury Guam breakfast or quick meal.

🇬🇷Greece

Spanakorizo

Σπανακόρυζο

Greek spinach and rice dish with olive oil, lemon, and dill, a vegetarian classic. A comforting, herby, light dish, served with feta and lemon, a Lenten and home staple.

🇰🇷South Korea

Spicy Rice Cakes

떡볶이

Cylinder-shaped rice cakes simmered in a spicy, sweet gochujang sauce with fish cakes and scallions, Korea's most popular street food.

🇨🇳China

Sticky Rice in Bamboo Leaves

粽子

A pyramid of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled, filled with pork belly and egg yolk in the south or eaten plain with sugar in the north.

🇭🇰Hong Kong

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf

Lo Mai Gai

The sticky rice bomb of dim sum; glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf with chicken, Chinese sausage, mushrooms, and dried shrimp; steamed until the rice absorbs all flavors; the lotus leaf imparts an earthy aroma; a substantial dim sum item; the sticky rice parcel that opens to reveal a savory treasure.

🇮🇩Indonesia

Sticky Rice Roll

Lemper

Glutinous rice filled with seasoned chicken or beef, wrapped in banana leaves.

🇲🇲Myanmar

Sticky Rice with Turmeric

ဆီထမင်း

Glutinous rice cooked with turmeric, onion and a generous quantity of peanut oil, pressed into a slab and eaten with fried onion, sesame and dried fish floss.

🇰🇷South Korea

Stone Pot Bibimbap

돌솥비빔밥

Bibimbap served in a sizzling hot stone bowl that crisps the rice at the bottom into a golden crust (nurungji) as you eat.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Supplì al Telefono

Roman fried rice croquettes of tomato risotto with a mozzarella core. Named 'al telefono' because the cheese stretches like a telephone wire when pulled apart.

🇸🇷Suriname

Surinamese Nasi

Nasi

Fried rice made Surinamese with ketjap manis, chicken, egg and a heavier hand of sambal than in Java.

🇰🇷South Korea

Sweet Rice Balls

경단

Soft rice dough balls filled with sweet red bean, boiled and coated in colorful powders (black sesame, soybean, coconut, mugwort).

🇵🇪Peru

Tacu Tacu

A Peruvian dish of leftover rice and beans fried into a thick patty, topped with steak, fried egg or seafood. Afro-Peruvian comfort food.

🇮🇷Iran

Tahchin

ته‌چین

Rice bound with yogurt, egg and saffron, packed around chicken or lamb and baked until the whole thing turns out as a golden cake.

🇮🇷Iran

Tahdig

ته‌دیگ

The crust at the bottom of the rice pot — rice, thin bread, potato or yogurt-and-saffron batter — lifted out in shards and served on top.