The Pantry Staple That Will Thicken Seafood Bisque In A Pinch

Using the traditional French recipe, making a seafood bisque is a day-long affair, considering that grinding the boiling shells of crustaceans, such as lobster and crab, is the most time-consuming part. Unless you're training to be a professional chef, there's a simpler way to thicken your homemade bisque using rice, a kitchen staple you most likely already have on hand.

While there is a difference between chowder and bisque, the process of making bisques has evolved, and the term is now used to describe any smooth, creamy-style soup that has been pureed. If you happen to be in South Louisiana, their seafood bisques are frequently thickened using a roux made with flour and butter. Also, bisques are no longer limited to shellfish, as evidenced by thousands of recipes, such as a vegan Panang Curry Tomato Bisque or meaty, poultry-based chicken bisque. Regardless of the flavors, using rice as a thickening agent is easy, relatively flavorless, and gluten free.

A seafood bisque needs to be pureed to achieve that smooth, silky mouthfeel, one of the soup's most irresistible characteristics. For this reason, adding rice in bisque is really easy. After sauteing the aromatics or mirepoix, add stock or water, toss in some dry rice, and let it simmer until everything becomes tender.

Take note, this is one of the rare occasions when you shouldn't rinse your rice before cooking. The main reason we rinse our rice is to get rid of excess starch, which makes rice clump together when cooking. However, as a thickening agent, the extra starch is exactly what we need. Also, be sure to use only half a cup of rice for every quart of liquid. After simmering for 20 minutes, when the rice and vegetables are tender, puree the soup using an immersion blender or a tabletop blender.

Since starch is the key ingredient in thickening agents, short to medium grain rice such as Arborio is the best bet, as it tends to be starchier than long grain rice. But if all you have is a huge burlap bag of basmati in your pantry, feel free to use what is at hand. Pre-cooked rice has far less starch than uncooked rice, but it will still work in a pinch.

If you have leftover cooked rice sitting in your rice cooker or refrigerator, simmer the rice briefly in stock or water and puree it. Then, add the pureed rice mixture a little at a time into the soup, and simmer until it reaches the consistency you desire. Remember, any great bisque recipe includes a lot of heavy cream, which also thickens the soup. It may seem extraordinarily decadent, but that's why it's so good. Don't worry about it! Just break out the French bread and enjoy.