How do restaurants make risotto so creamy? (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to creamy risotto? ›

Yes, the foundational creaminess of well-made risotto should come from the starches that the grains release slowly over the cooking process—but a bit of actual cream doesn't hurt, either. Make sure to season the risotto with salt after you've added the whipped cream.

Risotto rice is normal rice, as normal as basmati or any other kind of rice. The big difference is that risotto rice isn't washed before preparing it. That way it keeps all the starch you need to obtain a creamy risotto. It is furthermore cooked by adding little liquid at the time, while stirring.

Stirring the rice constantly will add air into the risotto, cooling it down and making it gluey. But if you don't stir enough, the rice will stick to the bottom and burn. Agitating the rice is important, because risotto's creaminess comes from the starch generated when grains of rice rub against each other.

Some places use par-boiled rice which gives them a five to ten minutes advantage in preparing risotto. And some of these risottos aren't even that bad. But never as good as the real stuff. Restaurants use the same technique as the one you -should- apply at home: toasting the rice, adding broth and stir, stir stir.

Keep in mind a ratio of one cup of rice to two and a half cups of stock, adding in a touch more stock to achieve that creamy, silky consistency if you wind up cooking your rice a bit too long.

Use Salted Water Instead of Broth in Risotto

It's an ingenious tip on many levels.

Many people mistakenly think that butter, and lots of it, is required as the finish, to make risotto creamy. Olive oil at the end adds a nice complexity that does not alter the essential flavor of the risotto: it is, in my opinion, a cleaner finish.

The concept of mantecare, (the verb form of mantecatura) is an Italian cooking essential, one that's crucial to risotto. It comes from the Spanish word for butter and means to gently work something—usually a dish—into a creamy consistency by blending in some sort of fat or butter.

When cooking risotto on a stovetop, you're required to periodically stir it to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Some people, however, stir it too frequently. This adds air into the risotto, cooling it down and making it gluey.

I prefer the flavor of chicken broth or stock in risotto. If you're vegetarian, vegetable broth or stock will be just fine. I use regular broth for this recipe and not low-sodium, if you use low sodium just be sure to taste test and add more salt at the end as needed. Parmesan cheese.

Why add water bit by bit to risotto? ›

Friction, or grains scratching up against each other, is also why, unlike other rice dishes, you add risotto's liquid a little bit at a time. If you added the liquid all at once, the grains would just be floating around, not rubbing up against each other, not creating sauciness.

In his post, López-Alt writes that the speediness of restaurant risotto boils down to the fact that chefs “par-cook it to around 75 per cent done then cool it rapidly by spreading it in a thin layer on a sheet tray and refrigerating it”.

In Italy, risotto is often celebrated as a standalone dish, especially when it's seasoned with robust flavors from meat, cheese, or fish sauce like risotto with crabs. However, there are rare occasions when risotto might share its glory with another delicacy, like the classic pairing of risotto Milanese and osso buco.

Most Italians eat risotto with a fork, but there are areas where you are given a spoon by default to eat it: it happens in Campania, for example, but not only there. It partly depends on convenience and habits.

Simmer and Stir

If you notice your risotto is on the dry side as you're reheating, adding a bit of broth or white wine will work wonders when it comes to bringing back some moisture and flavour.

In many risottos cheese, usually Parmesan cheese, is added at the end for flavour rather than as a thickening agent and it is the rice that thickens the risotto. Risotto rice varieties are short grain varieties, which have higher levels of starch.

If you are able to get white wine vinegar then you can add a tablespoon of this to the rice and let it boil away before adding any stock and this will often give some of the flavour of wine, whilst reducing the alcohol content.