Turkish · Miscellaneous
Turkish rice (vermicelli rice)

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Method
- step 1
- Pour the rice into a very large bowl under cold running water and carefully drain the water out of the bowl through a sieve. Repeat a few times until the water in the bowl is clear, then fill the bowl up with cold water and leave rice to soak for 10 mins while you cook the vermicelli.
- step 2
- Put the oil into a medium pan over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and stir continuously until the strands turn a rich golden brown, 2-3 mins. Remove from the heat, stir through the butter until it melts and allow the vermicelli to cool for 1-2 mins.
- step 3
- Drain the rice thoroughly through a sieve. Add the rice to the pan and stir well. Pour the hot stock into the pan, sprinkle in ½ tsp salt, stir well then return the pan to the hob over a high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest it will go, put the lid on the pan and simmer for 7-9 mins. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a couple of sheets of kitchen paper or a light tea towel and the pan lid, and let the rice sit in the pan for 10 mins. Fluff up with a fork before serving.
Cooking notes
Scaling works best when you weigh ingredients rather than measure by volume — small differences in packing can compound at higher multipliers.
For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.
When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.
Recipe video
Turkish rice (vermicelli rice)
Cooking aids
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Volume
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OpenWeight
Grams, ounces, pounds, kilograms — exact for any ingredient, plus the volume-to-weight conversions for ~40 pantry staples.
OpenTemperature
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OpenCooking time
The cube-root rule for scaling up, the differences between meat / cake / soup geometry, and sensible starting estimates.
OpenPan size
9-inch round vs 8-inch square vs 13×9. The math is surface area, not diameter — and the converter shows you both.
OpenLength
Inches and centimetres — for when a recipe says “cut into 1-inch pieces” and your ruler is metric.
OpenIngredient density
A cup of flour weighs 120 g; a cup of honey weighs 340. The full table of ~40 staples, with sources.
OpenOpen in main scaler
Edit the recipe text, scale by serving count, and copy the result. Same parser as the in-page scaler, more room to work.
OpenFrom the journal
Original essays on the small details.
The why behind the technique — original writing on the ingredient and equipment choices that separate a good cook from a frustrated one.
Eggs by weight, not by count
Why your four-egg recipe might really be a five-egg recipe
Read essayApril 12, 2026
The case for the oven thermometer
Your oven is probably lying to you, and here's how to catch it
Read essayFebruary 28, 2026
Butter temperature ruins more cookies than the oven does
Cold, softened, melted — three states, three completely different bakes
Read essayDecember 15, 2025
Go deeper
Where this recipe sits in the wider tradition.
Each guide below is a real essay on the cuisine or the category — pillars, staples, techniques worth learning — paired with a curated grid of recipes filed under it.
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