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Hamsili Pilav (Anchovy-Wrapped Rice Pilaf)

Name: Hamsili Pilav (Anchovy-Wrapped Rice Pilaf)
Prep time: 1 h 38 min
Total time: 1 h 38 min
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: anchovies — 700 g; arborio — 300 g; water — 600 g; onions — 240 g; unsalted butter — 80 g; pine nuts — 50 g; currants — 40 g; ground cinnamon — 5 g; ground allspice — 3 g; dill — 20 g; flat-leaf parsley — 20 g; salt — 10 g; freshly ground black pepper — 3 g; olive oil — 27 g

Hamsili Pilav (Anchovy-Wrapped Rice Pilaf) reads umami 7.4, salinity 5.9 and richness 5.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Turkish main, about 1 hr 38 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 8.9 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.0 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.3 / 10
Rich & Fat — 7.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 3.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.4 · Salinity 5.9 · Richness 5.9 · Funk & Ferment 4.7 · Marine & Briny 4.1 · Nutty 4.1 · Fruity 3.6 · Sweetness 3.3 · Herbaceous 3.3 · Allium 2.8 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Floral 1.4 · Earthy 1.2 · Bitterness 1.1 · Sourness 1.0

What's in it (14)

anchovies — 700 g
arborio — 300 g
water — 600 g
onions — 240 g
unsalted butter — 80 g
pine nuts — 50 g
currants — 40 g
ground cinnamon — 5 g
ground allspice — 3 g
dill — 20 g
flat-leaf parsley — 20 g
salt — 10 g
freshly ground black pepper — 3 g
olive oil — 27 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 38 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 143.4 kcal, 10.5 g protein, 8.1 g fat, 14 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

Clean the anchovies by pinching off the head and pulling it down and away, which brings the guts and the backbone with it, leaving a butterflied fillet joined at the tail. Do the whole 700 g — it takes about 20 minutes and is the only fiddly part. Rinse and lay them out on a cloth.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the pine nuts and toast 3 minutes until pale gold, then add the onions and cook 8 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured.
Add the rice and fry 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the grains turn opaque, then stir in the currants, cinnamon, allspice, the salt and the black pepper.
Pour in the hot water, bring to a boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes, until the water is gone and the surface is pitted with steam holes. Take off the heat and fork through the dill and parsley. The rice will still be slightly firm; it finishes in the oven.
Heat the oven to 190°C. Oil a 24 cm round tin and line it, skin side down, with anchovies laid like the spokes of a wheel, their tails meeting in the centre and their heads-ends hanging over the rim.
Pack the rice in firmly, fold the overhanging anchovy tails back over the top, then cover the whole surface with the remaining fish, skin side up, in a neat overlapping spiral.
Bake 35 minutes until the top fish are bronzed and their edges crisp. Rest 10 minutes, then turn out onto a board and cut in wedges like a cake.

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Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.