Partan Bree — Crab Meat & Rice Soup

Ingredients

• 12 oz Crab Meat
• ½ cup long-grain rice
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 cups fish or shellfish stock
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp anchovy paste
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• Salt, white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne

Method

1. Simmer the rice in the milk with the shallot and a pinch of salt over low heat, stirring often so it does not catch, until the grains are very soft and swollen, 20 minutes.
2. Blend the rice and milk until completely smooth, then pass it through a sieve back into the pot. That sieve is the difference between a soup and a porridge.
3. Stir in the stock, anchovy paste, cayenne, and white pepper and bring to a bare simmer.
4. Fold in three-quarters of the Crab Meat and the cream and warm through for 3 minutes without boiling — boiling makes crab stringy.
5. Taste for salt, ladle out, and crown each bowl with the reserved Crab Meat and a scatter of chives.