Crispy bits of rice meet tender flakes of sardine and creamy eggs in this recipe for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The tinned fish does the heavy lifting by perfuming the rice with spices and savory seafood flavor. While this recipe was tested with sardines, substitute mackerel or garfish in spiced olive oil for an equally exciting variation.
Best tinned fish for this recipe
This recipe was tested with one tin in mind, my all time favorite tin of sardines: Nuri Spiced Sardines in Olive Oil (Amazon / Lata). These spiced-but-not-spicy sardines are a Portuguese classic with their iconic spice combo of laurel, black pepper, chili. clove, cucumber, and carrot.
That being said, this recipe is yours to make, not mine, so I’m sharing some additional tins that would be ideal in this recipe:
- Ati Manel Garfish in Spiced Olive Oil (Amazon / Lata)
- Similar to sardines with a firmer texture and cleaner flavor. Mild to moderate spice.
- Nuri Extra Spiced Sardines in Olive Oil (Amazon / Lata)
- Identical to the Nuri classic, but with 3 peppers instead of 1. Moderate spice.
- Rainbow Tomatoes Garden Habanero Sardines (RTG)
- The spiciest, most garlicky sardines on the market. HOT!
The two main criteria for a tin that works well here is that 1. must be packed in oil and 2. it must be spiced. Mackerel, tuna, and even squid would all make for fun alternatives. The spices give an otherwise bland dish flavor and the oil is necessary to achieve that crispy, fragrant rice.
Want more ways to cook with tinned fish? Check out my tinned fish recipes here.
Tinned Sardines and Crispy Rice with Eggs
Ingredients
- 1 tin spiced sardines in olive oil
- 1/2 cup long grain rice washed
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1 cup cabbage sliced
- olive oil as needed
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil from tin of sardines in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 1/2 onion and cook for a 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add 1/2 cup long grain rice, a few generous pinches of salt and 1 cup of water. Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.
- Uncover, increase heat to medium and stir in 1/4 cup parsley and 1 cup cabbage. Make two wells in the rice. Pour the remaining oil from the tin around edges of pan to crisp the rice. Cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes until edges begin to turn golden.If the rice isn't quite as crispy as you like after 4 minutes, drizzle in a tablespoon or two of extra olive oil and let it cook a minutes or two longer.
- Crack an egg into each well, season eggs with a pinch of salt. Top with flakes of tinned fish. Cover and cook until eggs are set but yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes.
- Serve garnished with additional parsley and lemon wedges.
Lovely combination of flavours and textures. Added some spring onion and a bit of soy sauce when serving and it went really well too.