Bróanris
| Alternative names | Frítris (lit. "fried rice") |
|---|---|
| Type | Main, side, street food |
| Place of origin | Aidusian Empire |
| Region or state | Imperiya Station |
| Associated national cuisine | Imperiyan cuisine |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Cooked rice, onions, scallions, Soybean oil |
| Cookbook:Bróanris | |
Bróanris (Volsh, lit. "brown rice") is a staple of Imperiyan cuisine commonly found as street food, a component of a larger meal, or a dish in its own right. In its most basic form, it consists of pre-cooked rice which has been sauteed in a hot mixture of onions, scallions, and soybean oil. The caramelization of the onions and scallions provides the otherwise typically white rice with its distinctive golden-brown colour.
Although the dish is in modern times ubiquitous across the Aidusian Empire, its emergence was a historically recent phenomenon on Imperiya Station. Its origin is popularly described as the result of Langic cuisine being adapted to the available common foodstuffs of Imperiya Station, whose agricultural yields are supplied by Velesan-pioneered methods of zero-gravity hydroponics. Bróanris is considered one of the hallmarks of the development of a unique, Pan-Aidusian Imperiyan culture on the Empire's capital ring-station.
There are many varieties of bróanris served across the Aidus system, but all of these varieties include the basic elements of cooked rice, onions, scallions, and cooking oil. On Orbalia, where agriculture extends to the raising of livestock, a common addition to bróanris is fried chicken egg and grilled carrot or zucchini. On Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, fish cakes are typically included. On the many orbital stations of the system, there are often special varieties of the dish prepared based on the available hydroponic food supply. The addition of spices and other aromatics such as black pepper or garlic is often done in places where such goods are available as well.
History
There is some degree of contention over the true origin of bróanris. It is popularly believed on Imperiya Station that the food originated in the Third Age, before the official establishment of the Aidusian Empire. The popular belief holds that the dish was created by some of the earliest Langic immigrants to Imperiya, who sought to create cheap but flavourful dishes that resembled the highly developed Langic cuisine of Orbalia. The cooking process of onion caramelization was widely practised across Orbalia in the later Third Age, but it was something of an off-world oddity to the more agriculturally-streamlined underwater habitats on Velesa.
While wheat is the most popularly consumed grain on Orbalia, the grain was not well-suited for hydroponic growth. On water-world planets such as Velesa (and by extension their space habitats) where hydroponics are the only sustainable form of mass agriculture, rice is the most widely available staple grain. Soybean oil is similarly the most widely available staple cooking oil in such hydroponically-reliant conditions, whereas on Orbalia rapeseed oil is by far the most widely consumed cooking oil. Onions and scallions are common on both Orbalia and Velesa due to their well-suited nature for both crepuscular and hydroponic agriculture.
These conditions resulted in the adaptation of the hydroponically-suited crops in the cooking styles of Imperya's Langic immigrants. Despite the dish's Langic origin, it is most frequently known by its name in Volsh, which serves as a common language on Imperiya due to its widespread usage in space transportation and communications media. The precise date of the food's initial inception remains subject to conjecture, but by the beginning of the Fourth Age, it had become commonplace across Imperiya Station. Following the proliferation of interplanetary commerce and travel with the emergence of the Empire, the dish became common to all of the inhabited planets of the Aidus system due to its rich flavour, cheap ingredients, and simple preparation.
Availability and variations
Bróanris is believed to have been originally devised on Imperiya Station, but it is in modern times found across the whole of the Aidusian Empire. The dish is of interest to anthropologists and economists due to its conveyance in its respective variations of the foods available to the habitats and settlements on which it is found. For example, non-hydroponically suited additions such as carrots, zucchini, and animal products are added on Orbalia, where such ingredients are more common, whereas on the ocean worlds of Velesa, Chaius, and Mora, seafood is commonly included with the dish.