Made with top quality Carolina Gold rice, middlins is an extremely easy dish– you actually can’t mess it up. Each grain of rice holds its integrity, with a small chewy consistency. Chef Mike Lata, the owner and culinary force behind FIG and The Ordinary restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina, tops these Carolina Gold Rice Middlins with toasted benne seeds.

Enslaved Africans first brought benne to the Carolinas in the 18th century, where it was cultivated in their gardens and ultimately introduced to the area’s rice culture. “Unlike modern-day sesame seeds, heirloom benne seeds have an abundant, wonderful profile that’s worth looking for from Southern purveyors of organic treasure grains like Anson Mills,” Lata states. “At the restaurants, we lightly toast them in the oven at 300 ° F till they turn deep golden and take on a good, earthy bitterness. I think they have a truffle-esque subtlety.”

Components
2 cups Carolina Gold rice grits or middlins

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Toasted benne seeds

Very finely sliced scallions

Instructions
Soak rice:
Place rice in a big bowl, and fill bowl with cold water. Stir completely or massage rice with your hands, and drain. Repeat this treatment 3 or 4 times till water is clear. Cover rice with fresh cold water, and soak thirty minutes; drain.

Cook rice:
Include 2 cups water, bay leaves, and kosher salt to a medium pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Include soaked rice to boiling water, and stir well. Go back to a boil, and stir again. Reduce heat to low, and stir one more time. Cover and simmer, undisturbed, up until all liquid is taken in, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand, covered, 7 minutes. Add butter, and fluff rice with a fork up until butter is melted. Discard bay leaves. Season with extra salt to taste.

Garnish and serve:
Transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish rice with toasted benne seeds and thinly sliced scallions.