I recall reading about a sort of leftover dish (Persian, as I recall) that is basically just the burnt stuck-on bits of rice that have been loosened from the pot/pan with butter. I’ve tried this a couple of times, and while the butter does indeed make it easier to scrape the rice out of the pot, it’s not so much easier that I can imagine anyone making a habit of it. What’s this stuff called, and how is it properly done?
Scroll down to “chelo”:
http://vanguardnews.com/History/food/Qiuncerecipes.htm
The crust part is called “tah dig.”
I think the rice crust is also used in Chinese “sizzling rice” dishes.
In Puerto Rican cuisine it’s called “pegao .”
And it was always the part of dinner my sisters and I would argue over. There are even a couple of (merengue) songs about it I remember dancing to, always around Christmas time.
You need a caldero to cook your rice in, and you need to watch it closely, otherwise you’ll burn the entire pot of rice and ruin all of it.
In Korean it’s called nooleung ji. When you eat dolsot bibimbap it’s the best part (dolsot is the stone bowl that the rice is cooked in and it comes out hot)! Sometimes my mom will fry it and then sprinkle some sugar on it. Delicious.
Burnt rice and sardines 
It’s called koge or kogemeshi in Japanese.
Here’s an article briefly describing how it is eaten across the world. There’s no mention of Korea in the article, but audiobottle is definitely correct that it’s the best part of dolsot bibimbap.
The article explains how Iranians make that crust so delicious. They line the bottom of the pot with butter and yogurt. This allows the crust to stay soft and moist and delectable, instead of getting all hard and nasty the way it does when I overcook my rice.
The article concludes that people all over the world enjoy the taste of burnt rice. For that matter, toasted grains of various kinds are used worldwide. Puffed rice is used in many countries. The article mentioned genmaicha. Its flavor comes from puffed rice, it’s like drinking Rice Krispies. Puffed rice is used for religious events in India, they mix it with raisins, coconut, bananas, and little pieces of rock candy, and distribute it for blessings.
Speaking of burnt rice: There is a beach on the Malaysian island of Langkawi called “Burnt Rice Beach.” Occasionally black grains of rice charcoal still turn up in the sand, remnants of a battle that took place centuries ago.
Noorreungji is my favorite part of the rice! My mom insists it will give me cancer, though.
Thanks for the neat links. If I’m not using one of the linked methods to intentionally create burnt rice, is there a good general way to unstick it from the pot after the fact?
Bump
Melting butter over the stuck-on bits does a pretty good job of loosening them from the pot, but there’s still a lot of scraping involved. Am I being too impatient about trying to remove the rice after applying butter, or is there a better method (that doesn’t require planning the meal around it)?
I can’t think of a better method than (mmmmm) melted butter after the fact.
I saute my rice in oil before I cook it. And once it starts going I do not disturb it, no stirring, no peaking, just let it go. It helps the bottom form a layer of crust. So instead of little tiny pieces of stuck on rice (not to mention sticky rice, which PR rice is not supposed to be), you get an entire crust on the bottom that you can scrape off into relatively larger chunks. Still, you need a good spatula and a little elbow grease to get it all off, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.
I should also mention that ‘pegao’ doesn’t taste ‘burnt.’ Or, it’s not supposed to. It’s crispy and dark, sure, but it shouldn’t taste like nasty burnt rice. It should taste almost like the rest of the rice, with a nuttier flavor. And better, IMO. 
What sort of pot do you use?