Foolproof Boiled Rice

[jennyjj01]

Moved from another thread....

Back to cooking rice... I rinse and pop 1 rice to 2 water in a pan, then bring to the boil on a stove top, before dropping to a low simmer with one quick stir. Simmer till the water is gone. Maybe it's using a ceramic hob or maybe I'm a rubbish cook, but I either end up with it dry, bitey and undercooked, or I add extra water and end up with wet and sloppy mess.

I guess I really should experiment until I get it right.

I see that Arzosah, Grenfell and Gillybee all admit to some struggling, Seems I'm not alone.

So, I started scouring Youtube and t'Interweb to see how professionals do it. Surely they can recommend an absolute no brainer technique.... I know, I'm 'Teaching granny how to suck eggs, but if I'm going to store 100kg of rice, it's about time I learned how to cook it.

PAH! SHOCKED....

Jamie Oliver's youtube video: He doesn't care whether you start with cold water or boiling water and he lobs in indeterminate amount of salt. No mention of pre-rinsing out the starch. Cooks it 'hard' for 8-10 minutes. No simmering gently.

Even i know that's NONSENSE: Cooking it hard for 9 minutes=burning the pan and the rice in it!
Then , that same Jamie Oliver posts the YT video on his own website and surrounds it with totally different recipe involving boiling, then sieving then re-steaming in a colander.

If Jamie Oliver CAN cook rice, he makes a rubbish job of explaining it.

So Over to Gordon Ramsey on Youtube... At least he's consistent in telling us to start with cold water and to keep it covered. BUT Ramsey never mentions pre-rinsing the rice and when he fluffs it with a fork, it's a recipe for smashed up grains.

Over to Ken Hom... Ken advised using the same non-Easy Cook long grain rice and did say to rinse it. But then he did something weird: He boiled off the water without a lid! I just cannot believe he meant that.
In his YT video, he suggested buying an electric Rice cooker. Funny guy!

Last but not least, The BBC...
First the presenter showed how I currently do it: VERY BADLY.
But then it all made sense.
Use Long grain rice. Not 'Easy Cook' rice.
Use 2:1 Water to rice by volume
Don't add salt.
Use Heavy Bottomed pan with close fitting lid.
Bring to boil with lid ON.
Reduce to minimum simmer for 10 mins.
Turn off the heat and stand for 5 minutes.

I like the sound of the BBC version and will be starting my experiment from there.

[Lonesurvivor22]

Jenny, hello and thank you for your warm welcome. Try cooking rice in a food flask. Boil water at a 3 to 1 ratio to the rice and put it all in a food flask and leave it for 40 mins. You only use enough fuel for the initial boil. I try to cook all my food like this when I'm out in the ulu.

[Frnc]

I don't like rice much, rarely eat it, though I was thinking about having it more often. I've never struggled to cook it. I put the rice in a pan. Pour in boiling water. Bring back to boil and simmer until it's soft and fluffy, about 20 minutes I think. Usually more or less all the water is gone by this point. Obviously you have to keep an eye on it in the latter stages and stir it. I never burn it or have problems cleaning the pan.

I just find it bland, and with curry it seems to rob the taste of the curry. Naans don't do that. But they are fattening, and I've put a few pounds on. Also I could have rice with things like fish and veg for a low calorie, low fat meal.

[GillyBee]

The BBC version sounds a lot like my method. I just use a bit more water and tip this off a little before the end, I do use thermos flask method when camping. I prefer standard Basmati - which supposedly ages like fine wine and have heavy pans for day to day cooking so have not been caught out by the (not so) easy cook rice.

We do use a lot of rice as wheat is off menu and one son cant eat potatoes. These are some of the meals in the menu on a more or less frequent basis.

Curry & Rice as already mentioned
Chilli and rice . This is a go to budget recipe as I can stretch the meat indefinitely with more beans/lentils and no one complains.
Stir fried vegetables and rice with or without exta egg. This one is good with the pouch rice and is quick enough to be a camp stove meal.
Cuban pulled pork with black beans and rice.
Carribean style Rice and Peas aka spicy red beans & rice
Kedgeree - aka stir fried fish and rice

The Greeks have a spinach and rice pie called Spinakopita but we don't make that as it uses wheat based pastry.

[korolev]

My family all rate my rice (all except my brother in law who claims his putty-like lump is nicer).

I use easy-cook because its, well, easy:
1. put rice in a sieve
2. wash it under running water until the water runs clear (couple of mins).
3. boil in pan of water for 15 mins.

For basmatti rice to have with curry:
1. put rice in bowl and add water
2. gently swill it round with your fingers then change the water.
3. repeat until the water is clear.
4. fill bowl with water and cover
5. leave it for 4+hours to soak
6. drain it
7. add to boiling water, bring back to boil, cover and turn down to a simmer.
8. simmer it for 4-5 minutes
9. drain, fork through

[Arzosah]

Jenny, you're a star, thank you!

I agree with you - I know to leave the lid on (fuel efficiency, shorter cooking time, less steam in the kitchen, all that) and I know to rinse - people say about doing that under running water, I can't and won't make myself do that, I don't see anything wrong with putting it in a bowl and swishing it about for a minute or so then rinsing, probably a couple of times. Less water used, and I can see when the water is clear much more easily - with a single portion of rice, how on earth could I tell that the water's running clear, if it was, y'know, running?

I confess I don't know what sort of rice I currently have but whatever it is, I'll take it into account with cooking time. I've probably gone wrong a lot of time with the proportions of rice to water - I'm prepared to up my game on that. As for the pan and lid, I've just bought some new Prestige pans - they *are* heavy, so much so it's hard to lift the 20" when its full. For single portions, I'm prepared to invest in a 16". I used to have 16" and 18", and with these Prestige, I thought about bulk cookery and went 18" and 20". I need a 16" for this

So then its:
Bring to boil with lid ON.
Reduce to minimum simmer for 10 mins.
Turn off the heat and stand for 5 minutes.
Okay, I'll use the alarm on my phone, I can do that. I'll try for dinner tonight and report back, as long as I can find where the rice is

Once I've mastered that ... I'd like to go on to cooking two portions, possibly more. I'm aware the storage of cooked rice leads to all sorts of shenanigans about food poisoning. Can we look at that too later?

This is brilliant! We've inherited from American prepping the whole "rice and beans" culture, but even though I use beans all the time, I'm starting from such ignorance about rice, it's useless

[jennyjj01]

Experiment #1:
Trying the BBC method for one portion Lidl Long Grain rice on Ceramic hob, small ring, using 18cm pan with glass lid.

TLDR: NOT right yet. Better, but not right.

Bear in mind my ceramic hob has settings 1 through to 9 in half steps. It controls temperature by pulsing on/off.

Making one generous portion 300ml rice to 600ml cold water. *

Method was...
Rinse out the starch
Bring to boil with lid ON.
Reduce to minimum simmer for 10 mins.*
Turn off the heat and stand for 5 minutes.[/i]
[/quote]

* the simmer part went wrong! On setting 1.5, the water barely bubbled and was still half there after 15 mins, so I turned it up to 2.5 for another 15 minutes!!!!
At setting 2.5 the element duty cycle was about 2 seconds on to 45 seconds off: Inadequate.
After 30 minutes, supposedly simmering plus 5 minutes resting, I served up. There was still a tiny bit of water in the pan. The rice was a little bit gooey.

Good news is that it was far superior to my normal effort. There was no need to drain, no dried out or bitey bits.

* I didn't waste it. Eaten with half a tin of Hungry House Chilli from B&M. Review to follow.

Experiment #2 will have the simmering stage higher, at 4.0. I'll report back later.

[Frnc]

Minimum is a bit vague, as appliances vary. I would turn it up a bit, so it's properly simmering. I just cook it until it's ready. No timing involved. Works.

I was thinking, if I get into using rice a bit, I might cook a load, and then keep most of it in the fridge. Then I can just warm a bit up in the microwave. Also I might do the same with cauliflower. And I might mash some of that up and mix it with the rice!

With curry, I might have half a naan bread, and small portion of the rice.

[jennyjj01]

Minimum is a bit vague, as appliances vary. I would turn it up a bit, so it's properly simmering.

That's the plan for Experiment # 2. I'm surprised how low my 'low' setting is. We each have to adapt to our own devices.

I was thinking, if I get into using rice a bit, I might cook a load, and then keep most of it in the fridge.

It doesn't keep long and can become quite toxic.

[Frnc]

It doesn't keep long and can become quite toxic.

I was only thinking 2 or 3 days.