Rice

Catherine_112006

No matter how many times I cook it, it always comes out mushy and overly moist. I follow the directions on the labels every time, making sure to vary based on the needs of different grains... but always to no avail with the same goopy outcome. Is there a beginner level rice class to discuss kinds of rice, their different cooking variations (steamed/ fried/ sushi)?

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Comments

Johan_Edstrom_5586

As the non asian responder that spent a lot of time in Japan, get a good rice cooker.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

There is nothing like a rice cooker, spend what you can for the best but, even a small $20 one is worth it.

Patrik_Racz_19800

How about instead of following the label you just keep tasting it, and when its done just stop cooking it

T__2156

I'm also on the rice cooker train, but in case you don't want to buy a new space-taking appliance, check out this episode of Good Eats - I still love his "finish it in the oven" method.

sebastian_palmigiani_21610

i use a pressure cooker. i place the rinsed rice in a small stainless steel bowl that fits in my pressure cooker. for one cup of rice, i use one cup of water in the stainless steel bowl. i then fill my pressure cooker with a couple of cups of water and place the stainless steel bow in it. i use 15 lbs of pressure and use natural release.

for basmati or sushi rice: 5 minutes

for brown rice: 30-35 minutes

the rice comes out perfect! this setup makes for easy clean up!

Brendan_Lee_56950

I've used one so long that I honestly don't know if I'd even know where to start cooking rice the old fashioned way.

Emmett_Barton_12803

I also always use less water than I think I need. Especially after rinsing the rice.

Alex_Thomson_41278

While certainly convenient - I have one - you don't absolutely need a rice cooker to make good rice.

What is your basic go-to white rice? How much water are you adding to how much rice? How are you adjusting the heat over the duration of the cook?

Catherine_112006

i'm using a basmati rice; I have a 1:1 ratio rice & water.... boil water with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, add the cup of rice to the cup boiling water, bright back to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 12 min... and always it's mushy...

Alex_Thomson_41278

That's really strange as that's not very much water. Is there any chance it's minute rice or some other type of fast-cooking rice?

Marc_34938

I'm as perplexed as Alex on this. I make rice quite frequently without a rice cooker, but for basmati rice, I usually use 2 cups of chicken stock for each cup of rice. I'm surprised that 1 cup of water would even allow the rice to fully cook. I've used 1.5 cups of stock per cup of basmati rice before, and the grains were still slightly firm. I usually make rice using the pilaf technique (sauteeing the grains in hot oil before adding liquid). My general procedure goes like this:

If I'm adding vegetables to the rice, I chop them first and begin sweating them in a generous amount of oil over medium heat in the bottom of the pot.

Rinse rice.

Once vegetables finish sweating and barely begin to caramelize, add rice to pot after draining as much water as practical from it.

Stir rice frequently, and possibly increase heat to allow any excess moisture to boil away and begin browning the grains.

Once grains of rice exhibit the desired amount of browning, add 2 cups of stock per cup of basmati rice to the pot.

Keep heat on medium until stock comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer until all stock has been absorbed or boiled away.