Cooking Rice
How to make Rice Ideas/Information.
I was at a wedding some years back and I was the photographer and was talking the video of the wedding up in Auckland City. A woman I knew well was there and she was cooking a big batch of rice, and she went away and messed it all up and they had to throw it all away. She came over to me complaining about how hard it was to make rice, and so I got the idea that there must be some trick to it.
I decided to only use a Rice Cooker to make rice, because since she was an experienced cook and got it wrong I would surely get it wrong.
As the years went by I became aware of the non-
This is how I mostly cook rice (boiled).
Rice is healthy and good for those fast meals you may need to make from time to time and mixes with many things, and rice can be flavoured in many ways.
Rice expands when it is cooked. Its rather amazing, 1/3 of uncooked rice will result in 1 cup of cooked rice.
• I always put the rice I want in a strainer/sifter thing and rinse it over some cold water from the tap, to remove surface starch from rice grains and in general to clean the rice before cooking it.
Lets see, if I remember it right the more water the fluffier the rice, the less water the firmer the rice when cooked.
Short grain rice is good for puddings, while Long Grain Rice is often used for savoury dishes.
• Put the pot on an element to take it to a boil.
• Once it has boiled remove the rice and set the element to Low/Simmer.
Stir the rice in the pot around a bit to mix it up. At this point you can add flavouring if you want, experiment.
• Now return the pot to the element and let it simmer for about 8 minutes with the lid on.
Please don’t take the lid off during this time.
• I use the Oven Timer Alarm and set that to 8.
When the Oven Timer Alarm goes off the rice should be cooked.
If you put in a little more water it is wise to add a minute or two. Experiment.
If the rice is not fully cooked keep it on simmer to remove the extra water.
All ovens are different so you may need to experiment with times and the like.
To check the rice I use a knife or teaspoon and gently move the rice in the pot to see if there is water at the bottom, if there is I put it back on.
If I am going to put the rice in a stir fry I would probably just put it in the frying pan with the other ingredients, extra cooking time is while it is cooking with the other ingredients.
Brown Rice can be cooked in boiling water for about 40 minutes, or until it is tender.
Eat the rice within 4 hours, if you refrigerate the rice then use that within 4 days.
Rice can be cooked in other ways.
Rice is not scary to cook.
But it is unhealthy to cook it in one of those Rice Cookers, so please get used to cooking the rice in a small pot on the over element.
All the best from
James M Sandbrook.
15th of April, 2021.