Cooking Rice

[Jonah]

Hi guys

It doesn't matter how hard we try, we can't cook plain old boiled rice right. It was OH's turn last night, and when he dished it up [after assuring me he'd followed instructions], I said it would be quite good as a crack filler in the hall..
Can anyone give me any help, I'm fed up with it being a stodgy mess!
Thank you.

[Deleted]

Use good quality rice, like Tilda Basmati, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add rice (I use a mug for the 2 of us), bring back to the boil stir once, cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for 10 minutes - do not remove lid!

[andy]

As per Rita...use the best (read most expensive !!!) rice you can get, it usually has far less starch in.

If however, you have a huge vat of cheap rice, like myself, i cook it as per Ritas method but when i'm draining it, i pour a kettle full of boiling water over the rice to wash the starch off....works a treat !!!

[JennyWrenn]

The rule is - I learned this from a Chinese friend - to put your thumb in the water and it should only come half way up - I think

However I cook rice so often have just got so used to it - but you must make sure all the water has been absorbed otherwise it will be soggy ;D

[Jonah]

Thanks all for the advice. Looks like the Tescos own will now be used up on the childrens sticking pictures! ;D
I suppose, in my ignorance, I thought one rice would be much the same as the next, you are paying for branding etc. Obviously I'm wrong! The children don't eat it, so I've not really done my homework.

I'll try the tips about the water and rinsing [well, OH can!] if we use it in the meantime.

Thanks again.

[Chuckles]

Make life easy Jonah and use boil in the bag, Uncle Bens is good. The microwave one's aren't too bad that they do either. We prefer Basmati to Long Grain.

[Dr Bill]

I always use 2 cups of water to 1 of rice. Put the rice into cold water, bring to the boil, stir once, turn down to simmer, cover and simmer for 10 mins.

[Chuckles]

Glad you posted that DB I've been wracking my brain thinking what the ratio of water to rice was.

Don't they say that rice doubles in volume when cooked to give you and idea on portion size ? ?

[Dr Bill]

Dunno about that, but on cupful seems to serve Mrs Bill and me with a generous enough portion each

[JennyWrenn]

If you make the water with a chicken bouillon (stock) cube it tastes really nice and could encourage children to eat it and/or put a pinch of curry powder in the water too ;D

[4pygmies]

I always rinse the rice grains several times in cold water before I cook it - you can see when you've done it enough as the water becomes clear. It gets rid of a lot of the starch, I believe, so it doesn't turn into a stodgy mess after cooking.

[andy]

jennywrenn said:

If you make the water with a chicken bouillon (stock) cube it tastes really nice and could encourage children to eat it and/or put a pinch of curry powder in the water too ;D

Just about to say that jennywren.....rice is like cous-cous and will absorb any flavours you add to the water. I always add a Knorr pilau stock cube when doing a curry and sometimes i'll boil my rice in diluted coconut milk.

3 or 4 crushed cardamon seeds, a few cumin seeds and a bayleaf in the rice are nice too. Then chuck it in a wok when the rice is cooked and add a couple of beaten eggs. Stir very quickly breaking the egg mix up to give you egg fried rice.

[andy]

Try this....you can obviously omit anything you don't like or have in the cupboard (except the rice and eggs !!!)

www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-egg-fried-rice

[MamIDdau]

I also think some people stir it too much. My Dad always does the boiling kettle while straining it thing but I never bother.

I use Asda's own rice and never have any problems. Think it's just 10 years practise though lol

[Plocket]

I would recommend that you get a rice-cooker! You don't need an expensive one but they are brilliant.

When I used to cook rice on the hob though I tended to rinse the rice first then used a lot more water than the packet suggested. When it's cooked I drained and rinsed the rice under boiling water. I don't use salt either, but sometimes used chicken or vegetable stock if I wanted more flavour.