Ok, this is not a great admission for the authors of a cookery blog, but we don’t like cooking plain rice. Risottos, pilafs, any other sort of rice, we are on it! But plain rice we find for some reason quite temperamental. Fortunately we have a rice expert in the household – husband and dad Philip. So this tip features a special Christmas guest appearance from him, and the tips are all his…
First, chose the right rice for your purpose. Today we were making rice salad, so needed a firm rice texture for which long grain rice works well. More often we will want a soft rice like basmati to serve with e.g. curries and Thai dishes, and sometimes we want a chewier texture and nuttier flavour, so then we use brown rice. Plus of course there are all the specialist rices for risottos, paellas etc, but your are less likely to cook them plain.
We measure our rice in a large cup or mug, with one standard mug being a good portion for two people or a smaller portion for three. Or if you wish to weigh it, that’s about 50g to 75g per person.
Start by measuring your rice into a jug, then wash it well under a cold tap, moving the rice around in the jug as you wash. Do this two or three times, tipping out the water from the rice (you can just pour the excess water off or drain in a sieve) and using new water to wash again. Then drain your rice, and put in into a small saucepan – this must be one which has a tight fitting lid.
Jake sticks his nose in
Using a jug rather than a bowl to wash the rice in makes it easier to drain the water off. Or you could just wash it directly in a sieve.
Now add water to the rice. For white rices like both long grain and basmati, the right ratio is 1.5 cups (or mugs) of water to each cup (or mug) of rice. For brown rice, use 2 cups of water for each cup of rice. Put the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil with the lid off.
When the water is at a nice rolling boil, put the lid on and turn the heat right down to low. For white rice, simmer for about 10 minutes with the lid on – do not take the lid off at any point. When the 10 minutes is up, take the pan off the heat, still with the lid on, and leave for about another 10 mins. Your rice is done and should be lovely and fluffy, without any need to drain.
For brown rice, the cooking time is longer and can be much more variable. When the rice is at the boil, turn down to simmer with the lid on and check for doneness every 10 minutes or so. It can take up to 30 minutes (or occasionally even more) for brown rice to become fully tender.
Enjoy your perfectly cooked rice as a side or base for a salad.
