Rice, and rice cooking recommendations?

dekaspace

I love rice, I do go ages without it but when I do I buy a pack and use it in a short period but it never seems constant, sometimes I get the cheap value rice, and it cooks perfect and tastes good, then when it runs out I buy some of same type from same supermarket and its soggy and tastes more like rice pudding (though that being said maybe storage is a problem)


Is it a good idea to bulk buy in a Asian supermarket? Im thinking it will be good quality.


Also would a rice cooker be a good investment to stop rice being too dry or too soggy?

RichardD1970

The way I was told to cook rice was this,

2 parts water to 1 part rice.
Bring to a fast simmer.
Cover and simmer for 5 mins.
Remove from heat place a piece of kitchen roll between the saucepan and lid and leave for another 5 mins.

If using later, rinse immediately with cold water and store in fridge until needed then stir fry to reheat making sure it is thoroughly heated through.

If you have time you can soak and rinse the rice until the water runs clear to remove some of the starch.

LadyDee

I bought a Tefal Multi-Cooker over 5 years ago, use it at least twice a week for cooking rice. I usually buy just a mid-range Basmati or brown rice, and it cooks automatically and perfectly every time. https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-RK302E15-Multicook-Multicooker-Stainless/dp/B00843M30U/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1529461842&sr=1-1&keywords=tefal+multi+cooker

Two schools of thought on rinsing rice - I don't.

I tip the rice out of the cooker into a large glass bowl, stir to make sure all the grains are separated, and cover with a clean tea towel for a few minutes to absorb any excess steam, or leave until cold before stir frying.

bouicca21

I follow the Ken Hom method. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the rice. Boil/fast simmer with no lid until the most of the water has been absorbed and the surface of the rice looks pockmarked. Turn heat as low as it will go, put on lid and leave for 15 minutes.

PS I use brown basmati.

rach_k

I think it's more likely to be human error if the rice is soggy.

We had an electric rice cooker but you couldn't do small amounts of rice in it and it wasn't used enough to justify its space in the cupboard so I got rid of it. You can get microwave rice cookers which I prefer - might be an option for you.

If you're going ages without eating rice, I don't think a huge bag would be sensible. Is the storage space it would take up worth the small saving? What if you don't like the bag you buy?

Hopeless_Case

I think it also depends on the type of rice, for me basmati is the hardest to get right and most likely to go soggy.

If we have brown or easy cook I just add boiling water and boil for 25/12 minutes (depending on the type) then drain and rinse

Basmati is my favourite though so worth the extra effort

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Forget the BasCrappi, most is long grain anyway. Put a 1/4 cup of LONG GRAIN rice into pan and well cover with water, cold. Boil vigorously! Until well soaked.


Drain and rinse with boiling water.


For Safron rice, add termites (Turmeric!) to pan.


For fried rice!


Mix up one egg into pan and scamble.


Add all the bitsers from the fridge, and fry in pan. Bitsers include mushrooms, peppers, onion, ham, prawns, anything! Finely chopped. Add soy sauce. Tip in rice, add scramble egg. Serve.


Approved by BoPsie!

dekaspace

ah, what I do now is I always use boiling water but its hit and miss to how topped up I have it, I have tried a large pan full of water, smaller pan with just enough water that I keep topping up etc.


I also add no salt, which is the times it comes out soggy it comes out lovely if I add a amount of seasoning to it as it seems to soak into the rice and come out like savoury rice.


Thanks for help so far, will thank proper later or tomorrow.

timehastoldme

Cannot recommend this highly enough: sistema microwave rice steamer we use Aldi 40p rice one cup, two of water, 12 minutes, always perfect.

We've bought rice from the local Asian supermarket when we are there, that's always been excellent. Pudding rice in risotto is perfect.

Edited to add: got it reduced at home sense

dekaspace

Decided to treat myself and got some rice from Chinese supermarket when in city, think I overpaid though? I thought it was cheap but worked out supermarket plain rice is cheaper its "premium" jasmine rice came to £14 for 10kg

For the above microwave steamer how expensive are they?

Doom_and_Gloom

Rice cookers are great, I have a multi cooker now though as more suited to my needs. Though rice cookers can do more than just cook rice.
You can buy small rice cookers for one or two people. They usually do around 1.5 cup, to put that into perspective my multi cooker does 10 cups. The mini versions run at 200w from what I've seen.