How to cook rice: basic rules and secrets

Types of rice and how to cook them

Short-grain rice is the most familiar and native variety for us. Its grains are bright white, round, and small. This variety should be filled with cold water and cooked over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. It is not recommended to rinse before cooking.

Long grain rice is an excellent side dish for fish or seafood. The grains have an elongated shape. Polished rice will be white, while unpolished rice will be light brown, which is why it is also called brown rice. Both are prepared in the same way. Before cooking, the cereal should be washed, then poured into already boiling salted water. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to low and cook for another 20 minutes. After turning off the heat, leave under the lid for 10 minutes.

Jasmine rice looks similar to polished long-grain rice, but it is slightly smaller, lighter in color, and has a very delicate taste, which makes jasmine rice an ideal choice for sweet milk porridges. Rice must be washed, poured into hot water or milk, brought to a boil and cooked for 15 minutes. Then leave to steam under the lid for 10 minutes.

Red rice is so named due to its brown-red color and can be either round-grained or long-grained. Ideal with hot spices, meat, mushrooms and stewed vegetables. Pour the washed rice with cold water and cook for about an hour over low heat in a saucepan with a thick bottom. Add salt when the rice starts to boil, then let it sit for another 10 minutes with the lid closed.

Black rice, otherwise called wild rice. Its grains are black, thin and very elongated. The taste of wild rice has a sweetish-nutty hue. This variety should be cooked in the same way as red rice.

Cooking rules

If you cook rice in a saucepan, first bring salted water to a boil, and then pour the cereal into it. Stir the rice once to prevent the grains from sticking to the bottom. Then wait until the dish begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid.

Do not lift the lid during cooking, otherwise the rice will take longer to cook. If you want the rice to be fluffy, do not stir it (except for the first time). Otherwise, the grains will break and release starch.

The average cooking time depending on the type is:

for white rice - 20 minutes;
for steamed rice - 30 minutes;
for brown rice - 40 minutes;
for wild rice - 40–60 minutes.

When the rice is cooked, remove it from the heat and let it sit covered for 10-15 minutes. If there is any water left in the cooked rice, drain it or cover the pan with a dry towel: it will absorb excess moisture.

Cooking in a special pan

For special rice connoisseurs, there are rice cookers. They not only and not so much cook rice, but steam it, thanks to the heat-insulating walls of the pan, which helps to fully develop the taste of the cereal.

The rice cooker has two lids. The inner one should be placed with the instructions facing up, and the outer one, which has handles, should be placed with these same handles parallel to the similar handles of the rice cooker. After which they are fixed.

Rice is poured at the rate of 75 grams per serving, and water is poured one and a half times more than rice for polished and white varieties, and twice as much for the rest.

Some rice cookers can be placed in the microwave or on a gas oven, while others work using an electrical outlet. The main thing is not to open the lid during cooking. This is not safe and useless, since the rice will not burn in such a pan, which means there is no need to stir.

How to choose and where to buy brown rice

Cereals may cost less on the market, but it is better to buy them in packaged form at the store. This is preferable for hygienic reasons. In addition, there is always a production date on the bag and you can see how fresh the rice is. This is an important point, because unpolished grains spoil faster. You should not buy it in reserve.

Manufacturers do not write the word “brown” on the labels, but call the rice unpolished; in the English version they indicate brown. Unrefined, it can be any variety, but the most common is long-grain; it is suitable for preparing pilaf and side dishes. There are two types: unsteamed and steamed, which is cooked in 10-15 minutes.

When choosing cereals, you should pay attention to the shape of the grains. It must be the same; a mixture of round and long is not allowed. Also, the pack should not contain pieces of crushed cereal, much less foreign impurities or insect larvae.

The shelf life of this product in unopened packaging is usually 6-8 months.

White polished rice cooks faster, but it contains practically nothing other than starch. Supporters of proper nutrition and weight loss should pay attention to the brown variety of this cereal, which is more complete in its chemical composition.

Dishes made from it are much healthier, have an unusual color and taste.

Features of cooking rice

To cook rice correctly, you need to take into account all the nuances - from the choice of grains to the duration of cooking.

You can cook it in different ways, it all depends on its purpose - for a side dish or for porridge. You can use a slow cooker, a saucepan, a frying pan or a double boiler. The use of this culture began in ancient times. It is known that its homeland was Asia.

In Russia, rice began to be used in the 19th century.

How long to cook and how to do it depends on the type of grain:

Long grain should cook for about 20 minutes. In this case, take two water per glass of rice. It does not stick together, it is served with fish, meat or used for salads.
Cook medium grain for 15 minutes. Water is taken in a ratio of 1 to 2.25. In this case, you will need to pre-soak for 15 minutes. It is suitable for pilaf, pickle and porridge.
Round grain must be cooked for 15 minutes. A glass of rice is poured with 2.5 glasses of water. It is used for casseroles and sushi.

Cereals are also divided according to processing methods. There is polished or white rice, brown or unpolished, and also steamed.

It matters what kind of container you cook the rice in so that it doesn’t burn.

How to wash rice

If you wash rice before placing it in a pot or rice cooker, you need to use a significant amount of water. In any case, begin rinsing by mixing the cereal with your fingers in a circular motion. You can also gently rub it between your palms to remove excess starch. This component can influence how many times the rice expands when cooked.

Don't expect one wash to make the grain clean. As a rule, the first water becomes dirty and cloudy. Your goal is to repeatedly rinse the rice with clean water until it runs almost clear. If you are measuring the exact ratio of water to rice, drain it into a sieve before adding it to the pan.

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Preparing the rice

In order for the product to turn out crumbly, it is important to prepare it correctly.

Here's how it happens:

The package is opened and foreign impurities are sampled.
Rice is washed under running water at least five times. This will also reduce the amount of starchy components.
If necessary, the grains are pre-soaked.
The product can then be placed in a sieve to remove excess liquid.

Video recipe

You can clearly see that the process of cooking rice in a saucepan can be incredibly simple.
Watch how rice is cooked in the video recipe. In addition to the correct cooking method, the final state of the dish is influenced by the types of rice. The most sticky is round polished rice. Short grains of rice are perfect for milk porridges and casseroles. For rice porridge, it is better to take medium or long grains. And if you need to achieve maximum friability, then take steamed cereal. It does not form lumps during cooking, the grains of rice crumble beautifully. Each variety of rice has its own fans. Therefore, to find out what you like, you need to try cooking different types of rice. Experiment, create, and don’t forget to share your impressions in the comments.

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How to calculate how many times rice will increase when cooked

How many times the rice will increase when cooking pilaf depends primarily on the variety, and not on the amount of liquid used:

Basmati. Fragrant oriental rice, which has recently become often used to prepare Uzbek dishes, although it is not considered canon. The pilaf it produces is crumbly and tasty, and the grains do not swell during the cooking process, but elongate. It is grown in India and Pakistan.
Indica. A long-grain variety of rice that practically does not expand during cooking.
Jasmine. Thai rice with a floral aroma, often used in place of basmati.
Devzira. Traditional red-pink rice for Uzbek pilaf, which is grown in one valley in Uzbekistan. Large oblong grains of this variety are covered with pink powder, which is washed off during processing of the product. It must be washed well before adding to the cauldron. Devzira has a large weight and expands 7 times during cooking, so it is usually taken 2 times less than meat and carrots.
Parboiled rice. Some chefs believe that this variety allows you to cook pilaf faster. In fact, steamed grain requires longer processing - from 30 to 45 minutes. It absorbs flavor well, but some note that a dish with a steamed variety turns out dry, although it practically does not stick together.

When cooked, rice absorbs 3-4 times more water than it weighs. To obtain crumbly grains, you can add another portion of water to the standard recommendations. For example, if cooking requires 2 cups of water, you can cook in 3 cups.

Important! To prevent the grains from sticking together and turning into porridge, do not stir the cereal after adding water until the end of cooking.

If the water runs out during cooking, but the cereal is not yet cooked, pour half a glass of boiling water into 1 glass of cereal, cook for another 4 minutes under the lid, without stirring.

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How much water to take

In some recommendations you can find information that to cook rice you need to take 2 times more water. But this figure differs for different varieties:

2-2.5 parts water for long grain;
at least 2.5 parts for medium grain;
3 parts for round;
2 parts for steamed;
3 parts for brown;
3.5 parts for brown.

If you add a lot more water, it will be more difficult to evaporate. But the extra 100 ml will not affect the consistency of the finished pilaf.

Fig: general information

Milled rice, the photo of which is presented below, together with wheat and other cereals, is one of the most ancient crops that humanity began to grow at the dawn of civilization. This is a rather fastidious crop, the cultivation of which requires compliance with certain temperature and climatic parameters. The area where rice fields are cultivated is limited to subtropical and tropical climate zones. The main countries where this crop is grown are in Asia and the African continent.

How to cook polished rice for sushi?

The most important thing is to thoroughly wash the cereal before cooking, vigorously grinding and mixing it by hand. Professional craftsmen advise changing the water at least 10 times so that it is crystal clear. To ensure that the rice comes out airy and moist, it is also important to maintain the correct ratio of grains and water. For 250 ml of liquid take 1 glass of cereal. The container in which long-grain, polished or round rice is cooked must be covered with a lid, and it must not be opened during cooking. Do not open the pan even after removing it from the stove, since it is necessary to let the grain simmer for about another half hour.

Ingredients:

250 ml water;
180 g cereal;
salt - half a teaspoon;
one sheet of noria;
1 tsp Sahara;
1 tbsp. vinegar;
enamel container with lid.

Wash the rice thoroughly in cool water to remove any starch dust that coats the grains. Then let it sit for one hour, without water, in a fine mesh sieve. Due to this, the rice will absorb the remaining water and swell. Then fill the pan with water, pour in the grains, set on fire and wait until it boils.

Cook the grains over low heat for approximately 9-12 minutes. Then wrap the pan in warm material and let it brew for about 15 minutes. Heat the vinegar a little, stir sugar and salt in it, pour into the cooked rice. Mix everything well and let the whole mixture dry. Thus, the rice will absorb the vinegar, due to which it will be filled with a specific aroma and will be able to easily maintain and take the required shape.

Cheese rice in a steamer

In a double boiler, the steamed cereal reaches readiness within half an hour, after which it needs to be infused a little. The cheese rice recipe is suitable as a side dish for vegetables, fish, meatballs, and zrazas. It can be served at the table with chopped dill.

rice – 250 g;
hard cheese – 100 g;
water – 350 ml;
butter – 10 g;
salt - to taste.

Rinse the cereal, place it in a steamer bowl, add water, and add salt.
Cook for 30 minutes until done.
Finely grate the cheese.
Mix the finished product with butter and cheese. Steam for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.