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Cooking Rice?


sammifloater

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looking for advice..

i have tried the rinsing my rice a few times and draining it

1 cup rice to 1 1/2 c water method (all tried with jasmine rice and plain rice) and it turns out soggy

i boil it till it bubbles cover it for 20 min then take it off heat for another or 30

also tried a 1 to 1 ratio made the same way and it STILL is clumpy and soggy

is there anyway to get rice semi dry and seperated nicely in the same way chinese restaurant rice is?

there must be a way without buying a rice cooker-i dont want to because i make rice only 1 or 2 times a week

thanks for any ideas

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First off, if you "only" make rice 1-2 times a week I would think a rice cooker would be a good investment.

You could try the pilaf method--take some oil or butter, get it hot in a pan and add the rice...and cook until the rice is hot but not colored. Pick up a grain or two of rice, and if it feels really hot you are good to go. Add your liquid and cook as normal. This method should give you nice fluffy rice with distinct grains.

It also sounds to me like you might be overcooking your rice hence making it soggy. Make sure to "fluff" the rice to get rid of excess steam that is hidden below the surface.

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After my confinement lady killed my non-stick rice cooker 5 years ago, I never got one to replace it. Even though I cook rice almost every day, I use a steamer. One less electrical appliance on the worktop. It takes around 20 - 25 mins of steaming over medium fire (check to see random holes on surface) and 5 minutes more of further steaming after switching off the heat. Fluff. The grains come out lovely and separated.

Adjust your water. Sounds like you just need enough water to cover the rice and a bit more. Your rice must be very fresh.

TPcal!

Food Pix (plus others)

Please take pictures of all the food you get to try (and if you can, the food at the next tables)............................Dejah

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For jasmine rice, try a ratio of 1 to 0.8 (or 0.9) water. This is based on pre-soaking the rice for at least 30 minutes. I prefer my rice to have a bit of bite. In my experience, a 1:1.5 ratio is way too much water and will produce mush.

My usual stovetop method for long grain rice is bring to a boil covered, turn to low, and cook for another 20 minutes. (If the rice is too chewy at this point, add a little more water and cook until absorbed.) Turn off heat and serve. I never uncover at any point during the cooking process, just like in an electric rice cooker.

Edited by sanrensho (log)
Baker of "impaired" cakes...
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Try rinsing your rice 3 times. Put in a pot and cover with water until it reaches the middle of your thumb (when you stick your thumb in it until your fingertip touches the rice level). Turn on your heat and let it start to boil. When it begins boiling, turn the heat to the lowest level and take the cover and put the pot cover on cockeyed (or askew or whatever you call the style when the cover only covers half of the pot). Let the rice simmer until all the water has evaporated (15-20 minutes). When all the water has evaporated, straighten the cover of the pot (meaning cover it completely) and turn off the heat. Let the pot rest for 5 minutes, you will find cooked, fluffy rice everytime. Trust me, this is how I've done it for over 2 decades. And I'm Filipino and like other asians we eat rice almost every day, every meal.

Doddie aka Domestic Goddess

"Nobody loves pork more than a Filipino"

eGFoodblog: Adobo and Fried Chicken in Korea

The dark side... my own blog: A Box of Jalapenos

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This is a method for steaming rice from my Thai cooking teacher, Kasma Loha-Unchit. You steam the rice in a bowl in a steamer, not directly in a pot. I've used this method myself and I've found it to be easy and reliable.

The instructions are simple but buried in a longer article about jasmine rice in general. Keep reading.

http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/jasrice.html

Edited by djyee100 (log)
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We cook jasmine rice several times a week. Our method: rinse the rice three times and drain, mix equal parts water and rice, bring to a boil for about 15 seconds, reduce heat as low as possible, and cover for 15 minutes. Rest for at least 10 minutes, and then fluff with a fork. New crop jasmine rice takes even less water.

Pet peeve: cookbooks that describe how to cook "rice" without specifying what kind of rice. Jasmine rice will become mushy (as you have found) if you try to cook it like long grain rice. I have not tried steaming rice (as Teepee and djyee100 described), but most people who try that method seem to become converts.

Edited by C. sapidus (log)
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We have rice 2 or 3 (or more) times a week. I usually have Jasmine rice except when I'm making Japanese style foods.

For many, many years I have use a small Aroma brand rice cooker. It is a cheapy that cost about $15. No bells or whistles or warming feature.

I wash the rice till the water is clear, drain, fill to the line that corresponds to the amount of rice I'm cooking. Put the pan in the cooker and turn it on. I let it rest for about 20 minutes after cooking.

If the rice is very new I have found that less water is needed.

Edited by BarbaraY (log)
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ok this is how you do it and no it is not traditional or probably not even the "correct" method but I have spent a long time trying to learn to make a really good version of each type of rice I can find..

..and all the "regular" ways people told me or showed me for Jasmin rice just ended up with those soggy results you started this thread talking about ..

so for Jasmin rice and also Mahatma long grain this is what I do with consistantly good results

you need this pot gallery_51681_4569_1655.jpg

this is the best pot I have said that before and I will say it again this pot can make some rice! it is less than $10 at most Hispanic markets ..

I buy jasmine rice that is not coated with anything so I don't have to or barely have to give it a quick rinse

put oil in the bottom of the pan

put 1 part rice in (this pot for me makes a perfect batch of 3-4 cups raw rice)..saute it around just until opague then add 2 parts water (so I add 6- 8 cups water scale up or down I have made as little as 1 cup raw this way)

bring boil and continue to boil (no lid) giving a stir with a wooden spoon once in a while just to move it around

when the water is about 80-90% absorbed and the rice is starting to poke through the water on the top...turn the heat down to low cover with a tight fitting lid wrapped in a tea towel or even paper towels folded over the top (so when you put the lid on you don't catch fire..as I have..) ....this absorbs the steam so it does not drip back down into the rice

perfectly cooked, fragrant, firm, individual grains that remain as individuals while sticking together just enough to handle curries with chopsticks ...took me years of people giving me recipes, tips and advice...even showing me...I used the tips and ended up with this ..is exactly what I was looking for ..so I hope this helps

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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I use jasmine a lot and I have done it with rinsing and not rinsing. I use a ratio of 1 cup rice to 1.5 cup water. I fry my rice in a little oil before adding water. After the water and salt is added I boil until the water is reduced to just above the top of the rice, then cover and simmer for 15 min. The rice is then fluffed and covered for another 10 min. I never get soggy rice.

Edited by scubadoo97 (log)
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After my confinement lady killed my non-stick rice cooker 5 years ago, I never got one to replace it. Even though I cook rice almost every day, I use a steamer. One less electrical appliance on the worktop.  It takes around 20 - 25 mins of steaming over medium fire (check to see random holes on surface) and 5 minutes more of further steaming after switching off the heat. Fluff. The grains come out lovely and separated.

Adjust your water. Sounds like you just need enough water to cover the rice and a bit more. Your rice must be very fresh.

Gotta ask -- what's a confinement lady?

"All humans are out of their f*cking minds -- every single one of them."

-- Albert Ellis

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mom never made rice. Despite two years in Japan during Dad’s naval commitment, she still never made rice.

Rice scared her. It was a product she couldn’t master and was therefore “evil”. Much like her fear of bees, her fear of rice was absorbed by me too.

I never ate rice unless it was in an Asian restaurant. Once in a “blue moon” we would have tempura or sukiyaki … it might be supplemented by “Minute-Rice” or some “Boil in the Bag” yuck. But never real rice.

I carried this fear of rice late into my 40’s. I, while a well established “foodie”, had never made rice.

I’m not sure I’m better off today, but I do cook rice now. One Way……….. My Way.

1 cup rice (preferably jasmine) - never rinsed. 2 cups liquid - I use ¾ chicken stock - not mine (homemade, too fatty) but low sodium-from-the-box-stuff. Heat the liquid to a boil. Add rice. Cover, lower heat to “low”.

About 11 minutes into the process, I re-enter my Mom’s world. I can smell the rice cooking --- Is it burning? Is it crusting on the bottom? Should I check? Should I not, given that’s imperative that rice cooking be undisturbed?

I still, to this day, pace during rice cooking. My rice, however comes out perfect every time.

It’s not fluffy and white, or picture-perfect. It’s moist, and chicken-y, and totally tasty. Who can’t make rice now ?

Jamie Lee

Beauty fades, Dumb lasts forever. - Judge Judy

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I grew up eating a lot of rice due to southern latitudes and a grandfather who was a merchant with the far east trading companies after the war.

I have seen many methods and currently use a cooker, but the hands down best method for seperated grains with some texture is the following. This assumes long grain rice BTW.

You can rinse the rice if you like. Don't have to though. Put 2/3 the amount of finished rice you want in a pot with a lid. Add water to the rice until it is at a level above the rice equal to the first joint of your middle finger, ie your "bird" finger. Bring this to a boil and keep boiling until you see "holes" in the rice. You will know what I mean. You can keep this up until you hear crackling if you like rice crusts, but take care at that point. Reduce heat as low as possible and cover. After 25-30 minutes (30 if you lidded just as the holes appeared), turn off the heat, remove the lid, fluff the top inch of the rice with a fork, place a cloth or paper towel over the pot, replace the lid over the towel and set aside. Let sit for at least 10 minutes while you do whatever else you are cooking or plating etc.

Makes perfect rice.

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We have rice at least a couple of times a week. Jasmine, Long grain white, brown or Basmati and for the most part I cook them all the same way. I've been cooking rice this way for almost 30 years. Bring a large pot of water to boil just like for pasta, season with salt and add a cup or two of rice. Simmer until the rice is almost tender, but still has a "bite". Basmati takes about 7 or 8 minute. Long grain takes a little longer, maybe 9 to 11 minutes and brown takes the longest. Just test a few grains as it cooks. Strain and put the rice back in the pot, top with either a teatowel or papertowels , put on the lid and let the rice rest for about 5 to 10 minutes. It will continue to steam and finish cooking. Perfect rice every time.

Ann

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Add water to the rice until it is at a level above the rice equal to the first joint of your middle finger, ie your "bird" finger. 

Doodad, you should write a cookbook with directions only in terms of the "F" finger! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Just fantasizing.. "Cut the chicken legs just long enough to give a passerby the finger", "Imagine a poorly cooked lamb shank, and preserve the length of a good finger for stock", "Wash hands thoroughly, then offer the finger to your dinner guest".

Yes, I'm a twelve-year-old.

Jamie Lee

Beauty fades, Dumb lasts forever. - Judge Judy

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Unless we are cooking rice for a very large group we just microwave it and it turns out fine every time. Is that evil?

"Alternatively, marry a good man or woman, have plenty of children, and train them to do it while you drink a glass of wine and grow a moustache." -Moby Pomerance

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Add water to the rice until it is at a level above the rice equal to the first joint of your middle finger, ie your "bird" finger. 

Doodad, you should write a cookbook with directions only in terms of the "F" finger! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Just fantasizing.. "Cut the chicken legs just long enough to give a passerby the finger", "Imagine a poorly cooked lamb shank, and preserve the length of a good finger for stock", "Wash hands thoroughly, then offer the finger to your dinner guest".

Yes, I'm a twelve-year-old.

Ok, I will make it a children's cookbook.

Wait until you hear my recipe for weiner schnitzel. :shock:

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2 years ago I bought a Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker. It has a premarked rice cooker bowl that has "cool touch handles" and you put your desired type and amount (in cups) of rice, then look for the appropriate water level mark for the type and amount of rice and add water to the mark. Stick it back into the body of the rice cooker, select the type of rice and doneness (white rice allows you to select soft, medium, hard), but I almost always cook brown rice, which has one setting. You push the button, and it plays a merry little tune for a moment and you don't hear from it again, until it plays another little merry tune to tell you your rice is done.

But don't worry, it will keep the rice warm for up to 12 hours! And it works perfect everytime. Pardon the TV infomercial plagiarism here but "Just set it and forget it!".

doc

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