Rice & salt

[Shalmanese]

I was taught the traditional Chinese way of cooking steamed rice which is rice and water only, never any salt. But all of my other culinary education has taught me that correct technique involves salting everything. I salt pasta water, I salt bread, I salt mashed potatoes, I even salt western rice dishes like risotto and pilaf. Steamed rice stands out as a singular exception to this rule.

Apart from tradition, is there any reason to continue not salting my rice or would my food improve if I salted it like every other food I eat?

[janeer]

This is interesting to me because I used to use salt when cooking rice and then about 20 years ago I just stopped, not sure why. I love salt and use salt in almost everything. But rice, never anymore.

[scubadoo97]

Rice has always been a big part of my diet growing up eating Middle Eastern food and salt was always important when cooking rice. I learned to fry the rice in a little oil before adding the water. This rice is very flavorful to me where plain steamed rice has alwas seemed very bland to me. I can see you thinking my rice is too salty or oily based on your expectation. Bottom line there is no one right way. So make it the way you enjoy it because that is what matters.

[Hassouni]

Rice has always been a big part of my diet growing up eating Middle Eastern food and salt was always important when cooking rice. I learned to fry the rice in a little oil before adding the water. This rice is very flavorful to me where plain steamed rice has alwas seemed very bland to me. I can see you thinking my rice is too salty or oily based on your expectation. Bottom line there is no one right way. So make it the way you enjoy it because that is what matters.

Echoed re frying the rice in oil (or butter) before adding water, and definitely salt. This goes for when I make basmati rice for all my Middle Eastern/Subcontinental dishes. For anything Asian east of India, I use either jasmine or Japanese rice, and I do not add salt or oil, because, to me, East Asian food tends to be much saltier - Middle Eastern and Indian food has no soy sauce, no fish sauce, no salted black beans, no miso, etc.

It's worth noting that in Japanese onigiri (and sushi for that matter) the rice is salted, as there's a much higher proportion of rice to other ingredient. Although now that I think of it, salt is added after-cooking, whereas with basmati, I always add salt right from the beginning, often even soaking the rice in salt water.

[Mjx]

I was taught the traditional Chinese way of cooking steamed rice which is rice and water only, never any salt. But all of my other culinary education has taught me that correct technique involves salting everything. I salt pasta water, I salt bread, I salt mashed potatoes, I even salt western rice dishes like risotto and pilaf. Steamed rice stands out as a singular exception to this rule.

Apart from tradition, is there any reason to continue not salting my rice or would my food improve if I salted it like every other food I eat?

I cook rice both ways (and sometimes fry it first, sometimes not), depending on how it's going to be used. I can't think of any cogent argument favouring one method over the other; it's really down to personal preference.

[Jenni]

Many South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, etc.) do not use salt in plain rice. This is because it is eaten with dal, sabzi, chutney, pickle, etc. that all contain salt and other seasoning. Many thalis also have a little bit of salt put at the 12 o' clock position so diners can adjust as they like.

Personally I sometimes use a tiny tiny sprinkle in plain rice, though not always. It does not make the rice taste fully seasoned, just rounds it out slightly.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Jenni (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

The unsalted rice has a slightly sweet starchy taste which seems perfect with Asian food, which tends to use salty sauces.

However salted rice seems to fit much better with Western and Middle Eastern dishes, in general.

Obviously, personal preference has a lot to do with it -- make rice any way you like!

[liuzhou]

Rice, in Chinese cuisine at least, is considered to be a deliberately bland, neutral base on which the flavor of other dishes is built. It is therefore never salted. The salt and soy sauce etc in the accompanying dishes adds any salinity required.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Northern Latin American dishes are almost always served with rice, and almost always with rice that's been lightly salted or otherwise enriched in the pan/pot (at least in the Bolivarian republics; I can't speak for the southern Andean nations on this one.) The genius of this is that the sauces that accompany main dishes are often very rich but lacking in salt, and the rice complements them and brings out the flavour in very intriguing ways.

I rarely cook rice without bullion, salt, and spices, but that's a matter of personal preference and also comes down to the type of rice I use (golden, for the most part) and the dishes with which it's paired.

[patrickamory]

I cook Western rice with a fairly generous pinch of salt.

Middle Eastern, Indian and other Asian rices without - though I don't make Japanese rice.

[Kouign Aman]

Depends on the pan too. In my mom's steel pans, a pinch of salt kept the rice from tasting metallic. A tsp of salt made it slightly salty. In my pans, the metallic taste doesnt happen.

Concur with all on the 'it depends on what I am using the rice for', because it doesnt seem to change the cooking properties, just the final taste.

[HungryC]

Cajuns cook plain rice w/salt. (but it's a fairly salty food tradition)