Rice: Varieties, Storage, Preparation, Use

[weinoo]

10 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

As you know from our previous encounters, I am a peasant cook.    Scale only for baking.    Rinse rice in a strainer, dump in cocotte.   Add water to one knuckle over height of rice.  Bring to simmer.  Cover.   Cook 15 minutes.   Heat off for 15 minutes.    Fluff.   Enjoy.

 

Japanese rices, many of them (like when making rice for sushi) don't fluff.

 

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I will weigh all sorts of things but for rice I simply put the Zojirushi 1 go measure in my Japanese rice washing bowl and top up with rice.  I wash the rice three times and dump the washed rice in the Zojirushi bowl.  Then I add water up to the 1 go mark.  I press the button.

 

Why complicate life unnecessarily?

 

 

This is classic from you, @JoNorvelleWalker,  the woman of 1,000 gadgets/accessories/appliances!!

So tell me how weighing is complicating things?  I have the scale on my counter right next to the coffee set up...so I can weigh the beans before grinding. Consistency in cooking/baking/coffee making is some of what I was taught.

 

My guess is you actually have some sort of nuclear powered scale, but it weights too much to use on a daily basis!

[KennethT]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Rather similar to what I use:

http://amzn.com/B004QZAAS2

 

 

Maybe the cheapest eGullet enabling ever... thanks.  I've always thought my strainer method was a bit of a pita because the amount of rice is a bit too much for the strainer I usually use so I've got to be more careful than I'd like when swishing....

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Why complicate life unnecessarily?

 

Adding another bit of kit to the process sounds like an unnecessary complication to me. I've managed all these years without a glorified sieve!

[liuzhou]

Here's a rice washer machine for you. This lives in the kitchens of the state banqueting room in the Independence Palace (ex-Presidential Palace in Ho chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Japanese rices, many of them (like when making rice for sushi) don't fluff.

 

Quite right.    My over-simplification.   

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Here's a rice washer machine for you. This lives in the kitchens of the state banqueting room in the Independence Palace (ex-Presidential Palace0 in Ho chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam.

 

I have a photo just like that!  When I saw it, I remarked to myself how much rice one needs to make in 1 batch to make this necessary.

[Eatmywords]

I guess I'm insane because it still amazes every time I wash rice just how much starch it contains.  I can be heard cursing it after the 3rd wash.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Here's a rice washer machine for you. This lives in the kitchens of the state banqueting room in the Independence Palace (ex-Presidential Palace0 in Ho chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam.

 

 

Shit, now you've done it...calling @JoNorvelleWalker!!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

This is classic from you, @JoNorvelleWalker,  the woman of 1,000 gadgets/accessories/appliances!!

So tell me how weighing is complicating things?  I have the scale on my counter right next to the coffee set up...so I can weigh the beans before grinding. Consistency in cooking/baking/coffee making is some of what I was taught.

 

My guess is you actually have some sort of nuclear powered scale, but it weights too much to use on a daily basis!

 

Consistency in rice making is pushing the right button.

 

Of course I weigh many things.  I have several* scales, digital and analog.  The appropriate scale for for the application lives in the bedroom, conveniently by the rice.  However the power supply for the scale is on the workbench in the living room, next to the drill press.

 

The only scale that lives in the kitchen is an old Cuisinart analog that I love.  One reason I don't weigh a go of rice is I never remember the weight of a go of rice.  (Were I making a paella I would usually weigh the Bomba.)

 

 

*Off hand I can think of six.

 

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

However the power supply for the scale is on the workbench in the living room, next to the drill press.

As you do. 

[AlaMoi]

a thousand years ago Alton Brown demo'd how to get nice rice reliably....

 

by weight:  1 part rice, 2 parts water

bring water to a boil, add rice, when it returns to a boil stick the covered pot in the oven.

(add pat of butter to water if desired)

small batch, 15 minutes in oven, remove, let stand covered for 15 minutes

large batch, 20 minutes in oven, remove, let stand covered for 15 minutes.

(my experience - anything from 300F - 425F)

 

fluff it up and you're good to go.  been using that technique for decades and it has never failed.

 

last couple years I've gotten into basmati, texmex, etc etc - and found the 1:2 _by weight_ ratio works for all that I've tried ....

except "wild rice" - which isn't really a rice, but whatever.

Edited May 13, 2021 by AlaMoi (log)

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, AlaMoi said:

a thousand years ago Alton Brown demo'd how to get nice rice reliably....

 

by weight:  1 part rice, 2 parts water

bring water to a boil, add rice, when it returns to a boil stick the covered pot in the oven.

(add pat of butter to water if desired)

small batch, 15 minutes in oven, remove, let stand covered for 15 minutes

large batch, 20 minutes in oven, remove, let stand covered for 15 minutes.

(my experience - anything from 300F - 425F)

 

fluff it up and you're good to go.  been using that technique for decades and it has never failed.

 

last couple years I've gotten into basmati, texmex, etc etc - and found the 1:2 _by weight_ ratio works for all that I've tried ....

except "wild rice" - which isn't really a rice, but whatever.

Interesting - in my experience, jasmine and basmati rices need different quantities of water and have different methods of cooking - jasmine rice needs to be steamed, so basically you're only adding enough water to completely hydrate, and then it will steam itself.  Even more so, thai sticky rice is only soaked in room temp water (many times overnight) and then only steamed.  Basmati is quite different - those grains need to be boiled in order to lengthen and cook properly - I could on go on about a different ratio of starch types than Jasmine but ugghhh...  Anyway, the basmati is boiled then steamed, so it needs more water so it doesn't fully absorb all the water before the boiling step is complete.  In fact, some basmati rices are cooked in a large quantity of boiling water (like pasta) and then drained and kept covered to finish steaming.

[weinoo]

33 minutes ago, KennethT said:

jasmine and basmati rices need different quantities of water and have different methods of cooking

and you couild go on to bomba, the risotto rices, the Japanese rices (I have a few which are partially milled and require different amounts of liquid), etc. etc.

 

Turning on an oven to cook rice seems a little...annoying...like alton brown.

[liuzhou]

16 hours ago, KennethT said:

Interesting - in my experience, jasmine and basmati rices need different quantities of water

 

In my experience, even different batches of the same brand of rice can require different amounts of water. The age of the rice  is also a factor.

 

16 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

a thousand years ago Alton Brown demo'd how to get nice rice reliably....

 

Literally many thousands of years ago, the Chinese worked out how to cook rice reliably without scales, ovens or faffing about like that. Today, almost everyone, at least in cities, uses a rice cooker which gives reliable results every time.

My current batch of Thai Hom Mali rice is perfect with a 1:1.5 ratio of rice:water, by weight. Not that I ever normally weigh it. I can eyeball it after decades of cooking rice almost every day - as can most of my friends and neighbours.

 

There is certainly not one magic ratio which applies to all rices.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

11 hours ago, liuzhou said:

There is certainly not one magic ratio which applies to all rices.

As I've learned with all the rices I've been playing with.

 

The new harvest Japanese rices are so interesting in the amounts of water required.

 

And also, depending on its final purpose, I sometimes use a bit less water as for chirashi, which is going to have liquid added after it's cooked...

 

https://rice-factory-ny.myshopify.com/pages/how-to-cook-delicious-rice

Edited May 14, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[KennethT]

12 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

In my experience, even diferent batches of the same brand rice can require different amounts of water. The age of the rice  is also a factor.

 

 

I'm sure this is true, but it seems like all the rice that we get here is of the same age... old!  Even the bags of new crop rice (which I'd assume would have higher water content) don't really have much higher of a water content that I can see - at least going by how much water I have to add.

[weinoo]

8 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Even the bags of new crop rice (which I'd assume would have higher water content)

 

Have you tried The Rice Factory rices. They have 2020 harvest, and they mill it to spec. So sorta like getting freshly roasted coffee.

 

Of course, they're only dealing with Japanese rices, and I think you use Jasmine almost exclusively?

[KennethT]

5 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Have you tried The Rice Factory rices. They have 2020 harvest, and they mill it to spec. So sorta like getting freshly roasted coffee.

 

Of course, they're only dealing with Japanese rices, and I think you use Jasmine almost exclusively?

I haven't tried them.  Yes, right now, I'm pretty boring (if I'm cooking at all - but the kitchen is starting to shape up!) and basically use Jasmine except when making Indian food, then I'll use basmati which I've gotten from Kalustyan's - they ahve a few different grades.  I also have some sticky rice on hand on the rare chance that I decide to make something to best utilize it (for a while I was on a gai yang kick until my rotisserie motor bit the dust) and also remember to start soaking it the night before (which is rare).  I have some Carnaroli for risotto from the last millenium (or close to it) - I probably haven't made risotto in 10 years.  I was going to a while ago, but then my wife went on a press trip to Veneto where she was fed beef cheeks and risotto for probably 5 days in a row, so she was risotto'd out for a while.

[weinoo]

Throw that carnaroli out!

[Eatmywords]

11 minutes ago, KennethT said:

....... Veneto where she was fed beef cheeks and risotto for probably 5 days in a row, so she was risotto'd out for a while.

Death by beef cheek risotto.  I can think of worse.  

 

When my last rice cooker died I didn't replace it (due in large part to the war for counter space that will no doubt bring the divorce).  I have one 3qt Circulon non stick for whatever reason loves the job. I can do no wrong w any variety following 2:1, 1:1 or variation and it takes less time than a cooker.  Shoot me if I have to turn an oven on to make rice.

[KennethT]

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Throw that carnaroli out!

Never!  It's become like a family heirloom.  I'd pass it down to my kids (if I had any, that is).

[weinoo]

Just now, KennethT said:

Never!  It's become like a family heirloom.  I'd pass it down to my kids (if I had any, that is).

 

This reminds me of when we'd visit my parents and I'd go into pantry to find stuff to cook.  And I'd have to throw stuff out behind their backs; though the only rice I think I saw was probably Uncle Ben's or Rice-A-Roni.

[weinoo]

4 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

Death by beef cheek risotto.  I can think of worse.  

 

When my last rice cooker died I didn't replace it (due in large part to the war for counter space that will no doubt bring the divorce).  I have one 3qt Circulon non stick for whatever reason loves the job. I can do no wrong w any variety following 2:1, 1:1 or variation and it takes less time than a cooker.  Shoot me if I have to turn an oven on to make rice.

 

Especially considering the wines she was most likely tasting!

I actually have a 2 or 3 qt. anodized Calphalon saucepan; I'll use it when making reverse-engineered rice a roni or something similar. Works great.

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

When my last rice cooker died I didn't replace it (due in large part to the war for counter space that will no doubt bring the divorce).

 

Understandable, but when you eat rice at least twice a day as most people do here, the rice cooker will always win.

 

10 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

Shoot me if I have to turn an oven on to make rice.

 

Indeed. I've never seen such an environmentally irresponsible, idiotic method in my life.  To say nothing of the expense.

Edited May 14, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Eatmywords]

9 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Understandable, but when you eat rice at least twice a day as most people do here, the rice cooker will always win.

Indeed. I've never seen such an environmentally irresponsible, idiotic method in my life.  To say nothing of the expense.

I will never consistently eat rice twice a day unless I'm visiting you or somewhere in Asia.  And I typically make a good deal extra that we don't mind re-heating and lasts couple days.      

 

And who cares about the environment?  It's the extra step and waiting for the oven to pre-heat.   Let's not get 'faffy' about making rice!  👩‍🍳🍚