Rice is an extremely tasty,
comforting and versatile grain that used to be much underappreciated in the West.
To think of rice as some bland grain (e.g. parboiled or instant long grain rice
comes to mind) is no less misleading than to think of all bread as plain white
sandwich bread. In cultures where rice has been a staple for thousands of
years, it is the constant presence at the table that brings all the other parts
of the meal together, and different varieties are celebrated for their distinct
character. These days so many wonderful rice varieties are available to us that
it’s well worth the effort to take a few minutes to get to know your rice.
Buying raw
rice in large canvas bags, not small cartons or pouches is more economical (look
at per-pound prices on store labels and you’ll see a huge price differential). Plus
you’re likely to get better quality rice this way as the bulk bags are usually
intended for restaurants and other consumers who know their rice. The
parboiled, “easy cook” or instant varieties just don’t taste as good as raw
rice freshly cooked. I also prefer the
taste of short grain, Jasmine or Basmati rice over the generic medium or long
grain rice varieties. One of my favorite rice varieties, if you can find this type of rice in a Japanese store, is "quick cooking" brown rice which cooks in less than half the time because it had its bran very lightly scratched up by the milling process while retaining all of the nutritional and taste benefits of whole brown rice. This kind of quick-cooking short or medium grain brown rice is raw and has and should not be confused with the less tasty pre-cooked “easy cook” stuff.
What about
organic vs. conventional? Although excess fertilizer on rice paddies can
contribute to water pollution and greenhouse gases, rice is by far not the
worst offender in terms of pesticide content (in general grains and beans,
except GM soy which gets sprayed liberally, are low on the pesticide residue
list). While about 30% of US-grown rice
tested contained some pesticide residues (all below acceptable levels); only a
tiny fraction of imported rice showed traces (3rd world farmers have
less money and fewer subsidies to afford pesticides or fertilizer, and often
have smaller plots of land; of course these findings do not guarantee the
condition of any particular batch of rice).[1]
Japanese
and American rice sold today is usually impressively clean and uniform right
out of the bag, without any coating of polishing talcum powder like in the old
days. Rinsing in several changes of water prior to cooking, unless the package
recommends doing so, is a debatable point because rice is already quite clean,
plus US white rice is required to come fortified with vitamins and
micronutrients – and rinsing will remove these. Imported rice and brown rice is
usually not fortified/enriched, so no harm in rinsing it. If you do rinse your
rice, use about a tablespoon less cooking water per cup of wet rice than you
would for dry. Short grain varieties release more starch when cooked than
longer grained varieties, and as a result cook up quite shiny and sticky,
whether rinsed or not – but this is actually a plus for Asian dishes,
especially if you use chopsticks!
White rice
can be stored for years at room temperature; in fact Basmati aged 2-5 years
sells at a premium because it cooks more evenly. Brown rice, however, is best
used within a year of harvesting (or placed in the freezer/refrigerator to slow
down decomposition of oils in the bran).
Cooking rice on the stovetop is very easy,
but one needs to be aware of a few things:
· Rice comes out tastier and with less
supervision if you use the exact quantity of water needed, so that all the
water and flavor stays in the rice, instead of draining excess water at the end
of cooking (leaving a sticky colander and gooey rice). Refer to the chart below
for proportions and cooking times for this absorption method.
· In many Asian cultures rice is first soaked
for about half an hour; this reduces cooking time (saving energy) and helps the
rice cook more evenly. For example, for white basmati rice, which absorbs a lot
of water, soaking for 20 minutes brings cooking time down to just 8 minutes. I soak all rice
and cook right in the soaking water to retain more nutrients and reduce hassle.
Brown rice cooks best if soaked for 3-10
hours; this is especially true of short grain varieties that have tougher bran. Specially milled quick-cooking Japanese rice can be soaked for as little as 20 minutes. If you are in a hurry and need to cook unsoaked rice, add about 30% to the
cooking time and 1-2 Tbsp more water per cup.
· It’s also possible to sprout brown rice by
soaking it in warm water (and leaving at room temperature) for 20-24 hours; the
germination process creates a wealth of nutrients, imparts a sweeter taste and
further reduces cooking time to roughly that of white rice of the same variety.
Try it and you won’t be disappointed!
· Rice will expand 2-3 times its original size
plus there’ll be lots of foamy bubbles during the initial boiling stage, so you
need a heavy-bottomed (to prevent burning) pot at least 5X larger than the
quantity of rice you put in.
· The importance of putting a lid on it: from
the moment you put rice on the stove, close with a tight fitting lid that no
steam escapes and do not open the lid
until 10-15 minutes after the heat has been turned off (unless you smell
something burning)! Since we are adding
an exact quantity of water, we need all of the liquid and steam to get absorbed
into the rice instead of escaping from the pot; the final 10-15 min of steaming
completes the cooking process, without any extra energy use.
· It’s important to cook all rice through; some
white long grain rice does have a tendency to become mushy if even slightly
overcooked, but this is not the case with short grain & brown rice. Brown
rice is all too often undercooked, making it difficult for some people to enjoy
and digest, so please cook it till it’s soft!
· Salt & oil. If you don’t plan to eat the
rice with salty pickles or miso soup, etc. you may want to lightly salt it (½
tsp per cup of uncooked rice). Adding oil during cooking can harden the surface
of brown rice, hindering the cooking process, so best to add at the end. Butter
in plain rice is a western thing - have you ever had rice with butter in a good
Asian restaurant? (Indian pilafs do use oil or ghee.) Short or medium grain
sticky white rice has such a delicate fresh and “sweet” flavor on its own, that
most Asian cooks add no salt or oil during cooking; but medium and short grain brown
rice has a pleasant nutty flavor that is enhanced by adding a bit of soy sauce
into the cooking water.
Rice cooking
summary: measure rice & water à soak à add salt if using and bring to a boil à reduce heat to low and cook for specified
time à turn off
heat, leave lid closed, and let rest 15 min à fluff with wet spatula or fork
Rice Variety
|
Proportion of water to rice, by volume (if rinsed,
use a few Tbsp less water)
|
Cups water per
2 cups of rice
(stovetop)
|
Minutes of simmering soaked rice after it comes to a
boil
|
Minutes in Pressure Cooker at 15 psi*
|
Short grain brown
(genmai)
|
1.25
|
2.5
|
50 (30 if soaked
overnight)
|
10
|
short or sushi white
rice (e.g. California rose variety in the US), or semi-polished short grain
(with nutritious embryo intact)
|
1.13 - 1.25
|
2 ¼ - 2.5
|
15
|
n/a
|
Sweet/waxy
(opaque) short grain brown
|
2
|
4
|
50 (35 if soaked
overnight)
|
10
|
Jasmine brown
|
1.5
|
3
|
25
|
5
|
Jasmine
|
1.5
|
3
|
15
|
n/a
|
Medium/long grain
brown (Shirakiku medium grain is a tasty, inexpensive California variety of brown rice)
|
2
|
4
|
50
|
10
|
Basmati brown or quick-cooking medium/short grain brown rice
|
1.75
|
3.5
|
25 (after soaking for 20 minutes)
|
5
|
Basmati, aged
white
|
2
|
4
|
8
|
n/a
|
*Pressure cooking time will vary depending on the model
you use, so please check the manual for your model (if pre-soaking rice, use
about a quarter less water than the manual suggests). In general I’ve found
that for brown rice pressure cooking will take about 1/5th of
stovetop time (1/4th if rice is not soaked), and you’ll need about
25-50% less water compared to stovetop. The great thing with brown rice from a
pressure cooker is that it comes out incredibly soft and as easy to chew as
white rice – so if you’ve been reluctant to use brown rice because it takes a
long time to cook and still comes out very chewy, a pressure cooker completely
takes care of that. White rice is easier to just make on the stovetop.
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