4 ms·

Your recipe only applies to certain types of robust rice. Basmati rice is not simple - if you just boil it for 15 minutes, you'll destroy it. At the very least

Your recipe only applies to certain types of robust rice. Basmati rice is not simple - if you just boil it for 15 minutes, you'll destroy it. At the very least, good basmati is steamed - you only add enough water to cook the rice (you don't drain it afterwards), then bring it to the boil before simmering it at a very low heat. It's pretty hard to reliably get right - every time I use a new stove or pan or try to cook a quantity I don't often do is a gamble. If you mess up it's either crunchy or squishy.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
This is so true. I usually only buy the one type of rice, a short grain brown rice from SunRice in Australia, and usually only when it's on special. Anyway, point being: I know I can cook this one particular type of rice to perfection in a saucepan with 1 volume-unit rice to 1.5 volume-units water. Bring it to a rapid boil for one minute, then wrap the whole pot in two dry cotton bath towels (hotbox), leave it for ~45 minutes. Voila! Also works with some short grain white rices, with 1:1 ratio and many fewer minutes in the hotbox. Personally, I can't stand any long grain rice (Basmati, Jasmine, etc).
- solipsism 9y ago
  People with their crazy rice strategies. I found the secret to perfect rice every single time and it's as easy as can be. The secret: cook it like pasta. Plenty of water so it won't evaporate away, test it now and then (you don't even have to taste it, you can tell by the texture), and when it's ready strain it. No other strategy has been so consistently perfect, not to mention stress-free. No ratios. Any variety. No problems. Side bonus: a lot of that nasty arsenic washes away instead of sticking to the rice and going in your body.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
    Oh, I should probably mention I have a bit of a penchant for hotboxing cooked food in general. So it's more of a crazy good-cook strategy than a specifically crazy rice cooking strategy.
  - gambiting 9y ago
    Yep, that's my strategy and that's why I don't understand the complexity people talk about. I only cook long grain rice though. I throw it in a pan with a lot of water, boil until it's done, strain. Like you said - just like pasta.
  - slantyyz 9y ago
    >> People with their crazy rice strategies. You're making assumptions that your definition of "perfect" is the same as everyone else's. There are cultural differences with respect to the preference of the actual texture and stickiness of the rice. For example, my Chinese parents basically don't like the stickiness or texture of rice made by any other culture. It might be close minded, but it does illustrate that different cultures have different standards for what makes rice "perfect".
- madengr 9y ago
  Is that the same as Korean sweet brown rice? That is my favorite (it's not sweet). 1 cup rice 1-3/4 cups water.
sjg007 9y ago
I heard the best way to cook rice is through a coffee filter. It basically gets all the arsenic out.
SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
I mostly cook a medium grain rice, but this works for other methods (though it takes attention): Measure and wash rice until the water runs clear. Add twice as much water (by volume) as you have rice to a saucepan, and a bit of salt. Boil the water. Stir in the rice. Cover with a glass lid (clear lid is important) and reduce to medium/low heat, the water should just barely be boiling. Wait until the steam tapers off and you can't see the water layer anymore. Carefully remove the lid, and start stirring the rice. Continue to stir until the last of the water is absorbed / boils off. This results in fluffy rice that isn't wet and doesn't end up stuck to the bottom of the pan.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago

This is so true. I usually only buy the one type of rice, a short grain brown rice from SunRice in Australia, and usually only when it's on special. Anyway, point being: I know I can cook this one particular type of rice to perfection in a saucepan with 1 volume-unit rice to 1.5 volume-units water. Bring it to a rapid boil for one minute, then wrap the whole pot in two dry cotton bath towels (hotbox), leave it for ~45 minutes. Voila! Also works with some short grain white rices, with 1:1 ratio and many fewer minutes in the hotbox. Personally, I can't stand any long grain rice (Basmati, Jasmine, etc).

solipsism 9y ago
People with their crazy rice strategies. I found the secret to perfect rice every single time and it's as easy as can be. The secret: cook it like pasta. Plenty of water so it won't evaporate away, test it now and then (you don't even have to taste it, you can tell by the texture), and when it's ready strain it. No other strategy has been so consistently perfect, not to mention stress-free. No ratios. Any variety. No problems. Side bonus: a lot of that nasty arsenic washes away instead of sticking to the rice and going in your body.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  Oh, I should probably mention I have a bit of a penchant for hotboxing cooked food in general. So it's more of a crazy good-cook strategy than a specifically crazy rice cooking strategy.
- gambiting 9y ago
  Yep, that's my strategy and that's why I don't understand the complexity people talk about. I only cook long grain rice though. I throw it in a pan with a lot of water, boil until it's done, strain. Like you said - just like pasta.
- slantyyz 9y ago
  >> People with their crazy rice strategies. You're making assumptions that your definition of "perfect" is the same as everyone else's. There are cultural differences with respect to the preference of the actual texture and stickiness of the rice. For example, my Chinese parents basically don't like the stickiness or texture of rice made by any other culture. It might be close minded, but it does illustrate that different cultures have different standards for what makes rice "perfect".
madengr 9y ago
Is that the same as Korean sweet brown rice? That is my favorite (it's not sweet). 1 cup rice 1-3/4 cups water.

sjg007 9y ago

I heard the best way to cook rice is through a coffee filter. It basically gets all the arsenic out.

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago

I mostly cook a medium grain rice, but this works for other methods (though it takes attention): Measure and wash rice until the water runs clear. Add twice as much water (by volume) as you have rice to a saucepan, and a bit of salt. Boil the water. Stir in the rice. Cover with a glass lid (clear lid is important) and reduce to medium/low heat, the water should just barely be boiling. Wait until the steam tapers off and you can't see the water layer anymore. Carefully remove the lid, and start stirring the rice. Continue to stir until the last of the water is absorbed / boils off. This results in fluffy rice that isn't wet and doesn't end up stuck to the bottom of the pan.