If you need a quick and simple side dish to make with your meal, rice is one of those cupboard staples that is always there for you. White and brown rice are the most basic varieties, but there are other more complicated ones like basmati, black, jasmine, wild, and others. Whatever method you chose for cooking and serving your rice, it is a dish that can be altered in more ways than you may think. But if you like to prepare meals at home, it's one of those important dishes you should learn.
Even though rice seems simple, there are a few tips to remember if you want to cook it precisely for your next dinner. While making rice, one of the most frequent foods found in the average household, there are a number of factors that come into play, including the equipment you use, the preparation you do beforehand, the timing, and the manner. Prepare to make some notes; there are various rice hacks you can master.
Cookware: We must first talk about the equipment you will use to prepare your rice before we even discuss the rice itself. Not all pots and pans are created equally, and there is an important aspect of your cookware that you might not be thinking about. You might just grab the first pot that will hold your rice, but before you turn on the cooker, take a closer check at the pot, particularly the bottom. A flat-bottomed pot is necessary for rice to cook efficiently. No matter the type of cooker you use. If your rice is finished cooking and you want your side dish to stay warm, a pot with heat retention capabilities will also be useful.
Rice variety: There are more varieties of rice than just white and brown, as you may have observed if you've spent any time in the rice section of your neighborhood grocery shop. It should come as no surprise that the many variations of the adaptable grain call for various methods of preparation and cooking periods. Rice that is brown or wild will need to be cooked for a longer period of time than rice that is white or jasmine.
Washing: You may have heard along the way that cleaning your rice before cooking is a crucial step that you must not omit. You must clean your rice. Rice can come with some dirt, debris, and yes, the potential bug that, on rare occasions, could end up bunking with your bag of rice, just like your fruits and veggies from the grocery shop. Moreover, washing your rice can help remove extra starches that will improve its texture and make it more fluffy.
Soaking: While some rice has to be thoroughly washed before cooking, soaking is a separate technique that works well with other types of grains. There are differing views on whether all varieties of rice should be soaked or only certain of them (particularly fragrant rice), but it is recommended that it is a vital step. The phytic acid in the rice can be removed by soaking it. As a result, your body can absorb the rice (and its nutrients) more quickly. It's thought that soaking the grain also results in a dish with additional flavour.
Toast: The majority of regular rice recipes call for adding a pre-measured quantity to a pot of boiling water. Yet, there is a different method for cooking rice that involves toasting the grain first before adding it to any form of liquid. By keeping it from clinging to one another as it cooks in the water, toasting your rice first will pay off in the end. Also, toasting the rice gives the dish a lovely flavour character that it would lack if it were simply cooked in water.
Salt: Despite the fact that you may get away with only cooking your rice in water, salt is a common household item that some people believe to be crucial for making not only rice but almost any cuisine. Rice is just one of many foods and meals where a little salt may go a long way. Prior to cooking the rice, season it with salt to give the tastes time to permeate the grain (similar to adding salt to boiling water before adding any kind of pasta).
Reheating: Whether you are meal preparing or want to make sure you have enough leftovers for lunch or tea the next day, rice is a fantastic option because it is simple to prepare in large portions in advance. A few techniques can be used to reheat rice so that it tastes just as good as it did when it first came off the fire. Splashing some water on top is one way to add some liquid back when heating something in the microwave.
