I Can't Cook Decent Rice!

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah, so in my attempts to cook decent rice i have failed quite miserably so far. My rice is thick enough and gluey enough to make castles out of lol, someone said to me that thoroughly washing the rice before cooking helps a lot, but does it matter if i wash it in cold, warm or hot water?

 

[Bloo]

that sounds appetizing (not!)

What type of rice are you talking about?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It happens with all rice i cook, but i mostly try to cook short grain or long grain white rice .

 

[CFC]

Rice is easy to cook but easier to over cook.

Firstly measure your rice by volume and not by weight, i allow 3 fluid ounces per person. Then rinse the rice in cold water under the tap to wash away any starchy powder, allow it to drain off and put it into the saucepan. Then measure out exactly twice the volume of boiling water from the kettle as you have rice, i.e 6 fluid ounces per person. Pour the water over the rice and stir with a fork to stop the grains from sticking but not too much or you'll break the grains and they go gloopy. Bring the pan to the boil and then reduce to a low simmer and place a lid on the pan, cook white rice for 12 minutes carefully stirring with a fork twice during cooking to keep the grains separated, add extra water from the kettle if the pan begins to dry before the 12 minutes but if you've got the heat right and the pan covered it shouldn't do. If there is still water in the pan at the end of 12 minutes cook it a little longer until all the water is adsorbed.
Fluff the cooked rice up with a fork and serve immediately

 

[Teri]

Tryrinsing the rice through with coldwater before cooking, and then with boiling water after cooking.
Or try steaming, and also rinsing through with boiling water once cooked

 

[WILDER]

Yes I do that when rice has cooked rinse with boiling water.

 

[CFC]

Tryrinsing the rice through with coldwater before cooking, and then with boiling water after cooking.
Or try steaming, and also rinsing through with boiling water once cooked

Steaming gives fantastic looking light and fluffy rice and is definately worth doing if you have company over for a meal or are doing something a bit special, but it takes over twice as long to cook as boiling and really you need a special rice steamer so for an average weekday meal after work its a lot of piddling about when all you want is a bit of rice to go with that jar of tikka masala curry sauce youve just opened and poured on some chicken breast.

 

[Teri]

Tryrinsing the rice through with coldwater before cooking, and then with boiling water after cooking.
Or try steaming, and also rinsing through with boiling water once cooked

Steaming gives fantastic looking light and fluffy rice and is definately worth doing if you have company over for a meal or are doing something a bit special, but it takes over twice as long to cook as boiling and really you need a special rice steamer so for an average weekday meal after work its a lot of piddling about when all you want is a bit of rice to go with that jar of tikka masala curry sauce youve just opened and poured on some chicken breast.

I've got one of those electric thingummies thats got abt 3 levels, I like it, cos I can be really lazy, cook rice and the veggies in it, and heat sauce up in microwave!

 

[raptorrex]

this way has never failed!

rinse the rice in cold water till the water runs clear. put the amount of rice you need in a pan, then cover the rice with an inch of water. bring the rice to the boil, till it starts getting little pock marks on the top. then cover with a tight lid, and turn off the heat. twenty minutes or so later you have the most perfect rice you can cook. you can make sticky rice in the same way you just dont rinse the rice first, and boil for a little longer..

i wish i could say it was my way. sadly it was taught to me in the eighty's by the chef Ken Hom. and works first time every time!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thanks for the tips/advice everyone, i will definately try them and see if my rice gets better .
I bought a rice cooker/steamer a little while ago which i thought would help me cook better rice, but the rice i cooked in the cooker part of the thing came out as it usually does with my and i couldn't get the steamer to work properly (it took so long to start to cook the rice, i just ended up chucking it in a pot and cooked it the normal way).
I'm just wondering though, how long should rice usually take to properly cook under the steaming process of rice cooking?

 

[CFC]

Steaming depends pretty much on the type of steamer you use, electric rice steamers all seem to have different cooking times of between 20 and 40 minutes though of course it also depends on the type of rice as well, wholegrain and wild types take 2 to 3 times as long as white rice.

The method of steaming Boboboy desribed works well with Asian rice varieties like jasmine or basmati but i have found with the round and short grain rice varieties used in Spanish and Italian cooking you end up with uncooked rice sitting in cold water before the rice absorbs all the moisture.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Steaming depends pretty much on the type of steamer you use, electric rice steamers all seem to have different cooking times of between 20 and 40 minutes though of course it also depends on the type of rice as well, wholegrain and wild types take 2 to 3 times as long as white rice.

The method of steaming Boboboy desribed works well with Asian rice varieties like jasmine or basmati but i have found with the round and short grain rice varieties used in Spanish and Italian cooking you end up with uncooked rice sitting in cold water before the rice absorbs all the moisture.

So i should leave it to soak in water then before steaming it? I cooked the rice in the steamer for around 30mins which was what the steamer instructions recommended, but it was still pretty uncooked and kinda dry. Is it posible to make a rice steamer? I'm wondering if mine is not very good...

 

[raptorrex]

Steaming depends pretty much on the type of steamer you use, electric rice steamers all seem to have different cooking times of between 20 and 40 minutes though of course it also depends on the type of rice as well, wholegrain and wild types take 2 to 3 times as long as white rice.

The method of steaming Boboboy desribed works well with Asian rice varieties like jasmine or basmati but i have found with the round and short grain rice varieties used in Spanish and Italian cooking you end up with uncooked rice sitting in cold water before the rice absorbs all the moisture.

lol i never thought of that CFC. guess my choice of rice has been a bit narrow. lol time to experiment i think!

 

[CFC]

Steaming depends pretty much on the type of steamer you use, electric rice steamers all seem to have different cooking times of between 20 and 40 minutes though of course it also depends on the type of rice as well, wholegrain and wild types take 2 to 3 times as long as white rice.

The method of steaming Boboboy desribed works well with Asian rice varieties like jasmine or basmati but i have found with the round and short grain rice varieties used in Spanish and Italian cooking you end up with uncooked rice sitting in cold water before the rice absorbs all the moisture.

So i should leave it to soak in water then before steaming it? I cooked the rice in the steamer for around 30mins which was what the steamer instructions recommended, but it was still pretty uncooked and kinda dry. Is it posible to make a rice steamer? I'm wondering if mine is not very good...

Personally i'd stick the rice steamer in the back of the cupboard and forget about it, or even better give it to a charity shop. They take too long to cook the rice and cost loads to run, imagine repeatedly boiling the kettle for half an hour.
Try the boiling method i described and the steaming method boboboy decribed and see which suits you best, either way a saucepan is the best thing for cooking rice in unless you are making something like a risotto, kedgeree or paella in which case you want a large flat based frying pan.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Personally i'd stick the rice steamer in the back of the cupboard and forget about it, or even better give it to a charity shop. They take too long to cook the rice and cost loads to run, imagine repeatedly boiling the kettle for half an hour.
Try the boiling method i described and the steaming method boboboy decribed and see which suits you best, either way a saucepan is the best thing for cooking rice in unless you are making something like a risotto, kedgeree or paella in which case you want a large flat based frying pan.

Hm i think i might get rid of the steamer then (probably give it to a charity shop like you said), but it would still be nice to get one that works though none the less. I remember years ago a friend of my aunts had a really awesome traditional japanese rice steamer which cooked the best rice i have ever tasted.