Well, here we are. You may be wondering why in the world someone would take the time to write a blog post about how to cook plain, white rice. Well, there are a few reasons. Many people have no idea how to make rice anymore without the use of a rice cooker or a microwave. White rice is great with many dishes and this method is the foundation for more complex rice dishes. Entire countries have their culinary existence based on rice. Rice feeds the world. It’s a great source of easy-to-digest energy. With gluten intolerance running rampant these days, it’s a good thing to have in your repertoire.
You may wonder why I’m not posting how to make brown rice. Well, brown rice is actually really hard to digest unless fermented for about 24 hours. Traditional cultures around the world typically do not eat much brown rice, nor have they ever. I’m pretty sure there’s a reason for that. Eating brown rice can leave the feeling that one just ate a brick pretty soon after consuming it.
Plain white rice comes in many varieties. We have the regular average (medium) length rice that’s popular in the US, basmati, jasmine and even short-grain sweet rice (which isn’t really sweet). They each have their own uses and textures, but for a basic starter recipe, they can all be cooked the same. I personally purchase organic rice because it isn’t fortified with folic acid. Folic acid and real folate aren’t the same thing. I like to buy rice that is just, well, rice! For my larger family, I personally buy it (here, here) in bulk on Amazon and store it in 5 gallon buckets with lids. Bulk storage is also good to have during emergency weather situations, like hurricane season.
I grew up in the southeast US where rice is also a staple to sop up pork fat mixed with bbq sauce, placed under buttered vegetables, in soups, stews and thrown into casseroles.
Here’s how to do it:
- Choose how much rice you want to make. Remember, while cooking it is going to swell to almost triple the size as you see it when uncooked.
- Use a mesh strainer like this and rinse your rice really well with cool water. This rinses off the excess starches so your rice isn’t gummy.
- Place the rinsed rice in a pot with a liquid ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts filtered water or bone broth. So, if you have 2 cups of dry rice, you will use 4 cups of filtered water.
- Bring the rice and water to a boil. When it starts boiling, lower the stove setting to low, cover the pot with a lid and check on it in about 18minutes. It should be finished at this point. If not, put the lid back on and let it go a little longer. Some people have to cook it up to 20 minutes. After it is cooked through, remove the lid, turn off the heat and allow it to dry out a bit from the steam (about 5-10 more minutes) before serving.
And that’s it!
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