Rice Is A Glorious Art

I have a 50 LB bag of jasmine rice currently sitting in my kitchen. We are only two, but we are splitting this bag with another couple, and that should last us for most of the year. Yes, we use alot of rice….”we’re rice men”* after all!
I absolutely love all kinds of rice like jasmine, basmati, brown, black, glutenous, sticky, wild, any other mixture you can think of. I have learned in my years the best ways to cook and keep rice. My Thai rice cooker is the best for a lot of cooking besides rice. I can do rice and veggies double decker style or rice and chicken or fish, too! I keep it on my stove all the time. It is an absolutely wonderful piece of cookware. Keep your uncooked rice in an enclosed container in a cool place. It should last for at least a year. To cook the rice….well, follow me over the fold…..

When I cook jasmine or basmati rice, I use one cup long grain rice (it makes 4 cups cooked) and rinse it twice in a strainer and place it in a 4 cup bowl that fits inside the top steamer pot (mine is an old stainless bowl), then fill the bowl about 3/4 to an inch** above the rice with boiling water. Fill the bottom pot with hot water. Put the lid on and cook about medium high for 25-30 minutes until the water is absorbed into the rice. To check and see if all the water has been absorbed, use a fork. Turn the rice out onto the screen and let sit for a few minutes. Turn with the paddles a couple of times and let sit for a few more minutes to break up the rice into individual grains. (If the grains don’t break up, use less water next time. If your rice is a new crop you need to use less water anyway cause the new crop has more moisture in it. It’s always better to add more water! ) These paddles are really cute, bamboo and easy to use. Cheap at my neighborhood Asian store, too! The rice keeps for about a week in a container in the fridge and the grains stay separate. You can use the rice for so many dishes!
For short grained rice like white sticky or black glutenous or some types of brown rice, rinse a few times then soak in water for about four hours. One cup dry makes about 3 1/2 cups cooked. Drain and place in the stainless bowl and pour boiling water 1″ over. Cook for 35-40 minutes on medium high until water is absorbed. Turn on the screen and let cool. Don’t toss with the paddles. You want this rice to remain sticky!
In either long grain or short grain, you can use some broth (chicken, vegetable, beef) or add herbs and/or spices, dried fruits, nuts, etc., etc. Be creative!
On a whim, I made some basmati with chicken broth, turmeric and saffron. Added cilantro at the last minute. I’ll talk about my fruited rice later. Yum!
This little baby also can hard boil a dozen eggs in the bottom water compartment, steam veggies on the lovely corningware salad plates I got at Goodwill for 49 cents a piece that fit exactly inside the steamer stacks or steam a piece of fish or chicken to perfection. I can also use the lid on my medium size fry pan, if needed.
Get one, you won’t regret it.

*Sleepless in Seattle
**The usual teaching is “pour boiling water a first knuckle above the rice”. No matter if that knuckle was a 6-year-old or a 56-year-old it works the same way. Cute saying….but….

Tags: cooking wisdom, Food, Frugality, Recipe, Teaching