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Rice: Cooking Methods

Source of Recipe

Various Sources
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The following cooking methods produce different textures suited to different dishes, but all are foolproof.

1. Mark's Fall-Off-a-Log Easy Boil 'n' Bake Rice:
This method gets the batch started stove-top, then takes advantage of the oven's all-round heat for a moist and fluffy dish. No rinsing needed. This works well with basmati, too, and is an easy way to make a batch of buttered or otherwise flavored rice without committing to a full-fledged pilaf. Just add the fat or spices to the cooking water.

Method (For about 5 cups of rice): Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 2 cups long-grain rice, 4 cups water, and salt to taste in a medium, oven-safe saucepan. Heat to boiling; stir, cover, and place in the oven. Cook 12 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with fork before serving.

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2. Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's Basic Rice:
Yin-Fei Lo is a rice renegade in that she cooks rice with the lid off, and stirs it to boot. She prefers Texas-grown extra-long grain rice. This produces a great texture for Chinese dishes: Slightly resistant grains that cling to one another but aren't sticky or wet. This also works with jasmine rice and basmati, though the grains break up more with the stirring.

Method (For 4-1/2 to 5 cups cooked rice): Place 2 cups long-grain rice in a heavy pot; cover with cold water, rub grains with hands to rinse; drain. Repeat twice. Drain well. Add 1-7/8 cups (15 ounces) water; let stand 1 hour. Heat to boiling, uncovered, over high heat. Stir rice frequently with a chopstick or wooden spoon until water is absorbed and evaporates, about 4 minutes. (The rice will still be hard.) Cover; reduce heat to low. Cook 8 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat; loosen rice with chopstick. Cover tightly until serving. (Rice can be kept 1 hour in a warm oven. Loosen rice again just before serving.)


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3. The "Lots of Water" Method:
Here's one way to take all the uncertainty out of rice: Cook it like pasta. The result is dry and separate grains. If you are a "don't rinse away the vitamins" person, realize that those nutrients go out in the bath water with this method.

Method: The exact ratio of rice to water doesn't matter here. As with pasta, just fill a saucepan most of the way with water and heat it to boiling. Salt it, if you like. Then stir in the rice. It will expand, so don't try to cook much more than 1-1/2 cups of raw rice in a 2-1/2-quart pan. After about 5 minutes, spoon out some rice and check it for doneness. It won't continue to cook appreciably once you drain it, so make sure it's cooked through. When you're happy with the texture, pour through a sieve or colander; drain thoroughly. Return the rice to the saucepan and cover until serving time.

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