For plump, fluffy, clump-free rice every time simply rinse the dry rice before cooking. I worked with a lovely Chinese lady way before I was married (turned out her husband was one of my Year 12 teachers), and she used to give us single girls cooking lessons at lunchtime. This is how she taught me to prepare rice, and its never failed me. So thank you Mrs. Wong!
Rinsing takes the starch off the grains. Place the rice in a bowl of cool water and swirl around with a fork or your hand (make sure you wash first) until the starch makes the water cloudy. Drain and repeat until the water stays clear. Then cook as usual. The grains of rice will be perfectly fluffed and separate. Excess cooked rice can be frozen for the future.
I cook rice in the microwave. It isn't any faster than on the stove, but it doesn't boil over and the pot is easy to clean. I simply measure one cup of rice to two cups of stock or water, add just a splash of oil and microwave on HIGH for 15 minutes.
The result is perfectly cooked rice. I fork it over as soon as it's cooked, and if it's to be used for fried rice it goes into the fridge overnight.
Easy!
After the grocery shopping yesterday (fruit and veg from Pellegrino's) Hannah asked for fried rice for lunches. That's why I was cooking rice, and what prompted me to share the how to and my recipe, or at least how I make fried rice.
I start with diced onion, sliced spring onion and sliced celery and some frozen peas, carrots and corn. They are sauteed in a pan with a little hot vegetable oil, until clear. Put them aside and cook 2 or 3 beaten eggs. Either cut it into strips when done (if you're being fancy) or shred with a fork. Add the veggies back to the pan, along with some diced, cooke chicken. Now I season. I add ginger and garlic to taste and stir through the veg. Stir the rice through in stagesd, just so it all combines neatly. Heat through, watching so the rice doesn't stick to the pan. Just before serving sprinkle with a little soy sauce and stir.
If we have mushrooms, I'll add them. We don't often have bean shoots, but when we do I add them with the veggies. Sometimes we don't have chicken, so it's a vegetarian fried rice.
It's flexible and everyone likes it. It makes great lunches. It goes well as a side to grilled meat or chicke. It goes with stir-fries.
It's not at all authentic, but I never meant it to be. This was a made-up on the go recipe I created when money was tight and ingredients were few and basic. It's stood the test of time, still one of my most made recipes.
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I can remember my MIL telling me that she was told by her Chinese MIL to always rinse her rice, but she thought it was to remove dirt.
ReplyDeleteBig difference between dirt and starch. :-)
Wow, I never think of dirt in rice, it's processed before packaging so I've always assumed it would be clean. I worked with a lovely Chinese lady, who used to give us cooking lessons in the staff kitchen at lunchtimes. She always insisted on rinsing the rice before cooking to rinse of the starch, because if you do it after cooking, it adds water to the rice and also cools it, turning it gluggy. I've just alwaysd rinsed until clear before cooking. Interesting the different reasons we all have for doing the same or similar things :)
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