Rice is not in vain called, along with wheat and corn, the third "bread." It is daily food for three billion inhabitants of our planet. Rice is mainly used by the population of Asia instead of bread. You probably noticed how little the past years affect the appearance of the Japanese, Vietnamese, Thais. And all because the rice, which Asian people consume every day, contains many useful substances. In addition, in this grain there is absolutely no gluten - protein, which is a strong allergen. But in order for useful properties to move as completely as possible from grain to a finished dish, you need to know how to cook rice. This process is both complex and simple at the same time. If you know all the secrets, then it will not be difficult to prepare it for you. However, when you take the matter unprepared, you will end up with a half pan of burnt porridge, over which half-moist grains will float in muddy water. To prevent this from happening, this article was written. We will talk about how to cook rice in a pan, slow cooker, oven; for sushi, casseroles, side dishes, paella, milk porridge. After all, different dishes require a special approach to grain.
Rice Variety Selection
This cereal has been cultivated by man for many millennia. It is added to soups, cooked main hot dishes and side dishes, crushed into flour and even make desserts from it. Therefore, it is not surprising that breeders bred several hundred varieties of rice. In addition, there are several more ways of primary processing of grain, which also affect its culinary properties. Therefore, before you cook rice, we will seriously approach the choice of the appropriate variety. Are you going to cook pilaf? Do you want the rice on the side dish to be friable? Then choose Basmati, Devzira. Jasmine variety is very good for garnishes with sauce and salads - white crumbly grains have a delicate aroma. Arborio is suitable for paella and risotto. Its slightly oval, almost round grains have medium tack. For soups, baby milk porridges and casseroles, take the Kamolino variety. Due to its high starch content, rice comes out sticky. There are Russian varieties grown in the Krasnodar Territory. And if you decide to serve rice as the main dish, choose the variety Tsitsanaya aqua. It is a wild cereal with a dark, almost black grain. It is considered the most delicious and fragrant.
Primary processing of grain
There are a lot of varieties of rice. And for convenience, chefs divide cereals into three categories. This is rice with long, oval and round grains. The first category is used when you want to get loose porridge or pilaf. The second is for salads, soups, special dishes such as Italian risotto or Spanish paella. And finally, round-grain varieties that are ideal for puddings, casseroles, sushi and viscous cereals. But rice, before it goes on sale, also goes through primary processing. So, distinguished polished cereals. It boils quickly, but as a result of processing (removing the useful top layer), it has lost most of its valuable qualities. Unpolished rice requires a long cooking, but it turns out very tasty. Sushi and rolls are made from specially processed grain. Before boiling rice on the side dish, make sure that it is not crushed. Only puddings and viscous cereals are prepared from the latter. The most popular among cooks is steamed rice. It is heat-treated with hot air and then ground. As a result, the grain is prepared quickly, but also retains its useful properties.
The easiest, but also expensive way to cook
Since in Europe, many do not know how to cook rice for garnish, the food industry produces cereals in special bags. The grain is pre-soaked and washed. Then it is packaged in bags with small holes. These bags are designed for the cereal to swell, increase in volume. So to cook rice in bags can not only an inexperienced housewife, but even a child of preschool age. You need to put a pot of water on the fire. When the liquid boils, salt it and put a whole bag. The instructions indicate the time required to cook a certain type of rice. But you yourself will easily recognize when it will be ready. A previously half-filled pouch will become pot-bellied. Turn off the fire. Pulling the ear of the bag with a fork, pull it onto a plate. We cut the bag and season the delicious rice with butter or sauce. The advantages of this cooking method are obvious: a minimum of trouble, and the pan remains almost clean. Neither burning, nor the risk that the grain will remain damp. And the only negative is the price.
How to cook rice in a pan. Grain preparation
You can prepare bulk cereals in various ways. First, consider the first, most common. Even long-grain rice contains starch, which when in contact with hot water turns into a paste. He not only glues grains, but also does not allow other products to penetrate deep into. Therefore, such rice comes out also tasteless, fresh. And the grain must always be washed. If, by chance, you have only round rice with a high starch content, then it should also be soaked. Culinary experts recommend doing the same with unpolished varieties. Pour rice with cold water so that the liquid is two fingers above the grain. Stir and leave for an hour or two, and sometimes overnight. If you are thinking about how to cook steamed rice friable, then you can skip this step. But you need to rinse it thoroughly until the water that drains becomes completely transparent. This is best done in a frequent sieve. Soaked rice will swell a little, and the water will turn milky white. Salt it and wash the grains in a fine sieve.
Cookware Selection
Since we are now considering how to cook rice for a side dish in a saucepan, we first need to talk about the material from which it should be made. Immediately reject aluminum and copper containers. We need a pot that holds the heat inside well. It is desirable that it was not a classic cylindrical shape, but semicircular. Ideal for cooking friable rice is a cast-iron cauldron or stewpan. The goose-beetle is also suitable, despite its oblong shape. Take care of the pan lid in advance. It should fit snugly while holding the steam inside. It seems that we are too scrupulous in choosing dishes? But after all, the success of a dish directly depends on the thermal regime inside the pan. Grain is not cooked from fire, but from steam. By the way, pilaf is cooked only in a cauldron.
How to cook rice in water: proportions
So, we have chosen a suitable variety of cereals. Poured grains. Washed them. Found a good cauldron. What's next? For a dish, no less important than the type of grain and the choice of suitable dishes is the correct ratio of cereals and water. There is no definite answer here. Firstly, if you soaked the grain for a couple of hours, it already absorbed the liquid. Therefore, water must be added in proportions one to one. And if we just washed the grain, then the ratio changes. In this case, a glass of rice requires two or three cups of water, depending on the type. Grade and primary processing of grain are of great importance. The methods for cooking round grain rice and Basmati are very different. But the most important thing that affects the proportion of water and grain is the dish that you are planning to cook. But this does not mean at all that you need to pour less liquid into the crumbly pilaf than it should be. Rice during cooking is not recommended. It is necessary to remove the lid - and the vapor will evaporate. Later we will tell you how to cook rice for sushi.
Cooking very friable porridge
Washed long grains fall asleep in a cauldron. Pour twice as much boiling water. Solim - an incomplete teaspoon is quite enough for a glass of rice cereal. How to cook long grain rice to make it crumbly? It is important for us to reach the boiling point again as soon as possible. Therefore, we make a big fire. When it boils, cook for seven minutes. We interfere once. Reduce the fire to a minimum, cover the pots. More rice is not disturbing. We note a quarter of an hour for polished and steamed grains, 25 minutes for brown and golden. Turn off the fire under the saucepan. We lift the lid and, without interfering with the porridge, put one or two tablespoons of butter on its surface. Cover the cauldrons again and wait another 20 minutes. During this time, the cereal will absorb the remaining moisture, and the butter will melt, and the porridge will leave you a grain to a grain!
Making sushi
The main ingredient in this Japanese dish is rice. And if we cook it poorly, then even a high-class master will not be able to roll good rolls from it. We wash round-grain rice in seven waters. Ideally, it should be the Japanese Akita Komachi variety, but the American product Kelrose or the domestic Orion will also be suitable. The water in which we wash the grains should be cool, because hot removes the starch we need. Now consider how to cook rice for sushi. First, we soak the grains. Notice that in the same water we will cook rice. The ratio of liquid to cereal should be equal. Soak in cold water for several hours. Then we put the saucepan on a big fire. We interfere once, then cover the pan and do not touch it anymore. After 15-20 minutes, when you notice that the steam began to stand out less, turn off the fire. But the lid does not lift another quarter of an hour. And only after that we transfer the basis for sushi from the pan to a wooden container.
Cooking risotto
For an Italian dish, cereal is not poured with water, but with broth. So we cook it in advance from chicken, beef, seafood or mushrooms. We have already described how to cook round grain rice for sushi. But the Italian dish requires a special approach. According to foodies, only Arborio, Vialone Nano and Carnaroli are suitable for him. Only they contain 2 types of starch. However, you can cook quite tasty risotto from Krasnodar round cereal. Preparing a dish in a pan. We heat a large piece of butter in it. Add the shredded onion. You can attach carrots and garlic to it, but this is optional. When the onion becomes translucent, pour rice. For this dish cereals can not be washed - starch should remain on the grains. Mix. We fry until rice grains become translucent, like beads of glass beads. Pour half a glass of dry white wine. Continue to fry until the liquid evaporates. Pour in a soup ladle of hot broth. How to cook rice next? Using a wooden spatula, mix the contents of the pan in a circle. When the broth is absorbed, add another ladle. When the rice is cooked to an al dente level, add the other ingredients. It can be green peas, seafood, mushrooms. After 17 minutes of cooking, remove the pan from the heat. In exactly one minute, add the butter sliced into slices in a dish and sprinkle with grated cheese. Stir and serve.
We use kitchen devices
We already talked about the method of preparing cereals in a pan and in a pan. It's time to consider how to cook rice in a slow cooker. We rinse the grits as usual. We fill it in the multicooker bowl. There should be twice as much water as cereals. If you want to get viscous porridge for pudding or for milk formula, the liquid should be cold. But if you plan to cook a loose side dish, then see again the instructions on how to cook long-grain rice. Immediately salt the dish, add the necessary spices to it and - necessarily - a spoonful of butter. We turn on the “Rice” or “Pilaf” program on the unit. We lower the lid and wait for the sound signal.
Microwave cooking
We have already examined how to cook rice in a slow cooker. But there are other kitchen devices with which you can cook a delicious dish without much hassle. For example, a microwave. Rinse rice under running water. Place in a dish suitable for use in the microwave. Pour there and water in a ratio of 2: 1. Do not cover the dishes. We put it in the oven. Close the door. We turn on the unit at the highest power. Cook for 10 minutes. We translate the unit to low power. Cooking with a quarter of an hour.