úterý 14. května 2013

On cooking rice

Before I get to writing about Origintea's new teas, I thought I'd share a recipe for cooking rice. While it is nothing new for many people, finding about this sort of cooking rice was a small revelation to me and it ment huge leap towards better appreciation of rice.

For me, good rice is a great thing, very pure and "right". From time to time, I have rice days, when I eat only rice - it feels like a pleasant natural organism cleaner. 

I grew up in an environment, where rice was cooked in an indian style, i.e., in a lot of water. Hower, this may not be really ideal for many occasions where rice is a side dish. In the case when rice is supposed to be the main course, it is even less satisfactory.

A simple solution is to buy an electric rice cooker. However, I prefer to keep the number of single-purpose machines in the kitchen low and I'm not convinced that the sort of cooking I'll describe below is inferior to cooking in a rice cooker. 

What rice to use? I usually prefer jasmine rice, a decent thai version is not even that expensive. Some basmatis can be used too. 

What pot to use? It should not be a too light, tin pot. But this is quite a general suggestion. To paraphrase one of my favourite recommendations of Anthony Bourdain (on pans) - imagine you want to hit your enemy with it. If you have doubts what is going to get broken, the pan or his head, throw your pan away and buy a decent one. I second that opinion. All these feather-light pseudo-teflon coated pans or tin pots with special anti-catching layer, are mostly no good and some foods can't be properly done in them. I prefer using cast iron stuff.

Ok, the recipe... (this time, I cooked basmati, which actually resembles jasmine rice more than basmati)
1) Rinse the rice under water. It should not be white and scruffy, but glossy and sexy. Basically, I put it in a strainer, put under flowing water and rub it, till the water pouring through loses its chalky looks.


2) Put it in a pot and pour cold water over (yes, the rice starts in cold, not boiling, water). Rule of index-finger is to put the tip of your index finger on the rice and pour water in there until the surface reaches your first juncture.


3) Boil it - probably on medium-flame, but I don't think that it is really crucial how fast the rice will cook now. Wait until small craters start forming on the surface (I guess it takes 5-10 minutes). The photo below is not the best due to the foam formation. Usual jasmine rice I have does not do that.


4) At the moment when the craters start to form, put a lid over it and make the flame the smallest one available. Now, the rice will be basically steam-cooked. Keep it this way for 10 minutes, then turn it off and give it another 5 minutes of rest (with the lid on).

5) Done. Don't tell me you don't find the aroma of rice cooked this way delicious, when you uncover the lid...

2 komentáře:

  1. I prefer jasmine rice too, do you like any more types of rice? Best cooking is in rice electric pot, really easy to prepare. If we cook in pot, so we keep rice on boiling water, and at the finish of cooking, we take rice to the seam ripper and few minutes keep on steam. Sorry for my english, I dont use it...

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    1. Ahoj!
      Na některá jídla mám rád i basmati rýži, jak na co. Ale obecně asi preferuju jasmínovku.

      Úplně souhlasím, že elektrické rýžovary jsou v pohodě - ale nakonec mi přijde, že i výše uvedený postup dělá v podstatě stejnou rýži (podstatná je ta fáze dělání se v páře).
      Měj se, čaji zdar!
      Jakub

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