Chuck Zumbrun

Tales from Skunk Hill

My Deepest, Darkest Secret

I’m about confess to you, loyal readers, my deepest, darkest secret. Please don’t abuse my trust in you.


I can’t cook rice.


I mean, c’mon! It’s rice, you throw it in a pan, a scant 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. You bring it to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover, and in 15 minutes you got rice. How hard can it be?

If it’s me cooking it, in 15 minutes you have a sticky gluey mass. I’ve tried all sorts of things. Rinsing the rice. Stir-frying it briefly like risotto. Simmering it on very low heat for a longer time. Adding oil. Fluffing it. Putting a paper towel under the lid when it’s done.

Sometimes something will work and I’ll have splendid rice. Tender individual kernels of rice, fluffy and tasty. And I’ll think finally I’ve hit upon a method that works for me. And then the next time I do the exact same thing and have a gluey mass of rice clumps.

So faithful readers, help me out here. If you can cook rice, tell me how you do it.

7 responses to “My Deepest, Darkest Secret”

  1. anne Avatar
    anne

    I burn the rice week after week, I start it and wander away to do something else to return to the kitchen when I smell it burning. A neighbor swears by the microwave, it still has to cook for 15 or 45 minutes (if it’s brown rice), but she never burns hers.

    Reply
  2. Missy Avatar
    Missy

    I have to admit that I use my microwave for rice. Sorry. Have you tried a rice cooker?

    Reply
  3. Mom Avatar
    Mom

    Try a generous two cups of water–not scant. For brown unprocessed rice, that is.

    Reply
  4. David Avatar
    David

    Use a double boiler. You’ll have to experiment with the rice/water ratio and it’ll be different for each type of rice, but if it turns out sticky you can make Maki….

    Reply
  5. Joyce Avatar
    Joyce

    I think you will appreciate the cleverness of a rice cooker. For white rice, it’s a 1:1 ratio of rice to water, and it usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes, giving you perfectly done rice every time. And the best part is that it will keep the rice warm once it’s done cooking, for hours even, without it burning.

    The clever part is the way that it knows when the rice is done. Basically, when there’s still excess water in the pot, the temperature will be static at water’s boiling point of 212F. Then, once all the water has been absorbed (ie. the exact moment when your rice is perfectly cooked) the temperature will creep above the boiling point, which is the rice cooker’s cue to switch from cook mode to keep warm mode.

    Sure it takes up some shelf or cupboard space, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else! Granted, I do eat rice nearly daily, so it more than makes sense for me to have one. I do also realize that it sometimes feels wrong giving into a machine, but when said machine is so simple and clever, I can let myself make and exception!

    Reply
  6. chuck Avatar
    chuck

    Joyce, I wish I’d written “it feels wrong giving into a machine”!

    Reply
  7. Mom Gordon Avatar
    Mom Gordon

    I’m even worse than using a machine – it’s no secret I don’t like to cook. I use Minute Rice.

    Reply

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