Rice
==== 2024-07-29
A few recipes below, but first some observations.
A serving is 50 to 70 g.
The liquid to cook the rice depends on what you want to do, it can be salt water, stock, or a mix water/coconut milk.
Following instructions on the package should work, however most of the times it does not, furthermore, rice in bulk comes with no instructions. There are also some packages that say to drown the rice in a lot of liquid, then to strain it to remove the excess liquid.
The amount of water to use is not overly critical, but we still need to know how much water to use. Here are a few pointers based on experience and information found on the web, that I use for cooking rice as outlined below.
The first issue is getting rid of the cups and use grams. My measurements give 1 cup rice is 200 g and 1 cup water is 240 g, this is what I'll use.
A good clue comes from this video: The Secrets of Cooking Rice
To summarize and using grams instead of cups, for a regular size pot with a properly fitting lid, with the 3/4 cup rule outlined in the video, we need:
200 g rice (1 cup) 240 g water (1 cup) + 180 g for evaporation = 420 g water 360 g rice (4 to 5 servings) 430 g water + 180 g for evaporation = 610 g water
Here the ratio in weight before evaporation is 1.2 (which is equal cup amount of rice and water).
Let's look at some rice.
Basmati rice:
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Package says 300 g rice (washed to remove the starch) and 4.25 dl bouillon or salt water (4 portions).
Bring to a boil and let sit covered for 15 mn. This does not work well, not enough liquid! and indeed it does not follow the rule outlined above (it should be 5.4 dl liquid).
So far, for 300 g rice (5 servings), I use 500 ml stock and this works well in practice, although it is slightly less water than the rule from the video. Applying the evaporation scheme outlined above, this would be: 300 g rice, 360 g liquid, and only 140 g evaporation in my case (not far from the 180 g from the video which depends on pot size and lid).
In practice, I would use the 140 g water for smaller pots and increase it for significantly larger pots.
So for 1 (large) portion, in a smaller pot: 70 g rice, 85 + 120 g water, and for 8 (large) portions: 560 g rice, 670 + 200 g water.
So after a few more tests, my evaporation portion, using my pot and cooking method is 180 g. This is what I use for the recipes below for 4 portions, and I increase this to 200 g for larger quantities (7 to 8).
This method of calculation is the one to use for pilaf rice which requires the rice to be placed in a hot pot (with the onion or shallot) which prevents the use of the finger method, but for more plain recipes, it is possible to use the "asian finger method".
Asian finger method:
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It is the method that is asian, so any finger will do! After rinsing the rice, measure its height in the pan by poking a finger through the rice. Whatever height is measured, the same height of liquid is added.
A convenient way to do this is to poke a finger through the rice, and using you thumb, "mark" the height of the rice on your finger. Now lift your hand so the finger just touches the rice, and add water up to your thumb. This works by ensuring the same volume of water than rice, plus a small amount (in the rice) for evaporation. This gives good results over a large range of portions sizes.
There is another popular version of this method that wants to add a knuckle's worth of water over the rice. This can only work for medium size rice cooking (say 3 to 5 portions), clearly this would over water the rice for a single portion and under water the rice for say 10 to 12 portions (unless you are careful to use a pot size proportional to the serving size...), so avoid this method unless you always cook ~4 portions in the same pot.
Basic rice recipe
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4 (regular) servings
Comment: one can use other basmati or another long grain rice. The rice needs to be washed 3 to 4 times until water is ~clear.
Calculation: 4 serving: 4 x 60 g = 240 g. Liquid 1.2 x 240 = 290 ml. Add 180 ml for evaporation = 470 ml.
Ingredients:
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240 g rice
470 ml liquid (salt water, chicken or veggy stock)
Butter
Preparation:
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Rince the rice 3 to 4 times in water. Place the liquid and rice in the pot.
Bring to a boil, stirring a few times
Lower heat to a low simmer, covered.
Cook 15 to 20 mn, do not open the lid. Take off the heat.
Let rest covered for another 5 to 10 mn.
Add 2 knobs of butter, fluff with a fork and serve.
Recipe riz pilaf (using basmati rice):
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4 (regular) servings
Comment: one can use other than basmati rice for pilaf rice. Do not wash the rice for pilaf.
Calculation: 4 serving: 4 x 60 g = 240 g. Liquid 1.2 x 240 = 290 ml. Add 180 ml for evaporation = 470 ml.
Ingredients:
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1 onion or 2 shallots (for 4 servings)
a good splash EVOO plus as much butter
240 g basmati rice
470 ml chicken stock
1 or 2 bay leaves
Butter
Preparation:
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Finely chop the onion (or shallots)
Melt the butter + EVOO in a pan Add the onion (or shallot) with a bit of salt and sweat (without browning) for 5 to 10 mn
Add the rice and stir until translucent
add the bay leaves
Add the stock (hot) and bring to a boil stirring.
Cover, lower the heat to a small simmer for 15 to 20 mn.
Take off the heat. Wait another 5 to 10 mn and remove the lid, add a knob or 2 of butter, fluff with a fork, serve.
Recette riz pilaf using long grain parboiled rice:
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Comment: parboiled rice does not need to be washed first and anyways rice for pilaf does not need to be washed either.
Calculation: 4 serving: 4 x 60 g = 240 g. Liquid 1.2 x 240 = 290 ml. Add 180 ml for evaporation = 470 ml.
4 (regular) servings
Ingredients:
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1 onion or 2 shallots (for 4 servings)
a good splash EVOO plus as much butter
240 g rice
470 ml chicken stock
1 or 2 bay leaves
Butter
Preparation:
------------
Finely chop the onion (or shallots)
Melt the butter + EVOO in a pan Add the onion (or shallot) with a bit of salt and sweat (without browning) for 5 to 10 mn
Add the rice and stir until translucent
Add the stock and the bay leaves and bring to a boil stirring.
Cover, lower the heat to a sustained simmer for 15 to 20 mn Take off the heat. Let rest another 5 to 10 mn and remove the lid, add a knob or 2 of butter, fluff with a fork, serve.
Thai rice
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Comment: oiling the bottom of the pan should prevent the rice from sticking. The finger method can be used to adjust the quantity of liquid.
4 servings
Ingredients:
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240 g jasmin rice (blue elephant)
1/2 teaspoon salt
470 ml liquide: 2/3 coconut milk, 1/3 water
a little bit of oil
Preparation:
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Rince the rice 3 to 4 times in water. Lightly oil the bottom of a pot.
Place the liquid, salt and rice in the pot.
Bring to a boil, stirring a few times
Lower heat to a low simmer, covered.
Cook 15 to 20 mn, do not open the lid. Take off the heat.
Let rest covered for another 5 to 10 mn.
Fluff with a fork and serve.
Rice for fried rice
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Comment: for fried rice, the rice should be cooked 1 day ahead and left to dry (a bit) either in a fridge or a cool place.
Use Thai (jasmine) rice, simply cooked with a bit of salt and water. Since the rice is going to be left to dry, better not make it too wet to start with, so reduce the amount of water a little bit.
4 (65 g) servings
Ingredients:
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260 g jasmin rice (blue elephant)
1/2 teaspoon salt
440 ml liquide a little bit of oil
Preparation:
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Rince the rice 3 to 4 times in water. Lightly oil the bottom of a pot.
Place the liquid, salt and rice in the pot.
Bring to a boil, stirring a few times
Lower heat to a low simmer, covered.
Cook 15 to 20 mn, do not open the lid.
Take off the heat. Let rest covered for another ~10 mn.
Fluff with a fork.