Rice is a delicate healthy balance to any dish and the flavor teams readily with a wide variety of foods, making it a fantastic ingredient. Rice can be subtly seasoned as a complementary side dish or highly seasoned to serve with a mildly seasoned meat for balance.

Cooking Rice

NOTE; Each variety of rice requires a different amount of water, a different amount of cooking time and yields a different amount of the cooked grain. Follow the directions on the package for the specifics regarding the type of rice you buy.

The Basics of Cooking Rice

Always keep rice tightly covered while cooking in the exact amount of water (designated on the package) until all the liquid is absorbed. Do not peek or stir as the rice is cooking; this makes the rice gooey. Be careful not to overcook the rice, as this will also make it gooey.

The Variety of Rice

Stumbling across the rice section of your favorite supermarket can be a bit confusing. Once you learn the variations rice is a very useful ingredient giving you many options.

The Most Common of Rice

Regular White Rice comes in short, medium, and long grain. Once prepared the short grain is soft and moist. For this reason short grain rice is most commonly used for puddings, as it is to moist for a side dish. Medium rice is commonly used for rice molds as it is similar to short grain.  Long is the fluffiest type of rice and most commonly used as a southern side dish.

Precooked Rice is very popular among busy people with little time for cooking. This rice is fully cooked and dehydrated, it requires little prep time as only a short re-hydrating process is required.

Parboiled Rice is a special process rice is put through before milling to help it retain minerals and vitamins. It is available only in long grain, it cooks up lighter and fluffier than most regular rice.

Brown Rice –

• Brown rice is higher in fiber as less bran is removed from brown rice leaving more nutrients and giving it a firm texture.
• Brown rice requires more cooking time than regular white rice.
• Brown rice is a wonderful addition to many recipes and can be added for nutty quality.

Wild Rice is actually not rice but a grain yet it can be used and served like rice. It has an even nuttier flavor than brown rice and adds a nice addition of color. Wild rice should be rinsed prior to cooking. Wild rice is more expensive than regular or brown rice and is often mixed with brown or regular rice making it more cost effective.

Buying Rice

Regardless of the type of rice you’re buying, you will want to make certain that the bag is well sealed and air tight before you buy it. White rice keeps almost indefinitely in a air tight container. Brown rice can turn rancid more quickly due to the bran content. You can leave it in your pantry for up to six months, for longer life refrigerate or freeze it. Don’t hesitate to buy a lot of different rice and experiment. Rice is great ingredient to experiment with.