I just forwarded this message to a friend off list, and her reply was interesting:
I do all the below, but I also add ice as part of the water when I put the rice into the cooker. It softens it more quickly, something about expanding/contracting molecules due to the cold... Use super-cold tap water or water from the fridg, works just as well, really. Makes the soak time more like 20 minutes instead of two hours. I like to throw an herb into the rice while it's cooking, not much flavor, but makes the house smell good. -----Original Message----- From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:cookinginthedark-boun...@acbradio.org] On Behalf Of Deborah Armstrong via Cookinginthedark Sent: Monday, August 3, 2020 11:30 AM To: cookinginthedark@acbradio.org Cc: Deborah Armstrong <armstrongdebo...@fhda.edu> Subject: Re: [CnD] Cooking Brown Rice in a rice cooker Well I prepare rice completely differently but I mostly eat brown. I have read that it is important to rinse rice, but packages in the U.S. and cookbooks published in America advise against it. Turns out after further reading, I found out why; rinsing originally removed field debris. Now that rice is prepared in factories, rinsing removes excess starch which can make it sticky. The reason they advise against rinsing is given is that here in America, rice is fortified with spray-on vitamins and minerals which rinsing removes. If you eat plenty of vegies you don't need the spray-on nutrients, so go ahead and rinse it to remove the starch. I put my rice in my cooker with 1 cup of rice to 3 cups of water for brown and 2 cups of water for white. I sprinkle in a little salt; that's all. I then let it sit an hour or two. I've read this makes the rice better absorb the liquid and this works especially well for brown; makes it less chewy. I let the cooker do its thing; there's a sensor that knows when the water is almost gone. Once it is back to just warming, I turn it off and let it set ten minutes. Then I stir and cover again so it won't dry out and put it in the fridge when it's cool enough. I generally flavor it when I add other things -- for example I might microwave it with garlic or curry and vegies. Or I might mix it with cumin and add it to enchiladas. Or I might make a salad with cold rice, mayo, vegies, spices, pickles -- yum. I have tried flavoring it in the cooker, but especially with brown rice, the hull is so thick that most of the flavoring is lost. --Debee _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list Cookinginthedark@acbradio.org http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list Cookinginthedark@acbradio.org http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
