Rice Poll

basmati all day every day

jasmine, easily

jasmati

really jasmine though

actually i voted brown!

http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/images/2008/07/18/vintage_rice_ad.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lp6nPyhwXw/TL45khiNpoI/AAAAAAAAAA8/9Zye9zEWZ9I/s1600/girl1.png
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4203419189_fcb4221e60.jpg

Why is wild disqualified?

what the fuck is this, get the fuck outta here

xp
Because it isn't real rice, totally different plant!

Anyways, jasmine, the rice for all seasons (with basmati a distant second).

basmati, with jasmine a close second

jody otm. i like all these rices and wild rice too.

basmati

followed by rice krispies

what the fuck is this, get the fuck outta here

in yr heart you know these are the options, take that japonica back where you bought it man

rice university

go wildcats!

Does anyone have some brown rice making pro tips? I have never been able to get it to turn out correctly.

brown rice protip: take brown rice, throw it in a trashcan. go to store, buy white rice, cook white rice.

should work

Brown rice just takes more time. Usually you need a little more water/stock. I made a perfect brown rice for lunch that inspired this poll - 2 cups plus maybe 1/4 extra water, one cup washed/briefly soaked rice. But the trick is don't be subservient to the clock. check the rice at the twenty-minute mark, then again at the thirty, it shouldn't take longer than 40. but as long as you're using the recommended proportions, there should come a point, somewhere between twenty and forty minutes, when it's perfect.

lol dayo brown rice is delicious esp. brown basmati

Jasmine is more flexible, but basmati can be sublime on its own. Useful cooking technique from epicurious:

2 cups unrinsed Basmati rice
3 cups cold water

Put basmati and cold water in a 3-quart microwave-safe dish and cook on high, uncovered, 15 minutes, or until steam holes appear in rice. Cover dish and cook on high 5 more minutes. Let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes and fluff with a fork. You'll note that using the microwave shaves only five minutes off the traditional stove-top method, but faster is not the issue here. Better is.

It's by far the easiest way to get a nice pilaf like consistency from basmati, and is way easier than steaming in the the pressure cooker (the only other way I've gotten fluffy basmati).

I eat brown rice somewhat more often than white rice. I never had any trouble getting it to turn out. I much prefer long grain basmati, brown or white, over all comers. I voted brown, for the sake of my colon.

Every time I have made (tried 2 or 3x a year for the past 10 years) it it'll sit there for 50+ mins and still be stewing in a half inch of water and also not really cooked. My solution as of a few months ago has been to buy those little steamable bags of cooked brown rice from Trader Joe's, which make my thrifty heart die, die, die of hypocrisy.

btw the true underdog of all the rice is broken rice

dayo read the poll text I know there's a ton of diff. rices, "you left out __________" is the "Jesus wasn't born in December" of poll complaints

tittwis sushi rolls made with brown rice are an abomination

but aerosmith, you left out broken rice

I'm eating black rice this April to celebrate Jesus's birthday thank you very much.

'smati

bought a 10pound bag of brown basmati just the other day

that reminds me, i need to go to costco and get one of their hueg sacks of rice

btw I'm not voting in this poll, rice is king of all staple foods and to take sides between diff. types of rice makes you a poor citizen of the kingdom

arborio

that is a mean trick, aero

xp

DAYO OTM

The first time you have brown is such a joy

arborio

ban

voting a short-grain rice over a long-grain rice is the rice equivalent of mass murder

p sure that's how Khmer rouge got started

otm

i only regret that i have but one life to live for short grains

Mussolini...a huge fan of arborio rice

if your rice doesnt stick, youre probably sick (mentally)

short grain...insane...in the membrane

short grain is ok for a rice pudding, I suppose

or a lil dish called risotto

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: risotto is overrated

ty; i was too scared to say it but i agree! maybe i have never had the good risotto but idgi

my friend made good risotto once but I think it was good because of the parmesan and the cream

I've had risotto adjudged good by ppl & food critics but it's always struck me as a dish for people who don't really love to chow down

maybe if you made risotto with basmati it would be good

it does strike me as a proper pinkie-up foodie dish for Americans to wax eloquent about tho

i like rice but w/risotto i'm always like 'this would be better with pasta'

I think people just like cooking a rice grain that looks like translucent, unpolished ivory

when you're eating risotto you're eating TEETH

I've had risotto adjudged good by ppl & food critics but it's always struck me as a dish for people who don't really love to chow down

― unlistenable in philly (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:34 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

what does this even mean

company I worked for back in the day had some event catered and mushroom risotto was the vegan thing they gave me and I was like ~in my mind~

thats nice sweetie, can u just get me a plate of dal and basmati thx

but they were FANCY I guess

"risotto" can describe a huge number of dishes--i mean at its core its just creamy rice and cheese--and then u add whatever u want--i dont really see how that can be a thing to dislike--for that matter it is a seriously hearty food--so i dont understand this "not for ppl who chow down" situation

thank u for not listing king rice, tho

vegan risotto does not sound good 2 me

good thing I've never been vegan

fuck all yall

rice + cheese is weird for me conceptually. unless it's paneer. potatoes and cheese and pasta and cheese--there's more surface area to the starch to absorb the cheese, maybe?

wait you're vegan m bison? don't you live in texas???

i have the same reaction as you when i eat risotto, m bison. i'd rather be eating curry and basmati. /ethnic pride

yes and yes, iatee

i don't like risotto either! like i can eat it but, it's so wet and sloppy

everyone would rather be eating curry and basmati beause indian food is objectively better than italian food

I don't know why risotto hasn't joined the ranks of 'dated' food such as rice pudding, bread and butter pudding and fondue.

I like risotto fine ftr it's just kinda...arborio is actually not particularly good rice (that's why you gotta force a whole lotta liquid & flavor into it to really be able to do much with it) and a small scoop of risotto goes a long way toward satisfying your need for the dish. whereas as a good pilao you can really get messy w/

can't believe i'm saying this, but i think those cuisines are pretty evenly-matched

rice + cheese is weird for me conceptually. unless it's paneer. potatoes and cheese and pasta and cheese--there's more surface area to the starch to absorb the cheese, maybe?

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:44 PM (42 seconds ago) Bookmark

totally. the milk of a cow and RICE?

indian and italian, i mean

rice + cheese is weird for me conceptually. unless it's paneer. potatoes and cheese and pasta and cheese--there's more surface area to the starch to absorb the cheese, maybe?

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:44 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you are a racist

aero is otm in that risotto is really so rich that a small scoop satisfies

india better than all other nations who produce food

xp

i am gonna make chicken curry and have brown basmati, like right now

i am a racist! i am limited by my ethnic frame of reference for food.

i made some chicken korma last week that was amazing, if i do say so myself.

ate it with basmati, natch.

I don't think I've ever bought a bag of basmati rice, it just looks so long and loose, you can't get a handle on it

I don't know why risotto hasn't joined the ranks of 'dated' food such as rice pudding, bread and butter pudding and fondue.

because food critics get a boner for it & also you can really present the shit out of a risotto. if I'm having company I'll even make a killer risotto, a good risotto with some roasted asparagus or other vegetables looks badass on a good plate and is a good food for slow eating and conversation. anybody who actually fills a bowl w/risotto and eats it is totally dumb however

I like risotto fine ftr it's just kinda...arborio is actually not particularly good rice (that's why you gotta force a whole lotta liquid & flavor into it to really be able to do much with it) and a small scoop of risotto goes a long way toward satisfying your need for the dish. whereas as a good pilao you can really get messy w/

― unlistenable in philly (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, November 6, 2011 4:46 PM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

? arborio is a "good rice" for the things that it is used for, ie risotto. its not a "good rice" to eat standalone but if thats how youre comparing it youre stacking the deck

indian food vs. italian food

man I can't get down with "rice and cheese is weird" though. when I was poor a bowl of rice with grated cheese & peanuts was my go-to fill-me-up-and-keep-me-going dish

I do like a good risotto though. I just feel a bit dated eating it.

cannot stand for dissing rice pudding

it's true, every time I eat risotto I regress five years

I should be 178 but luckily I hold a lot of dinner parties

maybe you feel dated eating risotto because it is a classic italian dish that ppl have been eating for literally hundreds of years

Risotto and rice pudding both rule so hard. <3 Went with Basmati for the poll answer btw.

yeah it is weird to call things people have eaten forever, like risotto and rice pudding, dated

digesting foods is p 90s tho

maybe I just haven't had the RIGHT risotto. I'm not dissing. It just hold the same places in my mind as what a lot of people see as 'dated'. Maybe it's due to the popularity of people doing it themselves (risotto being notoriously hard to perfect) and not being presented with the opportunity of eating it that often.

yeah, it's that 80's/90's consistency isn't it?

it's one of those foods that's like, one people make when they want to do cooking

um, i don't know

sorry

apology accepted

its true, risotto is done by a lot of home chefs, usually bad, it can be hard to get right. i promise you guys it is really good! i was just trolling by saying arborio btw, my favorite kind of rice is basmati

tru confessions

truth or dare: risotto?

I'm sorry too. To all rice pudding and risotto lovers out there. Teach me.

truth: do u like risotto?
dare: dare u to make risotto

voting a short-grain rice over a long-grain rice is the rice equivalent of mass murder

Sushi, man. Plus any and all other japanese rice dishes.

sushi is p 90s too

lol

it's not just japan, it's east asia man, ya'll can't step to this

I'm gonna bibimbap over the head anybody who reps for long grain

why do you people not understand risotto, in the rice thread no less

intentionally using you people as a racially loaded term here btw, why tiptoe around it

nice job starting a race war, aero

so many ricists in this thread, jeez

i just think it would be easier if we resegregated cuisines, then these issues wouldn't arise

i'm pretty certain that rice is my single favorite food of all time. of the polled rices: i make brown rice probably about 1/3 of the time and probably basmati and jasmine about equal, too. i have no point i just never thought about it before. and my consumption of japanese style rice is probably double these three put together. rice is nice. and then there's black and white quinoa(!)

has anybody ever had black rice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rice

I am curious

I have cooked black rice. It was not so exciting that I ever felt compelled to repeat.

yeah, but how did it taste

I'm gonna bibimbap over the head anybody who reps for long grain

jealous of the Thai jasmine style I see

man, nobody goes into a thai restaurant and thinks to herself "I am going to leave a path of ruin and destruction at the dining table when they bring me the jasmine rice"

Thai sticky rice man

that sticky icky

BTW, while basmati or jasmine are fine plain, short grain with furikake sprinkled over the top beats either.

furikake sounds kinda excessive, i thought it was gonna be more a dukkap kinda thing ie not have ground fish in it

dukka, rather

The black rice tasted like rice. It was short grained and leaned toward the sticky end of the spectrum. It did look pretty cool, but honestly the taste was nothing special imo.

can't see the option for 'pasta'?

Guys cheese and rice dishes exists solely so to remind us we don't have to take the savior's name in vain. "Oh cheese and rice, I just shut my hand in the door." Which is why I am eating a black rice risotto this April to celebrate His birth while I faux-blaspheme in His honor. It will be kind of disgusting but I can be a food ascetic one day of the year.

basmati

also I like risotto

i just was reminded by black rice blasphemy that the one time i ate risotto that i liked was squid ink risotto. it was so so black!

imo risotto is an excuse to stand around sipping white wine for 24 minutes while you stand over a high heat pan stirring rice. Last time I went to visit my parents I cooked it for them and without imbibing wine during and after the whole process the whole thing is really just an endurance exercise.

(my parents have a no alcohol in the house policy except for some handles of Early Times that the developmentally delayed guy they take care of brought home once, which they keep around to barter during the apocalypse!)

I eat just regular old white rice a lot, so that's probably my favorite (butter, salt, chicken stock). Also (well prepared) risotto is delicious, you weirdos.

And I have a brown rice cooking pro tip! It is from the Joy of Cooking! And it is this: bake it! Bring one cup of rice to 2-1/4 cup water/stock to boil on the stove top in an over-safe pot w/ a lid or a range-safe casserole dish. Pop the lid on it and put it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.

Here's the recipe Joy of Cooking recipe for baked brown rice with mushrooms, which I make a lot (often with cubed up baked tofu added for protein so this is all I have to cook):

Preaheat over to 350.
Melt 3 T of butter or olive oil in a "2-quart stovetop-to-over casserole" aka:
http://s9.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/DB9479B2.jpg
Add and cook until lightly browned 1-1/2 c coarsely chopped mushrooms, 1/2 c chopped onions, 1 clove garlic finely chopped.
Add and stir until coated 1 c brown rice, 1/8 t black pepper.
Add 2-1/4 c. chicken stock, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Cover and bake for 45 minutes (or until all the stock is absorbed).

Measurements are from the JoC. I wing everything except the rice to stock ratio. Leftover chicken also works well instead of tofu.

Jenny I have that EXACT corningware (maybe?) casserole dish! Have never used it for rice, but it was U&K for gratins when cooking for one.

It's Corningwear! I have a hand-me-down set from my mom. I love it so much (but if there's one thing I've truly embraced about living it the midwest, it's casseroles).

Mine is also from my mom! It is very handy and I refuse to get rid of it.

my mom used to have that corning dish too. don't remember if she still does.

As a good Cuban boy I must consume rice at least once a week, but even my 87-year-old abuela now sees the wisdom in cooking jasmine rice for herself.

i want a cuban abuela. can i rent yours, like once a month?

voted basmati, but arborio and sushi rice shouldn'a been omitted, shame on you aero for gaming the system

sushi rice is better than any of these, i agree.

I ruined my first attempt at risotto three Sundays ago; most of the rice remained uncooked.

i want a cuban abuela. can i rent yours, like once a month?

No need. She'll happily cook, and while doing so explain why she prefers the Barefoot Contessa to Bobby Flay.

I was just going to say, I absolutely love that corningware casserole dish

we didn't have a casserole dish but some of our plates had that design on them

my mom must've made 50% of our dinners in that corning dish - feelin nostalgic for her chicken & rice, not so much all the casseroles

we weren't much of a casserole family but i have good memories of my mom making things like baked mac & cheese in that corning dish.

It's my go to dish for mac and cheese, too.

the answer is fried

Next time I visit my parents I am going to steal the olive-green casserole dish which was exclusively devoted to tuna noodle casserole. Never saw anything else cooked in there. I'm sure it is somewhere in that house.

I'm a white rice guy but Mrs. Shasta is a brown rice gal...

We found a compromise with something I can find at our local korean deli called Ogokbap:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogokbap

http://www.google.com/search?q=오곡밥&tbm=isch

It's got a little something for everyone (including black rice, dayo).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

can we have this poll every week? I really enjoy talking about rice.

in yr heart you know these are the options, take that japonica back where you bought it man

― unlistenable in philly (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, 6 November 2011 20:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

really disagreeing with this these days

otm. been huffing the japonica recently and basmati feels thin & weedy by comparison.

you guys <3

I'm really into soaking the rice for a few hours before cooking it these days, it's been coming out super nice

rice is nice imo

my friends into the soaking idea i never have enough time. i rinse it tho

it's pretty easy with a rice cooker - prepare the pot in the morning, set it when you get back

the fuck is this risotto hating

you people should be sterlised

ilised even

so furious i cant even type right now

risotto more like piss-otto

the answer is fried

― blank, Monday, November 7, 2011 2:38 AM (1 year ago)

My relationship with rice dramatically improved when I started using Gourmet magazine's microwave method for cooking Basmati.

No rinsing. Just put 2 parts basmati and 3 parts water in a microwave safe dish, nuke uncovered for 10 minutes, and covered for 5 (your microwave times may vary). Comes out fluffy/pilaf textured every time.

Keep the rice cooker for short-grain/sticky rice.

Oops. I've posted that here before.

rice cooker is one of the smartest purchases i've ever made

made brown rice for the first time in a while recently, feel like the prelude of optimistically eating small mouthfuls of uncooked brown rice every ten minutes for an hour before serving really compromises the enjoyment of cooking it.

risotto is rad, yr all hi

brown rice is gr8

i'm going to have to go look up japonica now bc I only knew that it was some kind of potted plant and not a type of rice
brb

Find myself wanting to get into brown lately as it happens..xp

i am not particularly a food snob but really don't know if i could enjoy eating a meal knowing it was arrived at via a microwave shortcut. i think i'd rather eat something else.

woulda voted basmati, eat brown more often

xpost - why?

brown is really great & satisfying & is sorta a whole different - more salady, grain-y - thing from white, imo, i'd just forgotten all of the mindgames & cooking conditions necessary to making it without the process seeming punishing, i think

ha idk! it's stupid, & maybe has something to do with just the weirdness of microwaved food, like it is hot in a weird way, it makes a fizzing noise. really it is more about the "i'd rather have something else" thing though; like I like cooking rice, it's a nice easy thing to zone out & make & it's fast &c, so it isn't a food making process that i'm dying to make more efficient. if microwaves made peeling squash quicker i'd probably be all over it.

niceness of rice-cooking typified by & at its apex w risotto making, btw

the endorphin-release elicited by watering plants, constantly, for an hour

i laziest on planet but vacuum pack individual rice packs? c'mooooon.

schlump otm re risotto making -- it's my favorite kind of cooking

What the microwave provides is uniform temperature water/steam, vs the gradients in a stovetop pan. But if like me you've struggled to get the pilaf like constency of Indian restaurant basmati (they use pressure steamers where the rice vessel doesn't directly contact the heat source), then the microwave is a godsend. That it saves a burner/pot for the accompanying dal or whatever is a bonus.

all I eat is brown rice from our rice cooker

hi
a question for ilx
could you / do you eat rice on its own
no accompaniments at all
regards

Yah, short or medium grain japonica

Has to be really good quality tho

I could for survival but I would not by choice, but I don't even know what "japonica" is, so.

i think in japan this would not be uncommon but i imagine they would have a drink with it
rice with no drink or just water would be too minimal but good rice with a drink is fine
if i had to spend £2 a week on food i would probably just eat rice though

Yes. Not for an entire meal, but yes, sometimes as a plain dish of its own, with perhaps a side veg + some fish. Must be good quality rice, as noted above. I find that a brown rice works better as an unvarnished plain dish than polished, white rice. More tooth & a nutty flavor of its own.

lol you bring in fish you are disqualified, might as well have a rib of beef and a crate of champagne with it

i do this sometimes

why is "brown" its own option? brown rice does rule though

man, aero really doing some important work in this thread

i think brown is its own option, even if it also identifies as basmati
i can't imagine voting brown other than as an act of aspirational self-improvement but it's nice to feel like it's in reach, nice to see it presented as viably everyday by the internet

&: yeah slyly complementing your rice with anything is not answering the question 'do you eat rice on its own', but, if any concession can be made - like, adding uncooked red or green onion, adding sumac or spices, &c - then i have probably had some pretty bare rice plates

On its own with Maggi liquid seasoning

dash of cumin or something

brown rice is tasty, don't see the ish with it. wdn't eat it by itself for jollies, tins of e.g. kidney beans can be had for pennies too if you're doing the austerity diet

I eat bowls of plain white rice as a snack sometimes.

As noted above, beans & rice is tastier and more nutritious than plain rice.

It does sound as if nakh is not in funds atm. Ben Jonson, in Drummond of Hawthornden's book of table talk, said he 'did often eat his library', meaning selling his books to afford food. If it was good enough for Ben...

Having sold my books in the past, the exchange rate for food would blow goats.

can't believe this wasn't posted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKJ7uGNeIZ4

does rice with soy sauce count as rice on its own important question

no condiments!

and no it's not sudden parsimony but i) i don't really cook and ii) i tend towards the minimal in food anyway and iii) i used to have a weakness for tilda pure basmati microwave rice, therefore i have had plain rice quite a lot in the past, although not so much recently

it's in rice's favour that it can be eaten on its own without condiments, i would probably choose potatoes over rice nowadays but i couldn't eat potatoes on their own without butter and salt

you're doing this on purpose to wind me up now

then my answer is yes but rarely, if good soy sauce was an option it would be all the damn time

i have had plain rice quite a lot in the past

So, your making this query was intended to gauge the exact degree of your own peculiarity? A noble endeavor that should be undertaken more frequently by all!

guys I mixed a little mirin in with my rice and then ate a big old bowl of rice with avocado slices in it a while ago and it was so good

^^ postings by people who have figured out how to live

sounds like it xp

damn son.

Between the toast thread and mh talking about avocado in this one, I was reminded of the (Alton Brown?) recipe of mashed avocado and sardines on toasted sourdough, and now that's what I really want.

tinned sardines in olive oil on their own is another minimal food tour de force

My friend who worked in Japan for three years said the best rice he had ever had was fresh grown japonica, around harvest season

Most of the domestic, high quality rice isn't exported at all, if you find any it's usually at a high price

A bowl of rice will cost at least $5 but what a bowl

if i had rice that was just okay and wanted to eat it plain, boil it into porridge, maybe add salt or not

Side-note: I was in Seoul earlier this year and even though our tour guide only brought us to low-end places each place we went to had really good rice in metal bowls

mashed avocado and sardines on toasted sourdough, and now that's what I really want.

...and it was perfect, really hit the spot.

btw i made risotto tonight

what kind?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/health/nutrition/19recipehealth.html

v easy to make, came out pretty well

Polishing off a bowl of straight up congee right now. No fucks given

rice cookers are amazing, would love to hear some cool rice cooker recipes. My current default one is basically equal grams of basmati rice to ml water ratio then add sauteed cabbage/onions/bell peppers/brocolli/ginger garlic/chillis and spices and oil. Then just leave that thing doing it's work for 30 mins plus.

use it to put anything else but rice in it.

ricist!

fp’d for ricism

Damn it xp

Would also be interested in non-rice meal uses for a rice cooker!

my mom always puts a yam/sweet potato in it with the rice

do you mean just to sweat in there with the rice? that sounds like a good idea.

to cook it ( i think she cuts it into chunks first)and have it for the nutrition.

derp, i just googled. It looks like yam rice is a thing.

Zojirushi or go home

Korean ones are good but only for the mid range ones, not high end

Is brown basmati implicitly a whole grain? I've found it a bit difficult getting straight answer out of the internet about this.

I concur with the last revive, rice cookers rule, I use mine every day. Nothing fancy, just rice and some veggies in the steamer. This does affect the amount of water you need to use so it can be a bit of trial and error to begin with. Also I need to give the rice a stir half way through or it sticks. Even so if you are doing rice in a pan/pot you're aff your heid.

My friend who worked in Japan for three years said the best rice he had ever had was fresh grown japonica, around harvest season

Most of the domestic, high quality rice isn't exported at all, if you find any it's usually at a high price

A bowl of rice will cost at least $5 but what a bowl

― 龜, Wednesday, March 5, 2014 5:08 PM (six years ago)

One of my old pals in Tokyo has a biz partner who learned that he had a foreign friend who was keen on Japanese food (me) so we all went out after a meeting to this non-de-script place in the southwestern suburbs that specialized in raw egg cracked over white rice (卵かけご飯 or 卵ご飯 or "TKG").

The rice was from the best rice farm (I want to say from Niigata prefecture, probabloy koshihikari) and the eggs were from Nagoya from a special breed of free-range chicken (chinese Cochin crossed with native Nagoya hens, think the "wagyu" of Chicken).

Very simple presentation: a bowl of very warm rice + a bowl containing an egg. Crack the egg over the warm rice and voila. The white gets cooked first due to the rice's temperature and the yolk gets slightly cooked but mostly stays in a "sukiyakinabe" state. Doesn't sound like much, but sometimes all you need is a couple very nice ingredients and it becomes something beyond the level of molecular gastronomy or "deconstructed [x]" which was very en vogue across the world at the time.

I always appreciated my buddy's colleague for keeping it simple even though we had like a $100pp. per diem, this meal was under ~$8pp. and made a much stronger memory (although on another trip she also took us to a place that had a whale robata appetizer).

Is brown basmati implicitly a whole grain?

AFAIK brown connotes unmilled rice so it is indeed whole grain, husk and all.

I've got one and a half sacks of basmati rice with best before dates of feb + mar '23. There is no way I'm throwing it out. Google says you can still safely use pantry stored white rice for 4-5 years after the best before date. And also it says you can get mycotoxin related food poisoning from expired rice, lol cheers.

I feel like since it's getting water boiled through it any nasties would be zapped? No?

you would think so, but this didn't make pleasant reading:

Mycotoxin intake is linked to symptoms that range from vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain to convulsions, coma, an increased risk of cancer, and a weak immune system

toxins don't 'die'. they're just molecules, so boiling them does nothing to improve them.

"Though spores of C. botulinum are heat-resistant, the toxin produced by bacteria growing out of the spores under anaerobic conditions is destroyed by boiling (for example, at internal temperature greater than 85 °C for 5 minutes or longer). " (WHO)

Not that I'm going to participate in any boiled botulism eating contests.

do you live in a swamp? if not, you should be fine

The bacteria I associate with rice is bacillus cereus, that "exist" as spores and can survive cooking. But imo with your rice that passed a best buy date is on account of the bran/germ the brown rice cld get rancid. U cld stick it in the fridge I guess to retard the onset of rancid I suppose

I've since read that at the first stage of rice going bad it starts to change colour and you you should look out for mould spots then after that it goes rancid. I made some beef biriyani and it was fine but I'm erring towards tossing the lot now. Toxin brain worms.

stop wasting food

https://www.doesitgobad.com/does-rice-go-bad/

How Long Does Rice Last
Uncooked white rice, unlike brown rice, has an indefinite shelf life if stored properly. Don’t believe me? Just check Uncle Ben’s FAQs.

thanks for that link - I had read another earlier that went with 5 years for uncooked white rice rather than "indefinite" and was expecting someone on here to make nonsense of that claim. But it seems if the rice isn't exposed to any heat or moisture, then the best before date can be safely ignored. Thinking about it rationally, rice or dried goods in general are just about the least likely cause of food poisoning in any kitchen.

Brown rice is like whole wheat flour - you have to use it up within a year or so, because the oil/fat content of the bran will eventually turn rancid. It you've ever smelled rancid oil you will know what I mean. White rice and white flour last a lot longer

what is it that ppl like about brown rice over basmati? just curious because the cooking time is what put me off it previously, but do have a good pressure cooker and an instant pot now.

more fibre

I like sushi rice (short-medium grain; I use Nishiki) more than basmati or brown rice. I wash it first to remove the starch, then I make it in a rice cooker with just slightly less water than recommended, and then sprinkle seasoned rice vinegar over it and let it rest with a towel over it and the lid on for it to expand more. It is really good

I don't normally make brown rice, it's mostly for friends who are health nuts (I have many of them). It does take more cooking time. My calculation is that where white rice requires 1 1/2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice, with brown rice it's 2 cups per 1 cup, and the cooking time is twice as long

what is it that ppl like about brown rice over basmati? just curious because the cooking time is what put me off it previously, but do have a good pressure cooker and an instant pot now.

Btw calzino, if you have any aromat it is a nice addition to brown rice or any other rice when you’re adding salt to the water

I'll have to try some brown rice again, my last bag of it expired in the cupboard and was never opened. But it didn't help that I must have bought at least five 10 kg sacks of basmati during the first lockdown.

When my last rice cooker went I never replaced it because I couldn't find an affordable one that was teflon free. Then I went through a dumb phase of cooking it in an instant pot. Now my preference is using my nice German stainless steel saute pan, which is perfect for making pilau.

I'm always sad that I can't make fried rice like you get in Chinese restaurants. You can take in all the pro-tips about the best soya to use and MSG is essential of course, but on a crappy below par domestic gas cooker - you can't generate the heat intensity they have in a commercial kitchen.

Tim Rice ftw

xxxp You can cook rice in any pot, you just have to cook it covered over low heat and watch the time (20 minutes for white rice, 40 minutes for brown) and make sure it doesn't boil over.

One of my friends likes to bake it - you bring it to a boil on the stove and then place it in a 350 degree oven for 10
or 20 minutes or so, depending on the type of rice. She adds mushrooms and other things.

I like my rice cooker, it's on its last legs but I will buy another one when it dies

This poll is missing rice noodles too.

And rice cakes!

I love the medium thickness rice stick noodles (I've bought them from Asian Best), I use them for chicken or beef pho, they don't dissolve immediately upon cooking like the smaller noodles do

When making rice dishes from scratch I think it's essential to wash the rice, removing the outside starch makes it less glutinous and sticky when cooked, and that is important for all recipes

I've read that dried out take-out rice is the best rice to use for home-made fried rice recipes since it fries easily, but I don't know. I tried to make kim chi-hot dog fried rice with it recently and it was awful

I always wash and steep the rice, whether boiling or frying. For a couple of hours if I have the time. Some people steep overnight.

Basmati FTW - it has a much lower GI than any other kind so is better for yiz sugar levels.

I'll cook jasmine if its going to be for fried rice though.

And obvs risotto is its own genre, but Ive gone off that gloop anyway.

Brown rice is the devil and is the reason I gave up trying to be vegetarian as a kid cos every recipe seemed to require it and I hated it so much.

I buy the 5kg sacks of Maharajas Choice, and honestly I never worry about usebys, I'd use it all up within 3-6 months easily.

Risotto doesn’t have to be gloop. It’s essential to wash the rice, removing the outside starch so it's less glutinous and sticky when cooked. That is especially important for risotto. You want to make a creamy mixture where the rice grains are separate. That involves a lot of attention, slowly adding stock to the mixture while you're stirring it

Oh I know all that, I think I just got burned out on risotto after the 90s. It is nice immediately out of the pan but very quickly clags.

I've been using this rice for a few years. As close as brown rice gets to being fluffy like white rice. Really versatile for a short grain
https://www.oishii.sg/wiki/413/#:~:text=Genmai%20is%20whole%20grain%20rice,bran%20layer%20and%20the%20germ.

i love brown rice so much. especially with a little gravy. just wanted to say that.

we buy the 25 lb bag of jasmine rice from costco. I buy smaller bags of basmati for indian dishes. I've stopped washing rice to conserve water. I toast the rice in some oil (~1 tsp per cup), use a bit less water (e.g. 1.4:1 instead of 1.5:1), and end with 5 minutes off heat with lid on. Always get seperate grains and no gloopiness this way.

always make too much rice and stir fry the leftovers a day or two later. Highly recommend Night Market book for stir fry recipes, but I hear you on the low power gas burner. I bought a high power propane camping burner for wok cooking outside.

The restaurant where I tend bar has very good food but falls completely flat on their rice game. I've thought about taking the co-owner/kitchen mastermind a cup of basmati and saying "try this and never look back."

I've never been a rice washer, then I read about all the toxic chemicals from polluted water that can be on your rice. Now I'm still not a rice washer. Maybe I don't believe a bit of water can get rid of those chemicals, maybe I'm trying to conserve water, maybe I'm just lazy.

washing the rice for me is about rinsing the starch off the grains, but yeah there is probably all sorts of stuff that you are better off not thinking too much about that gets into the food chain.

Ive seen some indian recipes that call for soaking the rice first as well. I wonder, is it to do with the tools at hand or altitude as well? They do a lot of cooking in those odd little whistle pressure cookers.

I always thought pressure cookers might be so popular in the subcontinent because it is so hot there that containing steam and heat and being able to release it out of a window would be a huge plus.

Better for cooking dhal

yes! and that as well

just wanted to add that to make good chana dal most Indian recipes recommend washing and soaking the split gram as essential preparation!

just a word on brown rice, if you heat a tbsp or so of ghee in your rice pot, and sautée the brown rice in that ghee for a minute or two just until it begins to emit the most positively divine fragrance -- you'll know, because you'll say, oh, my God, this smells so divine, and so will anybody else who smells it -- and then, before it over-caramelizes, you add the water or stock you're going to cook it in, bring to a boil and then cover it tightly (I line the lid with some paper towels, this trick really gets the rice to the right texture I find), then reduce the heat to very low and cook as long as your directions say -- brown rice takes a bit longer than white but not, in my experience, the full "twice as long" some cookbooks advise -- and then once the heat's off let it sit five or even ten minutes unbothered before removing the lid, well, should you do this, you will have some very lovely rice indeed.

I've done the saute method previously with basmati, for some "Mexican style" rice. Which was just basically rice sauted with onions, cumin, garlic, tomatoes, hot sauce and then cooked in chicken stock. And the result was decent enough, but no divine moments!

yes, the sautée is good with regular basmati but not unbelievable. but something in the brown basmati with this, it's really next level.

I want my rice too be sticky. Makes it easier to pick up with chopsticks.

yes, both are good in the right meal

Question: can rice cookers be trusted to get brown rice right? Mine doesnt have a specific setting for it. TBH Im considering swapping it for an instant pot or similar, cos the cooker I have has to have all the lid innards dismantled and washed and dried after every use or it gets mould in the seal which is annoying.

I get it done OK in my rice cooker but have to add much more water and sometimes put it on twice.

a zojirushi/tiger/cuckoo/other asian rice cooker with brown rice setting will get brown rice right

rice cooking is a feature that was added to the instant pot as an afterthought imo, it's not designed to cook rice

i worked for a short while with a Japanese chef and he rinsed his (regular short grain, white) rice to remove excess starch then soaked it for ~1/2 hour before cooking. when it comes to brown rice i rinse, then soak it for a couple hours if i have time. think it comes out better/more tender that way (1:1.5 :: rice:water)

xp

yes, instant pots are especially unsuited for white rice - I was fooled by some bad food youtubers that they are also rice cookers. I'm going to get a decent Asian rice cooker when I've got the dosh, not a ridiculously expensive one, but I looked at some good mid-priced options. I'm not buying any more basic £30 ones off e-bay.

i love the idea behind simple rice cookers, it's ingenious. perfect rice cooking with simple electric components, no circuit boards or software, no scales, no timer. how do they do it? i'm glad you asked! boiling water is always 100c no matter how slow or fast it's boiling, so as long as there's water in the pot the temperature will be no higher than 100c. once the water is all absorbed by the rice the temperature of the rice can rise above 100c. below the pot is a magnet made of an alloy designed to become demagnetised above 100c - this magnet is part of a switch that completes the heating circuit. so when the rice has absorbed all the water the temperature goes above 100, the magnet turns off and the heating circuit is disconnected.

it's an impressive old tech invention. Lol I previously thought it was the weight change that switched off the heating circuit.

the first automatic one invented in 1955.

yeah i have one of those cheap no-circuitry ones, it's fine

Yeah we had a $15 Kmart rice cooker with a glass lid whose only setting is cook or warm, I assume it worked the same way - the spring-loaded circle in the middle of the element that pops up (even my new cooker does it that way). We had it years with no issue and no burnt rice, only reason we had to turf it was the nonstick coating was all coming off.

that is the issue I have with the cheap ones, the shitty cheap teflon pot that the rice starts sticking to after a few months of use.

yeah i have one of those cheap no-circuitry ones, it's fine

no doubt. i had one (don't recall brand) that lasted nearly 30 years. replaced recently with another "no-circuitry" Zojirushi that cost ~$50. probably set for life
xp

one I've been looking at is made by Yum Asia and the appeal of it to me, more than all the fancy features it has, is that the inner bowl is ceramic coated and more durable than the awful cheap teflon ones.

Oh that might be ours calz, post a picture? It does brown rice very well

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T2/images/I/71CiUfDgerL._AC_SS450_.jpg

this baby

those are cool but I think you really want one of these babies that costs $500

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZdM-IYUa2I

another rice cooker that is cool and maybe worth investing in is a persian rice cooker that does tahdig. yum yum

https://assets.epicurious.com/photos/5cc881466844e07bbd4a579d/16:9/w_4992,h_2808,c_limit/Pars-Persian-Rice-Cooker-04252019.jpg

ok wow

I'm really liking the build quality of that pannasonic inner pot - "hard diamond inner coating" Yes!

This is actually the one we have, it gets used very frequently.

does the inner pot scratch easily during washing? I think the Yum Asian models all have the same kind of ceramic (BPA-free and PTFE-free) pot and I'll admit this is a tedious obsession of mine.

No, not at all. I wash it frequently and it’s still perfect.

Damn I did not know a dedicated persian rice cooker was a thing. I have been wanting to make tahdig but it gives me angst just thinking about it.

when I was talking abt Persian rice on Sunday we were specifically discussing how hard it is to do that in a regular pot, even a heavy-bottomed one!

a persian rice cooker that does tahdig

WHAT

I don't have the countertop space for a tahdig rice cooker, though a couple of my relatives use them and like them. idg why it's hard to do in a regular nonstick pot tho.

you should always use grapeseed oil. it's harder with oil that burns at lower temps i guess. glad to hear ppl are making persian rice, or want to.

I tried making Tachin in a Le Creuset pot and wanted to get a formed mass of rice with a crust, but it didn't work out. It just ended up being smoked basmati rice (a really great thing in itself, but it scents the whole house) with saffron, yogurt, barberries, coriander seeds, and toasted pine nuts

LOL my fancy newer rice cooker makes tahdig by accident (it crisp/semi singes the bottom of the rice every damn time).

I am in the space-challenged no-more-kitchen-appliances camp. One can make any type of rice in a pot, and one needs the $80 for saffron anyway.

in my local Asian supermarket the saffron is safeguarded on the shelves behind what used to be the cigarette/lottery kiosk from when the building was owned by a chain supermarket. Saffron is a much more expensive habit than smoking though!

hey i can stop anytime i want

xp amen!

the only issue i have with making persian rice in a pot is, you need to wrap a towel around the cover of the pot, otherwise it doesn't come out quite right. i don't know why, maybe the towel absorbs some of the moisture. then where do you keep the towel afterwards, you can't wash it properly with detergent b/c it's used for food preparation. so i always have this fire-singed towel that smells like polow folded up like, on top of my toaster oven.

you now have a towel that can also be used for proofing bread now imo

i just need to start baking bread.

I am with Sufjan Grafton here.

My kitchen is 6'x7', with maybe a pillowcase-sized amount of counter space. Many of you have closets the size of my kitchen.

I love my wife very much, but our bitterest arguments are about single-use appliances. We simply do not have room for: a microwave, toaster, toaster oven, electric kettle, coffeemaker, stand mixer, food processor, slow cooker, instant pot, and a fucking rice cooker. Like, maybe pick two of those? Three, max.

Anyways we make and eat rice frequently. Using a totally normal saucepan on the stove.

Solidarity to closet-sized kitchen users! When I said in the other thread I literally don’t have a stove I meant I don’t have any kind of built-in cooker unit nor the option of having one, countertop appliances only (and v limited space for those)

I cook rice in the microwave, comes out good

Oh man tho, my mum always did amazing Persian rice w tahdig (we have Iranian family) — not thought about that in a while but my bday is on Easter Sunday this year & I might try and nudge our family meal in that direction

a microwave, toaster, toaster oven, electric kettle, coffeemaker, stand mixer, food processor, slow cooker, instant pot, and a fucking rice cooker. Like, maybe pick two of those? Three, max.

rice cooker, toaster oven, electric kettle. that's it. that's all you need.

are microwave ovens any better at cooking jacket potatoes these days? I had a microwave cooked one in the 90's and it was not good.

i have a good sized kitchen with an *enormous* double sink, lots of clutter and limited counter space. the oven doesn't work (and i'm not going to fix it because $$$), the refrigerator stopped working years ago but the freezer is just about cold enough to refrigerate food for like 5 days. Your cue to post OS Mutantes YT itt, James Redd & The Blecchs. The ancient microwave is built in. I have a toaster oven and an electric kettle that live on the countertop. The food processor is stored away and I just bust it out to make ghormeh sabzi and a couple of other things. I use an immersion blender almost daily. The only other gadget I had was a coffee grinder that I used for spices, which broke after i took to using it for garlic-ginger-chili paste. They're for dry ingredients only, I guess.

I would like your gormeh sabzi recipe pls

rice cooker, toaster oven, electric kettle. that's it. that's all you need.

― 龜, Thursday, March 30, 2023 9:58 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

these are the 3 appliances i own as well, all sitting in a row on the table since my kitchen has no counter space

my small kitchen is now starting to feel absolutely massive. I've still had to make space by mounting hooks and shelves on the wall, hooks are so essential I don't know how I ever managed without them.

microwave, toaster, toaster oven, electric kettle, coffeemaker, stand mixer, food processor, slow cooker, instant pot, and a fucking rice cooker

Forgot to add: waffle maker, blender, breadmaker, Foreman grill, sodastream.

Like, my mother and grandmother had exactly none of these things and made delicious food for eight decades.

Bet they wish they had some of them though. Almost as though making everything from scratch is work.

it can be fun in various ways sometimes. But after years of doing it every day, inevitably you get burnt out and end up doing some effing chips with instant powder curry sauce!

Anyways we make and eat rice frequently. Using a totally normal saucepan on the stove.

I've been cooking rice a minimum of once a week for over 40 years. I always use a saucepan on the stove. It needs to have a good, snug lid, but otherwise nothing special is required. I long ago stopped measuring the rice and water by any method except eyeballing them. It's one of the advantages of doing the exact same thing over and over, especially if the pan and stove hardly ever change.

Yes aimless. Ears help too. I know the sound of rice that is cooking vs. rice that is about to burn.

the results of water ratios with cooking rice can vary by the size of the pan. Currently I use a German stainless steel wide saute pan with a glass lid. I cook it for something short of 10 mins then leave in the steam for another 5 and this works fine. But still want a fancy rice cooker.

I would like your gormeh sabzi recipe pls

― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie)

here ya go

Forgot to add: waffle maker, blender, breadmaker, Foreman grill, sodastream.

I own a blender, breadmaker, sodastream - blender, you can do without but a proper vitamix will make amazing hummus, soups, moles, etc. breadmaker, it's OK (doesn't make great artisanal bread) but it is a great dough mixer, I could live without, you could probably get by with a pair of egg beaters. sodastream, how else are you gonna carbonate water, blow into the bottle really hard? plus they're mostly vertical, don't take up a ton of space.

I am against ridulously-specific kitchen items like mini-pie makers, waffle irons, steamers just for eggs, all that crap.

But my benchtops get the toaster, espresso machine**, kettle and Sodastream. The cupboards store the stand mixer, rice cooker, and I have a combo blender/food processor (one stand, blender and FP can be swapped out on it).

The microwave has its own spot on a seperate small island bench thingy.

**The espresso machine is a really narrow form factor, I'm not covering half a bench with a giant Gaggia or anything, its one of these:
https://dam.delonghi.com/600x600/assets/223683

Oh and to wind it back to the subject of the thread! Despite all I said about rice cookers and instant pots, I too prefer to cook my rice on the stove, in one specific old stainless steel pot Ive had since the 90s that does it perfectly.

stoves are really good for cooking a lot of things

the refrigerator stopped working years ago but the freezer is just about cold enough to refrigerate food for like 5 days. Your cue to post OS Mutantes YT itt, James Redd & The Blecchs.

til that i don't know how to cook brown rice

Weirdly psychotic energy itt

pretty sure the secret is to chant "brown rice" in a whispered tone while charlie haden plays a sick bass line

Rice Poll

Weirdly psychotic energy itt

― ian, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 9:13 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

seriously. i sort of avoid food threads because no one ever will change their mind about anything but i wish i had been in here talking up bomba rice

I reiterate that the sautée in ghee brown rice technique I recommend above makes some of the best rice you will ever eat

don’t even need to scroll up, I have you saying arborio is “for people who don’t really like to chow down” in response to max’s write-in burned into my brain

Brown rice is why I'm not a vegetarian. I tried being one as a teenager and every book was like "bla bla with brown rice" and I hated it so much I gave up.

My mistake in hindsight was buying british hippy cookbooks, but anyway.

i'm not exactly allergic to ghee but very much ghee-intolerant. just the smell of it makes me instantly nauseous. one of my friends relentlessly proselytizing for ghee as a magic elixir (he's a bit of a 'new age healer') has not helped. especially since i was standing in his kitchen as he prepared some during one of these sermons.

i mixed long and short grain brown rice with wild rice, i think each variety required a different cooking time and water ratio. after cooking it in a covered pot with a measured amount of water didn't work out, i boiled it like pasta for a couple of minutes and strained it with acceptable results. i'm a basmati guy anyhow, rice blends aren't worth it.

I LOVE wild rice (which isn't actually rice) but we're talking 45 minutes there and it's expensive

lol k3v

Slight off topic but whats the deal with ghee? I keep a tub in the fridge, but its thusly impossible to use as it goes rock hard.

I read South Asian ppl just keep it on the bench in runny form, but wont it go rancid like butter would?

i keep it at room temp, lasts forever

I keep it in the fridge and have developed various techniques with spoons and knives for getting what I need but yes it should keep at room temp for a good while

i think because many of the dairy solids aren't in there it lasts sort of like oil would?

I once threw out some extremely dodgy looking ghee, it had been hidden behind other stuff at the back of a kitchen cupboard for at least a few years though. It keeps fine on the shelf for months ime

Huh ok I will try keeping it room temp. I like the flavour of it compared to just oil in my curries.

I'm still trying to perfect my curry base masala (the whole spices/onions fried down/garlicginger paste/tomates and spice powders/fry into pasty sauce step). I cant get it quite right and I think cooking down the onions/using more than I am might be why.

But! That is not a rice topic.

ime temperature doesn't turn butter rancid, exposure to air does

oh and cooking brown rice is mostly just adding extra water in the rice cooker, also brown rice is delicious

made fried rice last night with leftover brown rice, grilled chicken + green onions. didn’t touch the ghee jar :-(