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You
would think that after living for several
years in Hong Kong I would have had boiled
rice down cold. No, not me. Whether I
used a rice cooker or whether I used
my neighbour Mrs Tang's never-fail method
of measuring water to rice ratio with
the knuckle of her index finger (that
is, I used my finger, not Mrs Tang's)
you could paper a wall with the sticky
glob that resulted. Either that or use
the hard little pellets as pigeon shot.
After
scaping burnt rice off the pan for
the umpteenth time, I did what every
girl in my situation would do. I called
my mother. |
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From
the other side of the world she gave me the
simplest method of cooking rice I had ever
heard. I stared down the phone in disbelief
and thought, 'yeah, right, as if it would
be that simple'
The next time I plucked up the courage to
try rice, I decided I had nothing to lose but
another cup of rice and half an hour cleaning
the pan, so I gave her advice a shot. When
I uncovered the pan, I gazed in disbelief and
the fragnant, fluffy, perfect white rice inside.
So here it is. The secret to perfect long-grain
white rice. Guard it with your life.
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Put
rice and 1 1/2 times the quantity of
liquid (water or stock) in a heavy-based
saucepan.
In other words, if you are using
one cup of rice, use 1 1/2 cups of liquid.
If you are using 2 cups of rice, use
3 cups of water.
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Bring
to the boil without covering the pan. Once
boiling, give the rice a stir to separate
all the grains, then cover the pan and
turn the heat down low.
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Cook
on a low heat without lifting the lid for
15 minutes.
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Fluff
up the rice with a fork and serve.
The
secret is in the quantity of liquid to rice
and the length of time to cook uncovered.
These ratios differ depending on the type
of rice.
- Basmati
rice, 1 1/2 x liquid to rice, cook covered
for 10 minutes
- Long
grain brown rice, 2 x liquid to rice, cook
covered for 26-30 minutes.
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