In cooking rice, try as much as possible to maintain its nutritional value. There are a lot of different methods to cook your rice, but we have just a few best methods that work well with rice.
Rice is a staple food cooked worldwide, and many people still find it challenging to use the best method to cook their rice.
This article will reveal the best method to use when cooking your long-grain, medium-grain, and short-grain rice.
The three best methods of cooking rice are;
- By absorption method
- By parboiling with the absorption method
- By stovetop steaming method
Also read: How To Cook Rice ( Long grain, Medium grain, and Short grain)
1. Absorption Method
The absorption method of cooking rice is the simplest and the most common. Many people use this method daily, but some still find it the most difficult.
This absorption method is the best method to use when cooking rice; you must be calculative. It’s essential to know the specific quantity of liquid that can cook a certain amount of rice when using this absorption method.
When you use the absorption method to cook your rice, it will retain the nutrients and flavor of the rice, unlike the other methods that involve throwing the liquid away after cooking the rice. The liquid used is absorbed entirely by the rice without losing any of the nutrients.
Cooking rice with the absorption method needs an accurate quantity of liquid, which changes with the rice quantity or the grain size. Other conditions also affect the absorption method like; the type of rice, the altitude, the heat source, the brand, the age, and the quality of the rice.
You can often cook your long-grain white and brown rice using this method by using 2 – 2½ cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice, and it takes about 20-30 minutes to cook thoroughly.
For short-grain white and brown rice, you need 1½ – 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice, and it takes about 18-30 minutes to cook thoroughly.
Basmati rice needs 1 ½ cups of water to cook 1 cup of rice, and it takes 10 minutes to cook.
Risotto rice needs 3 cups of water to cook 1 cup of rice, which takes 20-40 minutes.
The water to rice ratio may vary depending on the brands and batches of rice.
Steps for cooking rice with the absorption method
- Rinse the rice well until the water runs clear, and put the rice in a heavy-based saucepan with the measured water, add salt or stock.
- Bring to boil, stir to separate the grains, then cover and turn the heat very low.
- Simmer for the cooking time without lifting the lid, which lets out steam and lowers the temperature. The rice should be tender and all the liquid absorbed.
- Fluff up the rice with a fork and serve immediately, unless it is basmati rice. Leave the basmati rice in the covered pan, off heat, for 5 minutes before serving.
2. Parboiling-absorption Method
The parboiling-absorption method is similar to the absorption method, but parboiling is the first thing we do. This parboiling is the precooking of rice before the absorption method.
Parboiling is partial cooking or boiling of rice in liquid to remove husk in the rice. This process is essential when the rice is still in the husk. Although, we already have parboiled rice in the market, predominantly brown rice.
Commercially, the parboiling process is before the milling of rice, and it takes the approach of soaking, steaming, and drying. It is healthier to eat parboiled rice than traditional white rice.
In Nigeria, we parboil our rice again before cooking it, especially the long-grain rice. Even though most long-grain rice is parboiled commercially, we do this before cooking with an absorption method to reduce the starch content, and it also helps the rice to remain firm, fluffy, and not sticky when cooked.
It is good to parboil rice before cooking when you want to cook any rice recipe. It allows ingredients and spices added to the rice to combine well with the rice and helps prevent the rice from becoming burnt or soggy.
If you want to cook plain rice and you are scared of losing the rice nutrient through parboiling or precooking, you can use only the absorption method. Use this parboiling plus absorption method for recipes like coconut rice, jollof rice, fried rice, or any other rice recipe; you will love the outcome.
How to parboil rice for any rice recipe
1. Pour the raw rice into a pot and add enough cold water to the rice (the water can be about four times the rice).
2. Boil the rice for 5-10 minutes, remove and drain the water in a colander
3. Rinse the parboiled rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Please leave it in the colander to cool off and drain excess water before cooking with the absorption method.
NB: The water you need to cook the rice again will be less than the water you normally use for absorption.
Also Read: How to cook and shred chicken fast
3. Stovetop Steaming method
Steaming is another excellent way of cooking rice perfectly. The steaming method cooks rice with steam, the vapor from boiling water. The process allows the rice to cook by slowly absorbing moisture from the boiling water. Although this method is slow, it will cook the rice evenly and perfectly.
Steamed rice uses both boiling and steaming methods. You will boil the rice in little water before steaming it until it is tender.
How to steam rice on a stovetop
- Rinse rice with cold water repeatedly until the rice runs clear
- Use a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid to cook the rice.
- If it is medium or long-grain rice, the water to rice ratio should be 2:1. For example, you can use 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. For short-grain rice, use a 1.5:1 water to rice ratio. You can reduce the water for a stickier result.
- Bring the water to boil over high heat before adding your rice.
- Add your rice (you can also add salt to taste), cover with a lid, and reduce the heat to low; simmer for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed.
- Remove the pan from heat, and leave the lid on it for about 10 minutes before opening and serving it.