how to boil rice

 The major reason for this post is I have realized consumers don’t understand the fact that not all rice types have the same cooking time and water absorption rate, so they just cook them the same way and end up messing a good day’s meal.

TYPES OF RICE

There are different types of rice; many of which even I got to know through studies; I ll list them but I will focus more on those popular ones eaten in the world

1. Long grained rice (white)

2. Unpolished short whole-grain rice (Ofada rice)

3. Brown rice

4. Basmati rice (long grain)

5. Wild rice

6. Jasmine rice

7. Short grain rice (plump)

8. Black rice (Forbidden rice)

9. Canaroli rice (rissoto and pudding rice)

10. Thai sticky rice

Long Grain Rice (White)

This is one of the most popular rice eaten in West Africa and some other parts of the world. It’s said to be genetically altered and most of its nutrients gone through series of polishing and processing.

However, cooking of the long grain white is really awesome because once you pour into a pot and add water (let the water level rise above the rice), cover and watch for about 30minutes.

Check for your desired strength, add more water if you want it to be softer, or just put it down and it’s done. Easy. However, many of the other types of rice I’m about to show you cook differently.

Basmati Rice

I love basmati rice because of its appearance. It’s finesse structure gets me every time and as a chef, I prefer cooking basmati when I have August visitors.

However, basmati rice does not cook the way the long grain white rice does. You don’t even expect to taste softness as like when eating the long grain.

Basmati rice gets done very fast and if you are preparing a jollof or white, it is preferable you soak it in water for about 30minutes, drain, remove the starch before cooking and cooking is just 15minutes or less.

So if you are cooking basmati, unlike long grain, have it in mind that you are not leaving it unattended to.

This type of rice is high in starch content and they cook pretty fast too. You can pre soak in water to remove some of the starch or per boil.

All in all, it gets soggy and sticky easily and it’s good for rice rissoto and forms structure easily. It also gets done easily so it’s advisable to cook for a little time

The rice is Plumpy, dirty looking, and has a brown streak on its body. It’s also called local rice because of its cultivation and processing. It takes quite a long time to cook too.

It is first washed as many times as possible, poured into the pot, and cover with water. The most common way of cooking this rice is to check when it’s done and drained into a sieve.

You might never get it right if left for the water to dry off.  It’s simple, when you that and it’s done, drain through a sieve.

Jasmine Rice

From its name, you know what we facing here. It’s otherwise known as fragrance rice and I won’t go into the story of how it got to be a perfumed rice.

What you need to know is it also has sticky nature and is cooed majorly by steaming. It’s not very good for some rice dishes because of its sticky nature however, you can still use it in stir fry dishes and cooking is very minimal.

….Now you know what to do when you get that kind of Rice. #winks

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