Put that lid down! The key to perfect rice

Black, white, long, or short, avoid clumpy sticky rice. Learn the key to cooking rice and enjoy perfectly flaky rice every time.

By Carolyn Roberson - Monday 14 Nov 2011

Oh, those little grains of goodness. In my childhood home, rice was a Sunday dish. Mother and Daddy would put a roast on, and we would leave it cooking while we went to church. Arriving home to the scent of a warm roast in the oven was such a cozy feeling.

Rice went into a medium sized pot of water, and before you know it, the white foam would be oozing down the side of the pot, and dripping into the drip pan of the electric eye on the stove. You could hear the lid tinkle as the steam would lift the lid and it would slap back down. I have to add how difficult it was washing all of that steamed on starch off that pot.

Next, it would be poured into a strainer, and rinsed with hot water. Served with gravy made from the beef stock off of the roast, the gummy rice was the second “R” in RRG, or Roast, Rice and Gravy, our Sunday dinner. If for some reason we didn’t have RRG, my brother would be in a state of panic because it was tradition and expected. To this day, RRG is my brother’s Sunday meal.

A TV reporter once asked Cate Blanchet to name her favorite food, and her reply was rice. I’m not at all surprised considering her tiny sized frame. Rice is a nutritionally great food.
Complex carbohydrates, such as rice, supply energy for the body, and brain. And, rice contains iron, helps alleviate indigestion and nausea, and lowers cholesterol. However, white rice is stripped of much of its nutritional value.

Rice comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors! Black rice is considered the forbidden rice and, at one time, was fixed only for the emperors meals. Arborio, Basmati, Jasmine, Wild, Long grain, Short grain, and Brown rice provide a host of choices.

After years of eating rice, Jasmine has become my favorite because of its sweetness. Next would be Arborio, and Basmati. If I knew I was eating my last meal, it would include rice.

Years ago, I was helping my mother-in-law in the kitchen while she cooked. I inadvertently picked up a lid on a pot to see its contents. She sharply turned in my direction and said, “Do not lift the lid on my rice.” Well, I didn’t know it was rice. After all, there was no foam running down the side of the pot, nor was the lid tinkling! I quickly recoiled my hand, and apologized.

I learned something that day. To my pleasant surprise, my daddy had been cooking rice wrong all along. Nana’s rice was so fluffy, and wasn’t all stuck together. And, NO sticky pot to clean.

The secret to cooking rice is steam. Rice steamers can be purchased, but I just use a pot with a clear glass lid. I do enjoy watching the rice steam. If done right, rice will turn out perfectly every time. And, I think I’ve got it down pat.

Steamed Rice!

Use 1 cup of water to each ½ cup of jasmine rice. Add salt to your liking to the water. Bring water to a boil, stir in rice, cover with lid, adjust heat to low, and let sit for 20 minutes never lifting the lid to allow the steam to escape. Perfect flaky rice, every time.

However, cook time varies for each type of rice, so read the directions on the package. But, lifting the lid on the pot is a “no no” for any type of rice. So, “Put that lid down!”.