Basics for the novice cook | ||
Rice | ||
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Rice is the staple diet for most of the world’s population and is commonly served with Thai and Chinese cuisine as well as dishes from the Indian sub-continent. Easy Cook Long Grain Rice
Note: when dry, one portion of easy cook long grain rice weighs 65g (approx 85ml). Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, then gently add the rice so that it pours into the saucepan rather than drops in all at once. Add two teaspoons of salt, and gently stir the rice until you can feel that the grains haven’t caked together. Adding the rice may have caused the water to go off the boil so keep the heat on until the water has reached boiling point again, and then reduce to a gentle boil. Time the cooking - the cooking time should be on the packaging (usually in the region of 15 – 18 minutes). A minute before the time is up, boil some water in a kettle. After the allotted time, get a grain (or two) of rice on the end of a fork and check that it is cooked. When cooked, pour the rice into a colander over a sink to drain away the water. Place the colander back over the saucepan, and rinse the rice with the hot water from the kettle. Now place the colander over the sink again and rinse the rice again with the water from the saucepan. This process will wash off any excess starch so that your rice will be fluffy. |
There are many varieties of rice - pilau,
basmati, jasmine, etc. However, my recommendation for the novice cook is to start with easy cook long grain rice,
which probably accounts for the larger part of the rice in UK supermarkets. This rice has already been partially cooked and dried and is therefore quite practical to work with.
