IHB Rice thread

no_vaseline_IHB

no_vaseline_IHB

New member
What are you guys using for rice?



Backstory:



My roomie from college had a (rare at the time) Japanise full logic rice cooker and this ultra high grade stuff that I think came from Koda Farms.



<a href="http://www.kodafarms.com/faq.html">http://www.kodafarms.com/faq.html</a>



I think they stock Kokuko Rose at Ranch 99, but I'm curious what other users currently use. The stuff I eat now is crap, and I'm going to fix that now that I also have a super high tech rice cooker.
 
It depends on what I'm cooking and whether the situation calls for a long-grain rice, short-grain, or sticky, etc.



My favorite long-grain rice to use is always jasmine. I like this better than basmati because it is fragrant but not dry. I make it with chicken broth instead of water. This is what I use for everything unless I'm making risotto (I use Arborio rice.) I have been wanting to try black rice / "forbidden" rice. I have read that this is a good Chinese rice. I wonder what that tastes like.



I love cooking rice. I have a rice cooker I use very often.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1243950928]What does a super high tech rice cooker do that my 20 year old one and the proper water measuring technique doesn't?</blockquote>


Typically, a more high tech rice cooker will have a preset timing feature, digital controls, a rice warmer, reheat function, a steaming basket for veggies / dumplings / etc. It may have special settings for things like oatmeal and soup. My observation is that they are usually of larger capacity as well.
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1243950151]It depends on what I'm cooking and whether the situation calls for a long-grain rice, short-grain, or sticky, etc.



My favorite long-grain rice to use is always jasmine. I like this better than basmati because it is fragrant but not dry. I make it with chicken broth instead of water. This is what I use for everything unless I'm making risotto (I use Arborio rice.) I have been wanting to try black rice / "forbidden" rice. I have read that this is a good Chinese rice. I wonder what that tastes like.



I love cooking rice. I have a rice cooker I use very often.</blockquote>


Same here. I tend to use the long-grain jasmine white rice. Lately, I have been trying out the brown jasmine rice. Supposedly, healthier than white rice. But gosh, it's so dry. Ugh! By the way, I looked at the nutritional info. on the bags. The white rice vs. brown rice are the same. So why is brown better?



As for the rice cooker, I use the simple one button kind. 3-4 bowls capacity. Afraid to get those high tech ones for fear I might not know how to use it. Similar to my TV remote control. :)
 
My bias for small appliances (rightly or wrongly) like rice cookers is to go with a brand name that is an engineering company first an foremost, that way I figure it is overengineered, and most of the $ in manufacture is spent on parts instead of on marketing. So I have a cheap Panasonic rice cooker.

In my experience, the key to a good pot of rice is simply to follow the directions on that particular bag of rice - the water requirements, need for a little oil or whatever is usually a little different for different types of rice. I seem to recall that brown rice takes more water/takes longer than white - read the bag, perhaps that is why the brown rice you have been trying is too dry.



A fun alternative is to subsitute in chicken or beef broth for the water, and throw in a little onion for tastier rice.
 
I only use Indian Basmati Rice. They sell something like a 20 pound bag at Costco for around $18. Whereas only 4 pounds at market is $9.



I first wash the rice until the water runs clear, then soak for 30 minutes before cooking.
 
I only use Indian Basmati Rice as well. I cook Middle Eastern food for the most part, and you have to use basmati rice- any other rice just would be gross. The Zafarani brand that they now sell at Costco is pretty good. I also go to Super Irvine and get the Deer or the Elephant brand as well. I can't stand mushy rice so Jasmine and other Asian brands just do not do it for me.
 
The problem with long grain is that it's dry... the problem with calrose is it's sticky.



So we combine a jasmine rice and a calrose rice... you have that nice fragrance and better consistency. Learned that from the moms.
 
My mom, who makes rice with homemade indian food (every night) uses the basmati rice from costco. I try to use brown rice so I've been using basmati brown rice from Trader Joe's. It's not great but gets the job done.
 
Zafrani Basmati for the days when I want to have something good, or if I made a good curry.

Brown Basmati otherwise. It's not very tasty, but it's supposedly good for health.
 
Funny... I do what SoCal does... I buy a huge bag of jasmine rice from 99 ranch and almost always make it with chicken stock (well with a Knox chicken bouillon cube mixed in which is as close to chicken stock as we get in our house). I make it plain with just salt, pepper and olive oil for a couple other recipes. I have tried basmati in the past which I also like a lot but the jasmine rice seems to turn out well more consistently. It takes us about a year to go through the huge bag of rice so we don't need a rice cooker.
 
My favorite rice is Civic:



<img src="http://img1.ifilmpro.com/blog/1/8/6/4/1864908/1219875314963.jpg" alt="" />



For eating, I wash Kokuho Rose in water until there are no nutrients left on it and then cook it with just water in a 70's vintage Tatung rice cooker from Taiwan.
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1243985520]Zafrani Basmati for the days when I want to have something good, or if I made a good curry.

Brown Basmati otherwise. It's not very tasty, but it's supposedly good for health.</blockquote>


Yes, Basmati is great with curry chicken/beef. It doesn't get soggy as the chinese white rice.
 
Depending on your purpose, you'd use different types of rice. i.e. Texas AA long grain is good for making fried rice, but for regular steamed white rice, I prefer Korean.
 
Gotta help out my man, _Vas.



<a href="http://www.justhungry.com/2003/11/japanese_basics_1.html">Most of what you want to know about Japanese rice.</a>
 
Microwave it!



What you need: A large corelle or glass bowl, 2 small cup measures of Royal Basmati long grain rice (Costco or Wholesome Choice sell it), 5 measures of water (i.e. 2.5 x rice), and microwave it partially covered (like with a microwave-safe plate warming/venting lid) for 22 - 25 minutes.



Carefully remove it from the microwave - remember the bowl will be heavy! Also remember to wipe down the mosture from inside the microwave after its done.



No rice cooker or stove needed.



Voila!
 
My super duper high tech rice cooker was purchased from Big Lots! for $25.



Koda Farms website says not to rinse the rice, so we didn't. They suggest you "fluff and unstick" the rice 5 minutes before you serve it, which we forgot.



Kukoho Rose doesn't have that wierd aftertaste that Calrose did. Little did I know I got spoiled when I was in college.
 
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