Cooking Rice 101

Why in the world do they call it “Minute Rice” when it takes more than a minute to cook? It is very deceiving. It takes almost as long to cook as it does regular rice. Personally I like my rice a little sticky. If the Japanese were left to eat Minute rice with their chop-sticks, they would be a starving nation.

Cooking rice is not rocket science. It really isn’t. One of the main rules in cooking rice is ‘leave it alone!’ You do not lift the lid and stir it occasionally.

I was raised on Red & White. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, ask any Cajun from Louisiana (pronounced ‘loo zee ann a’). They will tell you “well, it’s red beans and rice, of course!” Anyway, my husband and I were at a friends house and they asked me to fix it for dinner. My dear sweet husband, being the thoughtful gentleman that he is (actually just trying to impress friends) offers to cook the rice. I assured him that I didn’t need any help, but he insisted. Now, I’m not sure how many of you realize this but REAL men don’t need instructions. Cooking or otherwise. He proceeds to put water in pan, adds what he thinks is an appropriate amount of rice (I am cringing in the corner, biting my tongue till it bleeds so as not to bruise his male ego) and turns on the burner. When it begins to boil he stirs, places the lid on and turns down the heat. Well, I’m thinking this may not be too bad, it looked close to the proper proportions. I continue with my part of this dinner and a couple minutes go by and he comes over to HIS pot, lifts the lid and stirs. My poor tongue took some abuse that night. He does this 2 or 3 more times then decides it is getting too dry so he adds a little more water. AGHHH! I’m screaming inside! This is my special dish to prepare and he is massacring it. I can’t let this ruin the meal, so while he is in the other room I start another pot of rice. He never even noticed.

When dinner was served I served it with ‘my’ rice. My husband never knew the difference and boasted on what he thought was ‘his’ rice. Everyone enjoyed it so much they all wanted seconds. I dished out bowls all the way around until it came to my husband. The rice was all gone. I told him not to worry and grabbed another pot from the stove and removed the top and said “Help yourself”. It appeared to be a lumpy mixture of cream-of-wheat. In not so many words he asked me what THAT stuff was? I told him it was ‘HIS’ rice. He has not cooked rice since.

For the perfect rice - Measure 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Example: Use 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Bring water to a boil with a Tbsp of butter or margarine if you like and a tsp of salt. When water comes to a boil add rice, stir, cover, and turn to a simmer. Let simmer for 14 minutes WITHOUT removing lid. Then still, without removing lid, turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Vwah-lah! Perfect rice!

Trust me, it really is easy!