Cooking Rice

It took me so long to learn to cook rice. It seems so simple - just follow the package directions, right? Well, not so much for me. I can't tell you how many times my rice was overcooked, undercooked or just not any good. I tried that boil-in-a-bag stuff for a while but it was always mushy for me too. The most helpful tip I got for figuring this out was from my brother. He told me that when the rice package says, "cover and lower the heat to simmer", you should turn down your burner almost all the way. I think my interpretation of "simmer" was more like a slow boil. Anyway, here are some step-by-step instructions that will hopefully be helpful to someone else. Do check your package directions too though - the rice to liquid ratio may be a little different than what I recommend here depending on your brand.


Time: 30 minutes for white rice, 1 hour for brown rice
Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup of raw rice
• 1 3/4 cup of liquid for white rice, 2 1/4 cup of liquid for brown (chicken broth is great here; water works too)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp butter

Cook

1. Add all of your ingredients to a medium saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid.
2. Turn your burner to high and let the liquid come to a fast boil.

3. Once the liquid boils, cover your saucepan with your lid.
4. Turn the burner down to the lowest setting and cook your rice for 15 minutes for white rice and 45 minutes for brown. I set a timer here.

5. Once your time is up, leave your lid in place and remove your saucepan from the heat. Let your rice sit, untouched for at least 10 minutes or until you're ready to use it. It can stay warm for quite a while with all of the residual heat.
6. After your rice has "rested", remove your lid and use a fork to fluff it around and separate the grains. It should be pretty close to perfect.