- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Every time I cook rice it comes out bad. Tips? I’d like to be able to make edible rice without purchasing an appliance. Movies and history tell me this is possible??
Cooking rice is a notoriously hard problem (and for that reason I recommend noodles instead) but my tip is:
- Don’t (!) do the 2:1 thing where you mix 2 cups of water with 1 cup of rice. Some of the water will boil off and the ratio will be distorted, except if you close your cooking pot, in which case it begins to foam like crazy and give you something to clean up
- Do just fill a large pot with lots of water and make it boil; then when it boils add the rice and cook a certain time with the pot open. I’ve made the best rice this way.
Just turn down the heat when it starts boiling and you won’t have any mess at all. Boiling pretty much anything without using a lid is just plain dumb and a waste of energy. The only exception being if the point of boiling is to reduce water content.
Level 1
2 to 1 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil 1 cup of rice, add after water is boiling Reduce heat to simmer (simmer is less than medium but higher than just warm, on my stove it goes up to 10, I turn it down to 2.4). Put on lid Wait 20 minutes Eat
If it starts to boil over with the lid on just lift the lid so it will go back down. I add either some oil and salt or some (1 or 2 tblsp) salted butter to the water. People will tell you to rinse the rice first, but that’s level 2, get to level 1.
Thank you friend
It’s possible but the cheapest rice cooker is going to be more consistent than a seasoned pro. I can cook rice fairly well without a cooker but 1 out of 10 times it’s awful.
I’m seriously baffled by the amount of people in this thread having issues with something as simple as boiling plain rice. What the hell, its not fucking rocket science. Do you have trouble boiling pasta too!?
Bad news, but also I am relieved to hear that Ricefail is an apparently common experience.
That’s why you learn to make fried rice. Just use day old badly cooked rice.
Jasmine rice. Makes a huge difference if you like white rice. Tastes like from a restaurant and pleasantly sticky.
Plain white basmati rice.
One cup rice. If it’s not washed, wash it.
2 1/4 cups water.
1 heaping teaspoon salt.
Put rice, salt, and water in pot.
Bring to boil. Stir a little to keep rice from sticking too much.
Soon as it boils, take off heat, put heat to low, then put pot back on heat and put a lid on it.
~ 20 minutes later, check. Should not be any water in the bottom of the pot. If no water, eat!
Even if it says it’s washed, wash it anyways. Starches rub off from the grains moving against each other in the bag.
I love my Instant Pot. You can probably find used ones now. It makes perfect rice and I use it to make oatmeal from steel cut oats nearly every morning. I also use it to steam vegetables like broccoli, especially potatoes for when I make mashed potatoes.
Seconded. Great rice. Excellent flexible do-everything-reasonably-well appliance.
Rinsing rice does wonders. Without a rice cooker you’ll need to strain it, but it’s still worth it.
- Measure rice by volume. Let’s say 2 cups worth
- Put into fine colendar and rinse until the water comes out clear. Mixing with your hand will speed this up. You can also do this in the pot you’re going to cook in and dump water out
- Put strained rice in your pot
- Add cold water. The ratio of water to rice matters a lot and varies by species of rice. The ratio will be printed on whatever container your rice came in. For Jasmin rice it’s 2 water to 1 rice, so for our two cups of rice you’ll need 4 cups of water
- Cover, turn on medium-high heat, being to boil. Don’t go far because it will boil over when it does boil
- Turn the heat down to low, crack the lid, and set a timer. The amount of time needed will vary based on rice. For Jasmin, 15 minutes is a good check-in time
- Pop the lid. See water bubbling up? If yes, replace lid and come back in a few minutes. If not, use a wooden spoon to get a peek at the bottom of the pot. See water? If yes, replace lid and come back fairly soon to check again. If not, your rice is done. Turn the heat off, fluff, enjoy.
We made rice for years using this method and it is a very reliable cooking method. Rice doesn’t really leave you a lot of wiggle room though, which is where a rice cooker comes in handy. As an added bonus, some rice cookers come with water lines in them. I measure my dry rice into the cooker, rinse using the cooker, dump most of the water out, and fill to the appropriate level.
Different species of rice have very different textures and somewhat (subtle) different flavorss.
Some rice, like basmati, can be cooked using the pasta method (intentionally use way too much water and strain the excess off after the rice is cooked). I guess all rice could be cooked that way, but you would be giving up some starch.
I usually eyeball my rice so I use the finger method which is,
Rinse and drain your rice in a sieve first
Add it to the pot and level it off
Put your index finger on top of the rice and add cold water till it touches your first knuckle
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover until cooked
You can always buy a rice cooker but I think it’s good to learn how to cook without specific instruments, it also cuts down clutter in the kitchen.
It’s possible, the secret ingredient is keeping an eye on it.
Measure one cup of rice, whatever the volume of the cup is now add double the amount of water and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling lower the heat.
Here comes the secret ingredient, keep an eye on it. You’ll soon notice it’s not as watery anymore, but you still see bubbling. Stir and check it’s not getting stuck to the bottom. When you see the water is practically gone, remove from the heat and cover pot with lid. Let rest for 5 mins.
Done, perfect rice!
If it’s starting to get stuck to the bottom, removing and letting it rest with a lid on for a few minutes usually helps in unsticking it and making it fluffier.
If you didn’t keep an eye on it well enough and it’s burning at the bottom, remove immediately and transfer as much of the unburnt rice to another pot, cover and let it rest. (Add water to the burnt bottom in the original pot and cover as well, it will help with the cleaning)
Just get a rice cooker. It’s worth it.
This. It is absolutely worthwhile and a cheap one uses incredibly rudimentary technology to the point it could and will be reinvented post-apocalypse
I cook rice without a rice cooker all the time, and some of the tips you’re getting seem dubious to me. Rice is pretty forgiving though, so maybe those recipes work, but I do it a bit different.
I treat all species of rice exactly the same, and they all come out perfect. Short/medium grain rice comes out just sticky enough so you can grab chunks of it with chopsticks, long grain rice comes out beautifully fluffy, no stickage, with all the grains nicely separated.
I use a 1:1 rice to water ratio, plus an extra quarter cup of water. That bit is important - the extra quarter cup is what evaporates off and escapes as it boils/simmers, the rest is absorbed into the rice. Doesn’t matter if I’m cooking one cup of rice or ten, I use an equal amount of water plus a quarter cup.
I bring the water to a boil first, then dump the rice in. Wash it or don’t - I usually don’t, and the difference is slight. Once the rice is in, I turn it down to a simmer, put a kitchen towel over the pot, then squish the lid down over the towel, onto the pot. The towel helps make a better seal to trap more of the steam, but without the danger of making a pressure bomb. The towel also prevents condensation from collecting on the lid and dripping into the rice, which can make it soggy towards the end of the cook. I simmer it for 20 minutes, turn off the heat, then let it rest for another 20, with the lid still on. Leave the lid on until after it’s rested, or else some steam will escape and your rice might end up “al dente”. Once it’s rested, take the lid off and stir it to fluff it up a bit, and you’re golden.
I’ve been making it that way for years with several different kinds of rice, and it’s worked like a charm for all of em.
Cook on lowest heat. Check in 20 minutes. If dry, add water. If watery, drain the excess or continue cooking into porridge.
Add rice and water in a 1:2 ratio (by volume, eg. 2dl rice to 4dl water for 3-4 people), add salt and heat to a boil. When it boils, turn down heat so it only just simmers slightly and wait until no excess water is left. Keep the lid on the whole time. This method works with jasmin and basmati white rice for me.
If it helps, you can think of a rice cooker as a “boil under all the water is gone” hotplate. They’re great for soups.
I have better luck with a pot on the stove than a rice cooker. Start with some olive oil, add the rice, add water so the water line is 1cm above the rice line. High heat. Stir occasionally. Once it’s at a full boil, give it a final stir, turn down to low and put a lid on it. Let sit for 10 min. Turn stove off. Serve with butter, pepper, salt. Boom.
This is for white rice btw.
Ok. Let’s do this! If you have a 4 cup pyrex/microwavable measuring cup, it is much easier.
- Sauce pan with a lid. Nonstick is fine.
- 2 cups of rice using dry measuring cup
- 3 cups of water
- Salt if using unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Put empty pan on stove and set heat to medium-high. If these are steel pans, stick to medium. Go towards high if nonstick as it takes a bit to heat up.
- Put water and butter in microwavable cup and throw it in the microwave until it starts to simmer, maybe 3 minutes? Depends on microwave and dish.
- While you are waiting on microwave, put dry rice in pan and gently stir/fold. They will start to turn white, but don’t let them burn. If you need to take the pan off and turn the heat down, do it. We are just preheating the rice and pan up. Add salt if needed.
- Get ready. As soon as that water is hot enough to boil or close to, take it out, pour it in the pan. It will be violent.
- Do a quick stir, throw the lid on, and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. The water should fully cover the rice.
- Walk away. The bottom might toast a little, but that is fine as long as it doesn’t full on burn.
After 20 minutes or so, you can do a real quick check and if it looks kind of wet, throw the lid back on and wait.
At this point, you should have perfectly acceptable rice. Take the lid off, stir the rice with a more folding motion to let it steam any additional moisture out.
I was about to reply here in the comments “shouldn’t this be “malicious advice mallard”?”
If the goal of giving budgeting advice is to make people stop demanding better treatment from their employers, it is incredibly malicious.
Unions recommending/setting up carpooling and potlucks while on strike so the money they pay lasts = good
Employers telling you that minimum wage is enough if you just have four room mates and eat nothing but rice and beans = Malicious
I think the malicious mallard is red
Alright colorblind people, It’s your time to shine.
Even if it was just the top half, it’s still good advice.
Given the situation.
I think people are tired of money saving advice because so much of it is corporate victim blaming, “You do get paid enough! You just are too lazy to work enough hours (We only offer 35 btw), have 3 room mates (Which would be illegal because of zoning laws), and cook your own meals (while also working 60 hours a week)!”
I get it, but meanwhile people got to eat.
Oh yeah totally understand, which is why I actually love sharing real versions of this content and sharing videos of people that actually do a good job, or dropping comments on if I successfully make something cheap and if it turned out good. Some people love to share “cheap meal plans” that are like 900 calories a day and annoy the crap out of me. Because clearly they didn’t try living off of it for any length of time, so I try to add a little voice of reason where I can.
But I understand why a lot of people are just DONE with seeing money saving advice, since so much of it is appeasement not empowerment, if that makes sense.
“Oh you want a raise? How about instead, learn to cook cheaper.”
But me and a lot of the good hearted cheap cooks are more of a “Oh you want a raise? Yeah you probably need one, if food costs are killing you here’s some tasty recipes we found that might help save some money in short term while you work on long term problems.”
deleted by creator
We in Slovenia have lunch in school for 3€, it used to be 2 a couple of years ago.
Are split peas and chickpeas not beans?
You’re not wrong! But I felt like some people wouldn’t think of split peas, and wanted to call out more than just “beans”
I wish I could eat like this - not only for the cost effectiveness, but it’d be better for the environment than meat! Having IBD really sucks. I can only imagine how difficult it is in the US where the medical care is so expensive on top of everything else.
Mmm, delicious advice duck … is telling me to eat the rich?
Welp, who am I to question it’s wisdom, must be the right thing to do.Is that diet OK for growing kids or just adults?
Not even all adults. That diet makes me fart constantly and feel suboptimal.
I have no idea. There is a decent variety of foods that are 1000 calories for a dollar, and maybe combining all of them together is enough variety. But I’m not a doctor.
More variety in your diet is likely to always be superior to less. That goes for both kids and adults. The trouble with younger kids is that deficiencies can impact their development and have more severe long term consequences, and they’re also less capable of seeking out foods to fill that gap.
My mom basically starved so we could eat. I remember her giving me her food regularly. I Still only ate once a day even with her sacrifices. I expect I will be doing the same at this rate so I wanna do more for them if I cam.
If the option is you all not eating enough, and eating primarily cheap bulk foods, do pick the cheap bulk foods. With cheap seasonings and making your own tortillas, breads, and gravies, you can have a large variety using the same 20ish cheap base ingredients.
We are tortillas and rice all the time. Some days evey meal. Sure she upgraded it with veggies or added eggs but it’s like I was born of rice, molded by it, I didn’t know what a salad was until I was a man.
Haha makes sense! I forgot I posted it, but as an experiment I actually did this just to see how hard it is.
https://lemmy.world/post/17890870
But I mean the main things you need are calories, vitamins, and complete proteins. Flour is the cheapest calorie you can get in the US, so cooking your own biscuits, tortillas, sour dough, and gravy will always be the most calories for your buck.
Soy is a complete protein by itself, but rice and beans together are as well. Rice and beans is also a king of calories per price, so there is a reason I put it on there, and a reason you are alive it sounds like it!
The last thing is vitamins from veggies/fruit. In my post I used small amounts of dried fruit in oatmeal, peas in gravy, then tomato sauce. So getting a mix cheap frozen/canned/dried fruit then having a bit of that each day will help. As will making gravies/sauces with different veggies/stir fries.
I was able to do it under $2, and I might try it again with all different meals to try and make sure I can practice what I preach. I make one off cheap meals a lot, but don’t always do a full day.
Read Marx, especially if you don’t think you need to.
That duck is looking pretty tasty right about now.
Hey if you have a legal place to hunt, go wild!
Buying anything but the cheapest of meats these days is eye watering. I’m not one for hunting, but I keep debating going foraging since I live near mountains in Utah. Spend the day hiking in nice weather and end the day with food you normally wouldn’t have? Sounds like a good day.
Feel free to ask me questions on how to eat on a budget so you can keep your strength up while organizing against those that wish nothing more for you to work until the day you die and own nothing of consequence!
Man where were you 8 years ago when I ate zero protein because I didn’t know it could be cheap. Couldn’t afford animal products and was conditioned to believe those were the only viable source of protein.
Btw I’d like to add textured vegetable protein to the list! It’s one of my go-tos nowadays.
Another great one is seitan aka wheat meat, and it’s really cheap if you make it from flour rather than vital wheat gluten. Still pretty cheap if made from vital wheat gluten too.
Out of interest, what do you mean with textured vegetable protein?
deleted by creator
I had to look it up myself.
Textured or texturized vegetable protein (TVP), also known as textured soy protein (TSP), soy meat, or soya chunks, is a defatted soy flour product, a by-product of extracting soybean oil. It is often used as a meat analogue or meat extender. It is quick to cook, with a protein content comparable to some meats.
Soy flour turned into little chunks to give feeling of chunks in things you’re used to having meat chunks in while being high in protein. So like burritos, stews, pasta sauce, stuff like that.
I grew up a similar way! My mom always referred to protein as meat. Needed to add chicken or beef or pork to be the “protein” to make a dinner complete.
Never mind it being cheese or bean based, meaning it had tons of protein.
I would have to do the math on TVP on if it’s a better source of protein per buck than like split peas. But glad it’s working out for you!
Where I live it is, because of local-ish soy production. Also helps that it’s a complete protein, so you don’t have to think as much about which amino acids you’re getting from where.
I like your mission, but I hate your methods. Think more about what you’re suggesting.
You’ll have to clarify what is wrong with my methods.
Plant based whole foods, the fuel of the rebellion!
Two tips, one meme.
Well I’m vegetarian
Hell, even if you can easily afford way more than that, you are still closer to the person who can only afford $2 of food a day than a billionaire.
Ain’t that the truth! I’m a lay off and a medical emergency from needing to do this diet.
Billionaires are either an apocalypse or a revolution away from needing to do this.
One of these is much more likely to happen tomorrow than the other.
The difference between a million and a billion is about a billion