I have a confession to make. I've been hiding this from family and friends for years.
I can't make rice.
I can make a five course meal for twenty. I can whip up a delicious meal from scratch by throwing the things in the pantry together. I can cook with dashes, dabs, smidgens, and sprinkles. I make sauces from taste memory. Put a recipe in front of me and I'll make it turn out tasty.
I've spent years giving cooking tips, e-mailing recipes, and giving encouragement to my not so kitchen-savvy friends. But my smugness has a limit, because I can't make rice.
In my life, I have attempted to make rice many times. ( Just to be clear, I'm referring to real rice, not instant rice. A monkey could make Minute Rice.) Every time I try to make rice I do one or more of the following:
1. Burn the pot
2. Burn the rice
3. Undercook the rice
4. Overcook the rice
5. End up with disgustingly sticky rice
I've spent countless hours watching tutorials online and scouring cooking forums for a magical trick that will cure my rice handicap. It was time wasted.
The irony! I'm living in a country where bap, the Korean word for rice, is the foundation of most meals. I am tempted to just buy a tiny rice cooker to save myself from a year of eating bad rice but that feels too much like defeat. So instead, I'll wrap my rice in gim (seaweed) or smother it in sauce and pretend the texture is perfect.
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| Nom, nom, nom....sort of. |
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8 comments:
I LOVE RICE!
I just got a rice cooker for Christmas. If you can't make it then I have no hope. I am so psyched for my rice cooker though.
Oh, man, Sarah. I feel your pain. This is how I learned how to make long-grained rice well, and that was by letting go, as cheesy as it sounds. No stirring--that causes the rice to stick together. No frequent checking to see how it's doing in the pot.Rice conspires against the control freak.
-Put in two cups of water to a cup of good quality long-grained rice in a heavy-bottomed pan. Throw in a small knob of butter, and a sprinkle of salt, if you like. The butter helps keep it from sticking together.
-Turn the stove on, heat on medium. Don't boil it. Cover.
-Let it chill for 20 minutes before you let yourself take a peek.
-Take a peek. Most of the water should be gone. Tilt the pot, so the rice moves and you can see the bottom of the pot somewhat. There might be a little water, and accordingly, give it another few minutes on the stove.
-Dont even think about stirring, lady.
-Ladle it gently out of the pot. You should have lovely, fragrant, moist rice.
Can't lie, I'm all about the rice cooker, myself. It can be used for so many other dishes, too...
Thanks for the tips and support everyone. I'll keep you updated on my rice battle, or let you know when I give in and buy a rice cooker.
Minute rice is not actually that bad;) lol
I can't make jello. So don't feel bad.
Give in buy the rice cooker. It's the Asian way. Plus, you can get the kind that make sticky rice and rice porrage, those are FANCY.
Candace, we need to have Jello making lessons when I come home. Making Jello molds is the 4th greatest American pass-time!
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