Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Rice Story.


Once upon a time, in a place called home, there was rice. It was always cooked by Mother or Grandma into plain white rice or porridge to perfection. Life was pretty simple. Until we got to leave home or live in a distant land to buy or take a look in the supermarket. Suddenly, there are Long grain, Short grain, Medium grain and Basmati etc etc. And there are more rice products than some years ago, fueled by our newly acquired appetite for ethnic cuisines and desiring new varieties of rice that are grown in different countries for sushi, risotto and biriani. If they haven't added to your confusion, up went the number of organic and brown rice products (we now have brown or white long grain, brown or white basmati and more). And of course life got so busy, it seems, that we really didn't want to cook rice — just eat it in 90 seconds. Stir innovations into the mix (ready-in-2 minutes types, blends, etc.) and it's mind-boggling!
Which raises the question: What rice do I cook? Well, it depends whether the dishes call for a specific types of rice.Cooking, texture and flavor vary with almost every product.
If you know you're going to make a rice pudding or a risotto, for instance, then you're going to need a medium-grain rice. Choose long grain when you need grains to be separate and fluffy, or use a short or medium grain for a stickier, clingier rice for dishes such as sushi. And you will have a perfect rice to live happily ever after.

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