Rice, and nothing else.

Back in May I posted an article on how to make herbed rice. This, however, is another response to a specific request; how to make plain, long-grain rice. A neighbour across the cul-de-sac was grumping yesterday morning. She loves rice, but she could only make the minute-type, which, let's face it, is kind of blech. "Oh," I replied, "I can teach you how!" She was thrilled that it was as easy as I assured her it is and her first pot turned out quite well. (I believe it went in to another recipe for her families dinner.) This really is quite an easy recipe. In truth it isn't that much harder than the minute-style "instant" rice, nor does it take much longer. Plus it tastes a whole lot better!

You'll need

• a 1 cup measuring cup
• a 2-4 qt pot, with lid
• long grained, white rice
• a couple of pinches of salt
• and, of course, your stove

That's it. Five little items is all it takes. I prefer to use Asian rice. I find it cooks better and comes out fluffier. This is a personal preference; if I only have no-name rice from a grocery store or the food bank, then that's what I use.

The Recipe

• 1 C of long-grain, white rice
• 2 C's of water
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1/2 tsp butter or margarine, optional

How To

Put everything in to the pot at once, place the lid on, and turn the burner on medium high. Bring to a boil, then turn down slightly and let boil for 5 (and ONLY 5) minutes. Lift the lid and gently stir the rice, then replace the lid. Next turn the burner down to minimum and simmer very low for 15 minutes (again ONLY 15).

Remove from the heat, take off the lid and move the rice around very conservatively with a fork or a rice paddle if you own one, then replace the lid and let stand for 4-5 minutes. Serve as is or in combination with what ever strikes your fancy, or use in another recipe. You're done.

As you can see it's easy, and it's simple. It is a little bit fussy. The timing really does seems to be critical, so use that timer! You cannot walk away from making rice and expect it's going to come out alright. It won't. If you wish to, you can rinse your rice in a sieve before putting it in the pot. It does tend to make it a bit less sticky, but only a bit. You probably noticed that I put butter/margarine as an optional part of the recipe. I only add it in the winter time. It may sound crazy, but it works better in winter, but tends to make the rice scorch in summer. There's probably some scientific reason for this, I just don't know it. If someone else does, I'd love to know so please post it in the comments below.

Remember, you do have 15 minutes while it's simmering to do what ever you have to do. There are a large number of quickie recipes you can whip up in 15 minutes. Or you could set the table, choose a movie, chat with a human of some nature or even, if you're really fast, take a shower.

Don't be surprised if this doesn't turn out perfectly the first time. That's as common as rainwater. Practice makes perfect with rice though, and it doesn't take that long. Soon you'll be the one saying "Oh, I can teach you how to make great rice!"

Happy cooking.

!UPDATE!

I realized while I was writing a related post, that I had failed to put in some fairly important information.

Long-grained white rice cooks at a 2-1 ratio, i.e. 2 parts fluid (water, juice, etc.) to one part rice. As a matter of fact it's almost always exactly that ratio. Hence you can use any container at all to measure out the rice and water, as long as you use the same container for both. So you can use a measuring cup, but you can also use a tin can, a coffee mug, or a plastic sour-cream container. As long as your pot is large enough, you're good to go. You will have to increase or decrease the salt depending on what you use to measure, of course. But since there really isn't much salt used in the first place that should be fairly easy to calculate. Sorry for letting this one slip. Hopefully there is no harm done.