Rice

Wild Rice and Barley with Apricots and Tarragon

How popular is rice? It's simply the most consumed food in the world. Asian dishes may come first when you think of rice, but don't forget Italian risotto, Spanish paella, and the rice and bean dishes popular throughout Mexico and Central and Southern America.

The Long and Short of It

How rice is classified, as well as how it's best cooked, depends mainly on the length of the grain.

• Long-grain rice

  Long and slender with a length that's four to five times its width. Because its grains stay separate, light and fluffy, it's perfect as a side dish.

• Short-grain rice

  Short and plump; only slightly longer than it is wide. Its moist grains stick together when cooked and stay tender even at room temperature — think sushi.

• Medium-grain rice

  Falls somewhere between long and short, with grains about twice as long as they are wide. Risotto is made with medium-grain rice, as is paella.

Most varieties are sold as either brown or white rice, depending upon how they are milled.

Brown rice is unmilled and retains the bran and germ that surrounds the kernel, giving it a chewy texture and a flavor often described as nutty. It takes longer to cook brown rice and it's more nutritious. Because of the oil in the bran and germ, it spoils more easily and so it should be kept refrigerated.

White rice has had its bran and germ milled away. It cooks up tender and delicate, but it is somewhat less nutritious than brown, which is why it is sometimes fortified.

Cooking Rice

Different varieties of rice are best when cooked using a particular method. Be sure to follow recipe instructions to get the best flavor and texture from your rice.

Learn to Cook: Brown Rice

• Absorption Method

  This is the most popular method, using a set amount of rice and a set amount of water, for a set amount of time. By the time the water is absorbed, the rice should be tender.

• Steaming Method

  This is usually the preferred method for cooking sticky and clinging rices. Rice is soaked, drained and put in a steaming basket set over a pot or wok of boiling water and cooked by steam alone, without the rice ever touching the boiling liquid.

• Boiling Method

  In this method, the rice is cooked much like pasta. Though this may sound appealingly easy and foolproof, it actually requires almost as much attention as does the absorption method. The rice is sprinkled into a large pot of boiling salted water, then stirred often to prevent sticking. When tender, it is thoroughly drained, then rinsed quickly to halt cooking. Sticky and clinging rices do not do well with this method, but many other varieties do fine.

Basic directions for absorption

• Rinsing

  This step removes surface starch and should only be done when you want the grains to remain quite separate, as in Indian basmati rice. For most rice preparations, do not rinse.

• Measuring

  The general ratio is 1 cup rice to 1-1/2 or 2 cups water, plus 1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Place rice, salt and water in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid.

• Simmering

  Bring water and salt to a boil in a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add rice, bring back to a boil, stir once, cover and simmer over low heat until the grains are tender.

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