We’ve come to that point in time my friends that I’m posting a food tip on my site. A completely odd topic and non-tech related, though the blog sidebar does say “the odd life pro tip”—and this perfect rice recipe is a game changer!
First off, this recipe is very simple. After finding this recipe (it’s a Jamie Oliver recipe) and using it for a few years, I don’t need to measure ingredients and hardly need to remember anything! And what it if I told you the rice comes out perfect every time? It’s true.
All you need to remember is two numbers: 5 and 8. Here’s how.
Boil water.
Add rinsed rice.
Once rice starts to dance in water continue to boil for 5 minutes.
Drain into colander.
Steam for 8 minutes.
Done – fluff with fork!
No measuring, no fuss, no rice cooker… and almost, no recipe. You don’t have to use a measured amount of rice, or a measured amount of water. Just make sure to boil enough water to allow the rice to move around in.
You can also flavour the rice by adding whatever you wish while boiling the rice. Or add other ingredients or spices after it’s cooked too. We often add one or two teaspoons of coconut oil, powdered sage, and mix that into the cooked rice.
This tip and recipe is important to me because I guess I never really had one solid recipe for cooking rice. Some methods included absorption, steaming, butter and other things I can’t remember now. I just never excelled at cooking rice (or practiced enough) until stumbling upon this recipe I’m sharing with you today. I love easy, and awesome results!
Here’s a link to Jamie’s full recipe on his site:
This is my basic recipe for getting perfect rice every time. Have a go at mastering it – you’ll be amazed at the light and fluffy results.
Ingredients: Sea salt and 350g Basmati rice.
Once you’ve got the hang of that, you can have a go at flavouring it – any flavouring you boil with the rice will infuse it with wonderful fragrances and flavours. So try boiling things like fresh herbs, a cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods, a strip of lemon zest or even a green tea bag in the water with the rice.
Doubling the amounts in the recipe will give you enough rice to serve 8-12 people.
Put a large pan of salted water on a high heat and bring to the boil. Rinse the rice in a colander under running water for about 1 minute, or until the water runs clear (this will stop the grains sticking together later). Add your rice to the boiling water and wait for the grains to start dancing around. From that point, boil for 5 minutes
Drain the rice in a colander. Pour 2.5cm of water into the pan, put it back on the heat and bring it to the boil again, then turn down to a simmer. Cover the rice in the colander with foil or a lid. Place the colander on top of the pan of simmering water and let the rice steam over it for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and if you’re ready, serve immediately. If not, leave the foil or lid on and put aside until ready to serve – it should stay warm for about 20 minutes.