How to get rice "right"?

medtran49 said:
That's your problem. Basmati is a 1 to 1.5 ratio, NOT 1 to 2. Jasmine is also 1 to 1.5.

Of note , some brands of basmati recommend soaking for 30 minutes, then draining for at least that long. If I am using 1 of those brands, I use a little less water for cooking.

If you rinse your regular long grain rice, you have to let it drain for at least 30 minutes, then also use a little less than the 2 to 1 ratio.

Different types of rices use different ratios so you have to look them up unless directions are on package, or you can't read them because they are in another language.

Other than black rice or a wild rice mix, I bring the water to a boil, add salt, add rice, stir, cover, and turn off heat, then let sit for at least 20 minutes. I do this at start of cooking because the rice won't need any more attention and it will stay hot for quite a while as I cook rest of meal.
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For Carolina or Carolina-like rice, it's 1 cup rice to 1-3/4 cups water. Same for Basmati, & Jasmine rice. For parboiled rice, such as Uncle Ben's or other par-boiled, it has always been 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. That has always been the way for me. To keep the rice from becoming gummy or hard. But rice can be easy to mess up! I try to keep those things from happening! :whistling:
 
GadgetGuy said:
For Carolina or Carolina-like rice, it's 1 cup rice to 1-3/4 cups water. Same for Basmati, & Jasmine rice. For parboiled rice, such as Uncle Ben's or other par-boiled, it has always been 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. That has always been the way for me. To keep the rice from becoming gummy or hard. But rice can be easy to mess up! I try to keep those things from happening! :whistling:
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Sorry, jasmine and basmati are 1 to 1.5, NOT 1 to 1.75. Look it up if you don't believe me. Better yet, read the directions on the packaging. If you rinse the rice, even less water, more like a 1 to 1.25 ratio, just like I wrote above about using a little less water than the 2 to 1 when using regular long grain and rinsing. I prefer separate, non gummy grains unless I'm making sushi rice or risotto.

I was looking around a bit and apparently you use even a little less water if using a rice cooker. We haven't used a rice cooker in years. Eventually gave away the one we had because we rarely used it since it was stored in the back of a cabinet.

I've never used Carolina rice so can't speak to that.

When we buy rice at the Asian market from an Asian producer versus an American grocery and product, I've found you pretty much always have to rinse the rice because it's got so much of the white dust/starch coating it. I'm guessing American companies figured out that American consumers don't like needing to wash rice before cooking so they either pre-wash it or do something to shake the worst of it off.
 
medtran49 said:
Sorry, jasmine and basmati are 1 to 1.5, NOT 1 to 1.75.
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Its an ongoing discussion really ... I've always cooked basmati 1:2 and that seems to be the 'sort of' norm in the UK. Maybe basmati rice is different across the world in terms of its absorption: 🤷‍♀️

This is a UK 'Michelin chef territory' website:
How to Cook Basmati Rice

This is BBC Good Food:
How to cook rice | BBC Good Food

On the other hand here are a variety of methods explored here:
How to cook perfect long grain rice
 
Morning Glory said:
Its an ongoing discussion really ... I've always cooked basmati 1:2 and that seems to be the 'sort of' norm in the UK. Maybe basmati rice is different across the world in terms of its absorption: 🤷‍♀️

This is a UK 'Michelin chef territory' website:
How to Cook Basmati Rice

This is BBC Good Food:
How to cook rice | BBC Good Food

On the other hand here are a variety of methods explored here:
How to cook perfect long grain rice
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We're again getting into math/units of measure differences here. To you, the first one comes out to a 1 to 2, as you use 60 grams and 120 ml of liquid, but when I convert to American measures, it's about 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup water - if i got the conversions correct - so that would be a 1 to 1 ratio for me. Frankly, I don't think that will be enough liquid to cook the rice.
 
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I'm having problems posting again, so am finishing post #65 here.

The third one when talking about the absorption method and regular long grain rice mentions using 450 grams (over 3 cups in U.S.) of rice to a pint of water. A pint in U.S. is 2 cups. A British pint from what I found is equal to 2.5 cups. So, using either pint measure, that method is LESS than a 1 to 1 ratio. Again, if I got the conversions right, there is no way that's enough liquid to cook the rice.

When I Google ratios for cooking rice via absorption method, 1 part rice to 1.5 parts liquid is #1 by a pretty big margin, followed by 1 to 1.75, with a distant 1 to 2 ratio.

I prefer, and I kind of got the impression that is what the poster I originally answered wanted, was tender, separate grains of rice. The 1 to 1.5 ratio gives me that every single time.

But, as I mentioned in a previous post, follow the directions on the packaging if you can read it, if there even are any, as there sometimes aren't if it's an Asian producer.
 
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medtran49 said:
We're again getting into math/units of measure differences here. To you, the first one comes out to a 1 to 2, as you use 60 grams and 120 ml of liquid, but when I convert to American measures, it's about 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup water - if i got the conversions correct - so that would be a 1 to 1 ratio for me. Frankly, I don't think that will be enough liquid to cook the rice.
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I think you are right. Its a conversion/maths problem! Now I'm puzzling about this.

However, a lot of cooking shows/recipes here seem to say 'in volume' twice the amount of water to rice for the absorption method. So, for each 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water. Its what I usually do and then I leave it to stand covered in a cloth, once water is absorbed. I'm not saying I'm right...
 
puzzle not, research more.

one cup of white rice is 200 grams
one cup of long grain white rice about 210 grams

60 grams of rice is not 1/2 cup
 
Seems like there are so many variants when cooking rice. In Venezuela, at around 1300 mts (4250 ft) above sea level, I´d cook long grain rice for exactly 14 minutes and Basmati for exactly 9 minutes, and it would turn out perfect every time. In London, UK, the water is very hard, I haven´t got a clue what sort of rice is used, and occasionally, it takes longer. Evidently, the quality of rice, the water and the height above sea level are all factors.
 
not sure about basmati rice, but I can share my way for cooking jasmine rice and sushi rice as an Asian
Jasmine rice : water 1:1.5
Sushi rice 1:1 ~ 1:1.2 (depends on brands, some of them absorb more water, some didn't)

I believe there is no absolute right or wrong in cooking, all depends on personal taste/preference
 
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