Just Plain Rice

When did cooking just plain rice get to be so fraught? An ancient food, eaten in many of the world’s poorest places, people have been making rice for centuries. Wait, millennia. And they’ve been making it in circumstances that most of us (with indoor water – drinkable! – plus gas or electricity- or both!) would consider pretty daggone challenging.

So it bewilders me to hear some of my go-to cooking experts online and in print lamenting the difficulty of making a pot of rice. Maybe blame it on social media and the standards for excellence that seem there to be the norm, making anything else appear to be total failure. Or maybe it’s because we’ve learned the heavenly delight of fragrant, crispy-bottom Persian rice (and here’s another) – so divine it could be a different food altogether,… and not something you throw together, scoop-n-serve after a long day in the cubicle. Whatever the case, rice is way too good, way to versatile to worry yourself into not making it.

Consider this my pretty good rice manifesto, in defense of rice anywhere, anytime, any kind.

I’ve been making rice for as long as I can remember. So, it might surprise that I haven’t got only one way. Rather, the means meet the circumstances. If I’ve got the oven rolling – for roasted veg, perhaps, maybe also a chicken or other main on reheat, I cook the rice there. If it’s too hot outside to make more heat inside (hello, summer in the South), I put it on the grill. Hah, not on the grill, silly. In a pot on the grill. Hmmmm….Which brings to mind a summer cooking rice at the foot of the Grand Tetons over a tiny camp stove, rice that I’d mix hot with mozzarella cheese and peanut butter for a gooey but amazingly delicious and satisfying breakfast that held me through hours of mountain hiking. I still make rice most often in a pot on the stove. I do not have a rice cooker, though I’m not against them.

As for the rice, if you can buy in bulk with your own container, do that. Spare the packaging. I’m a fan of the Lundberg family’s line of rice. They farm with a wise eye to the environment. Anson Mills does, too, and they’re bringing back some old southern varieties, which is cool.

Technique for Just Plain Rice

There are only two fixed rules for making rice: 1) more water than rice, roughly twice as much water (unless you’re using the like-pasta-boiling technique); 2) and heat sufficient to bring the water to a boil. Whole grain rice (brown, black, red,…) takes longer by five to ten minutes than white, which should be done within fifteen minutes. Other than that, you’ve got lotsa options. Whatever you do, it’s going to be just fine. Really.

In a little more detail:

On the stove

You can simply measure out rice, add two units of whatever one you used for the rice (1 Mason jar rice + 2 Mason jars water, e.g.), put it on the stove, bring it to a boil, back to a light simmer, cover and come back in ten minutes or so to turn off the heat. It’s ready but can wait. Or you can boil the water first, add the rice, cut back to low simmer and cover… Or you can lightly roast the rice in a spot of oil or butter before adding the water, bringing to a boil and so on. If you’re anxious about avoiding any stickiness, reduce the amount of water by a little bit and pull a clean dishtowel over the top of the pot’s rim before covering to keep condensation from dripping back into the rice. In that case, cut off the heat under the pot lest you burn your kitchen down igniting the towel.

The boil-like-pasta technique brings a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice and boil until it’s al dente, strain it out, and either cover to let it fluff or scoop into its next incarnation – perhaps a pan of spicy hot beans or sautéed veg to stir up together?

In the oven

Make sure you’re working with an oven-proof pot that’s got a lid or can otherwise be covered pretty well. Pour in the requisite amounts of boiling water and rice. Cover, and slip into the oven. It’s super flexible about temps. Anything from 250 (if you’re braising something low and slow, for example) up to 425 or so (for quick -oasting cruciferousnesses, for example) is fine. If you go much higher, keep an eye and pull the pot out if it threatens to boil over. The rice should be done within 10-15 minutes and can sit out of the oven covered or not, just fine, until everything else is ready. If you’re so inclined, the clean dish towel under the lid trick is pretty nifty for keeping it on the drier, fluffier side.

On the grill or camp stove or other open fire

Proceed as you would with the stove top method, calibrating the heat after bringing to a boil as well as you can by moving the pot to a cooler spot on the grill or dialing back the heat, just so it’s not constantly bubbling over. Worst case: take it off the heat and let it sit covered to finish “cooking” passively.

There. Rice. Now, that wasn’t too bad was it? And oh, the possibilities! Top it with something crazy complicated, or only a fried egg, maybe roasted vegetables and your favorite sauce, or just drizzle a pile with melted butter. I assure you, it’ll be (at least) pretty good.