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How To Make Rice

Two Tips For Making The Perfect Bowl of Rice

How to make rice.

Let’s talk rice.

While we think of rice as a simple side dish at dinner, in many cultures rice is consumed at every meal of the day.  In some rural areas in Asia, rice is used to pay debts, wages, and rent.

We don’t pay homage like that to rice, but every now and then, it does make a showing at dinner.

Perhaps you don’t cook it often because it is a bit of a mystery.  Maybe it comes out clumpy, overcooked, undercooked, or just plain boring.

Throw Out Your Rice In A Box That Cooks In Only Minutes

Let me tell you the solution is NOT using the rice that comes in a box and cooks in a handful of minutes!  That is – if flavor and texture is important to you.

It doesn’t take that much time or effort to produce a beautiful pot of rice on top of the stove with flavorful, fluffy grains.

To start, grain choice is important.  For a generic bowl of rice that you would serve as a side dish, or perhaps use the next day in stir fry, choose a long grain white rice.

The key to flavor is adding aromatics to the pot, like garlic, onion, and bay leaf.

Two Tips For How To Make Rice

Two tips for fluffy rice.

First, pearl the rice.  Pearl is a fancy way to say, before you add water to the pot, throw in the rice and coat it with the fat that you’ve used to saute the onion and the garlic.  This technique coats each individual rice grain and prevents the rice from sticking together.

Second, allow the rice to sit, covered, for 10 minutes or so after cooking so that it completely absorbs all the water.

Voila! In under 30 minutes total time you’ll be paying homage to rice.

How To Make Rice

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Glam up simple white rice with a bit of onion, garlic, and a bay leaf for a flavor that will make your tastebuds sing. Add a splash of color with your vegetable (or vegetables!) of choice – bell pepper, carrot, asparagus, etc.

• Prep Time: 0 hours
• Cook Time: 0 hours
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

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Simple Rice

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 2 tablespoons onion, minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red bell pepper, small dice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 cups water
• olive oil
• kosher salt

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Instructions

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the saucepan is warmed, but not completely hot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom.
2. Add the butter and chopped onion.
3. Saute the onion over medium heat just until it begins to turn translucent.
4. Add the garlic and saute another minute or two until fragrant.
5. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with the oil mixture in the saucepan.
6. Add the bell pepper. Stir to combine.
7. Add the water and stir once more. Cover the saucepan.
8. Simmer for 15-18 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.
9. Allow rice to stand for several minutes to absorb remaining moisture in the saucepan.
10. Fluff and serve.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cup
• Calories: 231
• Sugar: 0.6 g
• Sodium: 607.7 mg
• Fat: 6.7 g
• Saturated Fat: 2.4 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 38.3 g
• Fiber: 0.9 g
• Protein: 3.5 g
• Cholesterol: 7.6 mg