Jade DragonBytes

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With convenience food so easy to obtain in the market these days, almost everyone has grown a bit rusty even on  simple food preparation. Cooking rice is one good example. At the grocery store, I was astonished to discover cooked rice and vegetables inside the freezer section, all wrapped up, with an enticing label of “ready in 4 minutes”! Furthermore, you will discover packages of fried rice presented in numerous varieties of flavors and meats. Nuke and serve.

What exactly was I doing, perusing these shelves of comfort foods? Why I was trying to find my nuke-and-serve lasagna. Hey, I was short on time! The thing is, all of us are short on time, but with rising food prices, some meals would be best made from scratch with some of our useful kitchen appliances. A few convenience foods aren’t worth the hefty price. Preparing rice, for instance, is one such case.

Many Chinese food cooks scoff at the thought of preparing a great batch of rice and freezing portions for future meals. “It is so quick to cook rice, why hassle?” is what I normally hear. But, I think otherwise. I can cook rice in just one effort. Rice freezes well, so hold that bit of idea in your mind. This way, it would convenient for me to get a bag out from the fridge and just steam it in a microwave, especially when I am in a hurry. After all, that is what those expensive  food suppliers are trying to market: saving you the time and effort of cooking rice!

So, listed below are our two ways to cook rice that’s nice and fluffy and never sticky.

1. If you don’t have a rice and vegetable steamer, consider acquiring one.
   This can be a very beneficial kitchen appliance as it delivers effortless clean up, won’t have to be monitored, and yes, it ensures that you get the utmost nutritive value out of the cooked rice. They come in different sizes and prices from $10 to $20. Basically, it has a motor situated at the bottom level and a multi-purpose bowl that sits on the top. All you need do is determine the amount of rice desired, add water, put the lid on, and set the cooking timer on. Each and every device specifies the rice to water percentage, as well as preparing times, not only for cooking rice, but for a number of different vegetables. You may also dissolve a chicken or beef cube in the water for flavor. To bring in more aroma and taste to your rice, you may add in parsley or a few herbs like Chinese Five Spice.
2. The second method to make a nice, fluffy and non-sticky rice calls for a 3-quart microvable dish to produce 5 cups of cooked rice.
   To achieve this, estimate 2 1/2 rice cups into the bowl, add 5 cups of water (you may prefer to have it blended with a bouillon cubes) and a teaspoon of salt. Make sure to stir the salt through the rice. Put it in a microwave for thirteen minutes, and set the power level to 6 (based on an 1100-watt oven). There should still be water in the dish. By this time, change the power to level four and continue microwaving for 3 minutes. If the rice is cooked, and no water remains, it’s done. Fluff it up using a fork and cover with plastic wrap. Set it aside on the counter and allow it to steam for thirty minutes. It should be perfectly cooked by then.

If you want to have a fool-proof outcome every time you are going to cook rice, abide by these above procedures. Cooking rice is simple!