The Ultimate Rice Cooker
Page 10
STORING RICE
Some rices come in boxes, others in sealed bags, and others in bulk bins or large sacks. The latter require that you transfer the rice to a storage container. We recommend that you label your raw rices; even on a good day, short-grain Tamaki Gold can look a lot like Carnaroli, and short-grain and medium-grain brown rices are almost indistinguishable. Different types of long-grain brown rice are identical. Make a batch of the rice, write down the water-to-rice proportion, and keep it with the batch for quick reference; the rest of the batch should consistently cook up just like that first batch. Store white and wild rices at room temperature indefinitely, although remember that rice will dry out over time and need a bit more water to cook, especially Thai jasmine. Brown rices and some specialty rices like Jasmati are best stored refrigerated after a month.
Store cooked rice in the refrigerator for up to five days in a tightly covered container; if you just cover it with plastic wrap, it will dry out a lot faster (scientifically known as retrogradation, the degree to which the starch hardens as the rice chills) and lose its taste. Cooled cooked rice can be frozen for six to eight months in plastic freezer bags, waiting for your next fried rice session or spur-of-the-moment rice salad. You can defrost rice at room temperature or in the refrigerator. We remove frozen rice the day before using.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MEASUREMENT
Every rice cooker comes with a small plastic measuring cup. This cup holds ¾ of a U.S. cup, 6 ounces, or 180 milliliters. When the manual that comes with your cooker says to put 1 cup rice in the rice cooker bowl and add water to the 1-cup line, this is the cup you are supposed to use. This can be very confusing for American cooks, whose cooking instincts have been honed on the standard 8-ounce U.S. cup (which is equal to 240 milliliters).
When we began using the rice cooker, and adapting recipes for it, we were befuddled by this new standard of measurement. In the end, we took different paths, but fortunately both paths led to perfect rice. Beth has stuck with U.S. cups for all applications. Julie uses U.S. cups for “dressed-up” rices like risottos and pilafs, but for Asian recipes, or for ordinary plain rice, Julie likes the convenience of the rice cooker cups, which allow her to pour water directly into the rice cooker bowl, according to the calibrations on its side. Beth doesn’t mind the extra step of measuring water. Until some enterprising manufacturer begins to calibrate a rice cooker for the American market using standard U.S. cups, you, too, will have to find your own path. Whether you choose one method or the other, or a combination of both, your rice cooker will work perfectly, as long as you use the correct amount of liquid. The charts see, see, and see are designed to help you.
Throughout this book, we use the term “rice cooker cup” to distinguish these little 6-ounce cups from the standard 8-ounce U.S. cup. For consistency, most of the recipes in this book have been developed using U.S. cups. Some exceptions to this are the sushi rice and the rice cooking charts, which give both measurements for your convenience. If a recipe is designed for rice cooker cup proportions, it will be labeled such (1 rice cooker cup). If there is no designation (1 cup), that will always mean a U.S. cup.
simple everyday rices and LITTLE MEALS
Saffron Rice
Lemon Rice
Asian Multigrain Rice
Julia’s Aromatic Basmati Rice
Raisins and Rice
Rice with Mushrooms
Julia’s Mexican Green Rice
Roasted Brown Rice with Gomasio
Brown Rice with Miso
Japanese Rice with Chestnuts
Rice with Three C’s (Currants, Coconut , and Cashews)
Moroccan Brown Rice
Basmati Rice with Corn and Peas
Greek Lemon and Dill Rice with Feta
Brown Basmati Almondine ( Julie’s “ Cheater’s Pilaf” )
Matthew’s Rice
Hunza Rice
Wehani Rice with Garden Vegetables
Rice with Fresh Greens
Creamy Dill Rice
Baby Artichokes and Arborio Rice
Polynesian Tiki Rice
Japanese Three-Mushroom Rice
Mexican Rice and Beans
Chinese Sausage and Rice
Super Supper Sausage and Rice
Rainbow Rice in a Pot
Japanese Rice with Mushrooms and Chicken
Indonesian Rice Bowl
Chicken Donburi
Paella Sauté with Saffron and Spanish Rice
Madame SooHoo’s Fish and Rice
Salmon-Stuffed Japanese Rice Balls
This section of recipes includes our “throw-all-the-ingredients-at-once-into-the-pot” rice dishes. These are the recipes we make most when we need a rice side dish for dinner or a quick lunch or supper. They are the staples of the everyday cook’s repertoire and are great alongside roasted and sautéed meats, poultry, fish, sausages, and game. Some of the recipes are very simple, such as the saffron or lemon rice. There are ethnic specialties, such as a Mexican-style green rice and a rice with dried fruit, and others are more complex, with a bit of meat and vegetables, such as Rainbow Rice in a Pot, designed to be a one-dish meal. Other dishes are outright compositions of rice with a topping that have multiple preparations, such as the Indonesian Rice Bowl or Paella Sauté. Japanese rice balls are lunch box staples. For a simple meal, have one of our rices, a crisp green salad, and a piece offruit.
saffron rice
Plain long-grain white rice with a pinch of saffron—the bright orange stigmas from the flowering bulb Crocus sativus—added to the cooking water is a favorite rice from the British Isles to Poland. The rice takes on a lovely pale yellow cast. Use a tiny pinch of powdered saffron or crush a stigma or two between your fingers. It is important that it is no more than a pinch; you want only the faintest hint of the pungent spice in the cooked rice. Serve with roast lemon chicken or pork loin with prunes.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
1 cup long-grain white rice, such as basmati, Texmati, or Carolina
1½ cups water
⅓ teaspoon salt
Small 2-finger pinch of saffron
1. If using basmati, place the rice in a fine strainer or bowl, rinse with cold water twice, and drain twice.
2. Coat the rice cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray or a film of vegetable oil. Place the rice in the rice bowl. Add the water, salt, and saffron; swirl just to combine, close the cover, and set for the regular cycle.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold for 2 to 3 hours on Keep Warm. Serve hot.
saffron rice with cherries: Add ¾ cup coarsely chopped pitted sweet cherries (unsweetened, fresh or thawed frozen) to the rice in step 2. Hold on Keep Warm for up to 1 hour.
lemon rice
Beth’s mom makes this fresh-tasting rice to serve with chicken sautés and grilled prawns. It is a favorite.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
1 cup long-grain white rice, such as basmati or Carolina
1½ cups chicken stock
Pinch of salt
1 large clove garlic
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1. If using basmati rice, place the rice in a fine strainer or bowl, rinse with cold water twice, and drain twice.
2. Place the rice in the rice cooker bowl. Add the stock and salt, stir just to combine, then place the garlic in the center on top of the rice. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, add the lemon zest, butter, and parsley; stir to combine. Close the cover and let th
e rice steam for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for 1 to 2 hours. Before serving, remove the garlic and discard. Serve hot.
asian multigrain rice
In Chinese specialty markets you can find an easy-to-use, inexpensive, and delicious grain blend that adds a sweetish, nutty flavor, fiber, and nutrition to your plain rice. It also adds color; the cooked grain blend will be tinted a light lavender. Greenmax Fine Multi Grains are imported from Taiwan. Look in the rice section for a small plastic bag containing a wide variety of grains, including two kinds of barley, four kinds of rice, buckwheat groats, fox-nuts, whole millet, wheat, and oats. As you can imagine, this blend is quite assertively flavored. We like it best combined with regular white rice to mute the flavors. Be sure to soak the mixture for an hour before cooking to soften the whole grains.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 4 to 6
1½ cups (2 rice cooker cups) Japanese-style short- or medium-grain white rice
¾ cup (1 rice cooker cup) multigrain blend
3¾ cups water
1. Wash the rice. Place the rice in a bowl (or use the bowl of your rice cooker) and fill the bowl about half-full with cold tap water. Swirl the rice in the water with your hand. Carefully pour off most of the water, holding one cupped hand under the stream to catch any grains of rice that are carried away with the water. Holding the bowl steady with one hand, use the other to rub and squeeze the wet rice, turning the bowl as you go, so that all the rice is “scrubbed.” The small amount of water in the bowl will turn chalky white. Now, run cold water into the bowl, give the rice a quick swish, and carefully drain off the water as before. Repeat the scrubbing and pouring-off process two more times. By the third time, the water you pour off will be nearly clear.
2. Place the rice and multigrain blend in the rice cooker bowl. Add the water; swirl to combine. Let the grains soak for 1 hour.
3. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the grains steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the grains with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for 1 to 2 hours. Serve hot.
julia’s aromatic basmati rice
From excellent cook and new friend Julia Scannel, here is her quick weekday-night fluffy rice, which she learned when working on a book of recipes, Cooking with the Spices of India (Culinary Alchemy, 1995). The whole spices add a gentle scent and subtle flavor to the rice, especially apparent in the rice close to the spices. You will need to go to a specialty grocery to purchase the whole green cardamom pods, a member of the ginger family, which are different than the bleached white ones that are used in Scan dinavian cuisine. The spices are left whole during serving, but are not eaten. Serve with yogurt-marinated tandoori chicken and chutney.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 3
1 cup white basmati rice
1½ cups water
¼ teaspoon salt
One 4-inch stick cinnamon
3 green cardamom pods
1. Place the rice in a fine strainer or bowl, rinse with cold water, and drain.
2. Place the rice, water, salt, and spices in the rice cooker bowl; swirl to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for 3 to 4 hours. Serve hot.
raisins and rice
Dried fruits, especially raisins, are used extensively in rice dishes. We love the combination of rice, nuts, and plump raisins, especially when everything goes in the pot at once. Fast and simple, with a sweet edge, for dinner.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
½ cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1 cup long-grain white rice or white basmati rice
1 cup chicken stock
⅓ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
⅓ cup chopped unsalted macadamia nuts
1. Combine the raisins and sherry in a small bowl. Let stand on the kitchen counter for 1 hour to macerate.
2. Place the rice, stock, water, salt, and raisin-sherry mixture in the rice cooker bowl; stir just to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, dot the rice with the butter and sprinkle with the nuts. Close the cover and let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for 1 to 2 hours. Serve hot.
rice with mushrooms
Although this recipe is designed for use with mild domestic button mushrooms (also known as the “youngsters”), if you are a mushroom lover, feel free to use another type. Look in the produce section of your supermarket or farmer’s market for cremini mushrooms, shiitakes, or chanterelles.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
1 cup long-grain white rice
1½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
½ teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Coat the rice cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray or a film of vegetable oil. Place the rice in the rice bowl. Add the stock and ½ teaspoon salt; swirl just to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle.
2. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, prepare the mushrooms. In a medium-size sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until tender and slightly browned around the edges. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the mushrooms to the cooked rice. Stir to combine, close the cover, and let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for 1 to 2 hours. Serve hot.
julia’s mexican green rice
Another great recipe from creative consultant and recipe writer Julia Scannel, learned while she traveled in Mexico to help write Cooking with the Chiles & Spices of Mexico (Culinary Alchemy, 1996). It’s wonderful to serve with enchiladas and chiles rellenos. Cilantro, also known as fresh coriander, is an herb characteristic of Mexican cooking. Don’t consider reducing the amount called for here; it is perfect as designed.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular/Brown Rice
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ small white onion, chopped
1 cup long-grain white rice
1½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1. Set the rice cooker for the Quick Cook or regular/Brown Rice cycle. Place the butter in the rice bowl. When melted, add the onion. Cook, stirring a few times, until the onion is translucent and softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the rice, water, salt, and cilantro to the rice cooker bowl. Stir just to combine. Close the cover and reset for the regular/ Brown Rice cycle or let the regular/Brown Rice cycle complete.
3. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. This rice will hold on Keep Warm for up to 1 hour. Serve hot.
roasted brown rice with gomasio
Beth’s friend Mary Cantori roasts all her grains
before cooking them to convert some of the starch into more usable food for the body. This is a technique for short-grain brown rice developed by the macrobiotic food gurus Lima and George Oshawa for their regimen of a fat-free diet based on the Zen Buddhist philosophical principles of yin and yang, hot and cold, controlling the delivery of specific types of energy to the body. While this is a diet that has its roots in American counter-cuisine, it has found its way into the kitchens of health-conscious cooks and has become an alternative for people with life-threatening diseases who choose to heal themselves by focusing on food as medicine.
The finished rice is enticingly nutty and worth the extra step of roasting, which dramatically reduces its inherent starchiness. Serve with a sprinkling of gomasio, a sesame salt condiment very popular in Japanese cuisine. Look for Japanese sesame seeds; they are larger and more flavorful. We also like this with a pickled umeboshi plum or some pickled ginger for a bit of tang.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular/Brown Rice
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
GOMASIO
½ cup unhulled sesame seeds
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cup short-grain brown rice
2¼ cups cold water
1. Make the gomasio. Place the sesame seeds in a dry skillet and cook over medium heat until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Transfer the seeds to a bowl and let cool. In a blender or using a mortar and pestle, combine the sesame seeds and salt and pulse to grind, or crush until just coarsely ground. Store the gomasio in a covered container at room temperature for up to a week, though it is best made fresh.
2. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
3. Spread the rice out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake on the center rack until just toasty golden, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring the rice around the edges into the center.