Want perfect rice? Get a rice cooker
Have you ever struggled to make fluffy white rice like you see on TV?
Have you tried steaming it in a pot and burned it?
There are a few fancy recipes out there that take forever and produce marginal results, so what’s a poor cook to do?
The answer: Buy an inexpensive rice cooker.
Some are available for less than $20, and the results are uniformly great. No burned rice, no gummy undercooked rice, just tender rice whose grains easily separate.
But rice is not the only thing that can be cooked in your new rice cooker.
Rice cookers are actually steamers, so next time you decide to make rice, consider all the good things you can add and cook in just 20 minutes that make a great one-pot dish.
Almost any vegetable will do — onions, shredded carrots, bell peppers, greens, cheese.
And, almost any precooked meat can be added.
Use your imagination. Look in the refrigerator and see what leftovers you have.
Check out the precooked meats available at the local deli — rotisserie chicken, smoked pork chops and sliced roast beef. Any of those will do nicely.
After you’ve chosen the meats and veggies to go with the one-pot rice meal, consider using a stock of almost any sort to make the rice more rich and hearty.
Homemade chicken stock is my favorite, but store-bought works as well. Vegetable stock, a little rice vinegar, olive oil or hot sauce will make a big difference.
I offer here a few quick-and-easy recipes. Check them out, but don’t forget to take a look in the refrigerator, and use what you have left over.
Rice and Greens
1 cup rice
2 cups water or stock
Bunch raw spinach leaves
Red pepper flakes
1 poached egg per serving
This is about as simple as it gets. Add 1 cup rice to 2 cups liquid in the rice cooker, pack in the spinach leaves, put the lid on and steam. In 20 minutes, toss, add a poached egg on top if you like. If you leave the spinach out, and wait 10 minutes into the steaming, you can add an egg directly on top of the rice.
Garlic Rice
This is a dish I was introduced to in Puerto Rico and it took me a while to figure out how they did it. If you want to give your gumbo a special twist, top it with this garlicky rice.
1 cup rice
2-3 crushed garlic cloves
3-6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups water or stock
Optional red pepper flakes
Heat the oil in a sauté pan, add the garlic and cook till it just starts to brown, remove and discard. Add the rice and stir till all the rice is evenly covered in oil and just starting to toast. Remove and place in the rice cooker, add the liquid and steam.
This is delicious on gumbo or just as a side.
Saffron Rice
Saffron rice is another easy dish you can make in the rice cooker. Saffron is expensive and some people use turmeric instead, which will give you the color but not the flavor. If you want to make this a one-pot dish, add onions and bell pepper, and, if you are on the mood, a few slices of precooked sausage.
1 cup rice
1 pinch saffron
¼ cup warm water
2 cups stock
Place the saffron in the warm water and let soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Combine the rice, saffron and water, and stock and place in the rice cooker. If you decide to add the veggies, make sure the slices are thin and if you use the sausage, make sure it is pre-browned.
This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Want perfect rice? Get a rice cooker."