Rice is a staple in many households and one expert has shared a simple trick to make sure it’s always more ‘flavorful’ – and it doesn’t involve boiling it.
Toasting rice before you fully cook your dish will bring out its flavor, says expert (Image: Getty Images )
Rice is a kitchen staple, known for its versatility and ability to pair well with everything from poultry, beef, and seafood to curries and stir-fries. However, cooking rice perfectly can be a bit of a challenge.
Many home cooks struggle with preparing rice, often forgetting to rinse the grains or messing up the water-to-rice ratio, resulting in undercooked, mushy, or overly dry rice.
Even if you manage to avoid these common mistakes, your rice might still turn out bland, reports Daily Express UK.
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But don’t fret, there’s a simple tweak you can make during cooking that will take your rice from dull to delicious.
Food expert Emma Christensen shared her professional tips on The Kitchn, a culinary website, for turning “a boring pot of rice taste amazing.”
Cooking rice can be tricky and it may call on trial and error (Image: Yagi Studio via Getty Images)
Her main advice for making “keep rice flavorful” involves a simple yet effective technique: toasting the grains.
She explained: “Toasting the dry rice grains in a little butter or olive oil before adding the water brings out their flavor and adds a fantastic nutty note in the finished dish.”
She recommended trying this method with brown rice or other whole grains like barley.
Emma’s next tip is to add chicken or vegetable stock to your rice cooking pan, whether it’s leftover homemade stock or just a stock cube.
Toasting your grains before cooking will bring out flavor
She revealed: “I sometimes find that using 100% chicken broth can make the rice feel gummy or overly-starchy.
“I usually go for a 50/50 mix of broth and water. This adds a layer of flavour and richness without going overboard.”
The expert recommended seasoning the rice with ingredients from your main course, ensuring harmonious flavors across the whole meal.
She urged home cooks to utilize whole spices for subtle notes and ground varieties for bolder tastes.
She also shared that she “almost always” adds a bay leaf to her cooking, regardless of what she might be preparing.
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Dining and Cooking