How to cook rice porridge? This question may surprise many, because it is such a mundane dish that it seems that all its secrets have long been known to everyone. But ... How often the result is not a delicious rice porridge, but an inexpressive "mess", or, conversely, an overdried dish. What is the matter? The fact that when cooking rice there are certain rules, the violation of which often leads to such a tasteless result.
Starting to talk about how to cook rice porridge, one can not help but mention that our rice does not cook at all like in the East. In general, oriental cuisine is very difficult to imagine without rice, so surprisingly tasty and crumbly. But to achieve such an effect at home is quite difficult ... and just at the same time. Of some varieties of rice, it is simply impossible to cook friable dishes, they are good for making baby cereals, as well as for those who prefer smeared porridge (for example, with milk).
So, how to cook rice porridge? First you need to sort out the cereal, cleaning it from all kinds of impurities and spoiled grains. Then, the sorted rice should be washed thoroughly, and not in cold water (as is most often done), but in warm, and after warm in hot. Why is it necessary to act in this way? Because warm water helps the rice to clear starch, while hot water removes the fat that often appears on cereals during storage. Regarding the proportion of water and cereals, we can say the following: unlike, for example, buckwheat, in the case of rice, it cannot be clearly said that you need to take a strictly defined amount of liquid and cereal (due to the fact that there are many different varieties of rice, each of which is prepared in its own way, and also because the amount of liquid will vary depending on whether households prefer loose or boiled porridge). Therefore, only an approximate proportion can be given: one and a half of water should be taken for one part of rice. The washed washed cereal should be poured into boiling water and immediately add oil (or fat). The first 5-10 minutes, the porridge needs to be stirred occasionally, and then cover the pan with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat until cooked (about half an hour or a little more). This is one of the ways to cook rice porridge. You can also make loose porridge like this: pour the washed rice into boiling water and cook over low heat. After the rice has softened, the porridge should be thrown into a colander and rinsed with water (hot, not cold!), And then add oil, put the pan in the oven or on the divider on the stove (to make heating minimal) and bring to readiness.
Rice porridge with milk is a traditional dish of children's cuisine, so you should talk about how to cook rice porridge in milk. It is not necessary to boil cereals in milk initially: firstly, in this case rice is poorly and long boiled, and secondly, with prolonged boiling, milk loses a significant part of the nutrients that are so necessary in childhood. Therefore, in order to get a healthy and tasty rice porridge, you must first boil the rice in water (more water should be taken), after 10-15 minutes, drain the remaining water and fill the half-cooked cereal with hot milk. And then you should cook porridge over low heat for about half an hour. And you can boil the rice until tender on the water, and then drain the excess, add milk and let it boil for another literally 3-5 minutes. Porridge cooked in this way will be most useful.
Rice connoisseurs can be advised to read a book by V.V. Pokhlebkin “Secrets of a good kitchen”, which has a very interesting chapter on cooking rice porridge. The author almost completely deviates from the standards and advises to cook rice for 12 (not 10 or 15, namely 12!) Minutes on low heat with a tightly closed lid (even under pressure, to prevent a couple of any opportunities for exit). And the result should be just an extraordinary product that tastes completely different from ordinary rice porridge, familiar to everyone since childhood.