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To Boil Rice

A simple method for boiling rice until soft and ready to serve.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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To Boil Rice

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the rice thoroughly in cold water until the water runs clear.

  2. Bring a saucepan of water to a rapid boil.

Cook

  1. Add the rice to the boiling water and stir gently.

  2. Boil for about 15-20 minutes until the rice is soft.

  3. Test the rice by rubbing it between your fingers; it should be well done.

Drain and serve

  1. Drain the rice in a colander and rinse with cold water.

  2. Return the rice to the saucepan, cover, and keep warm near the fire until ready to serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Rice
Forms the main body of the dish; boiling softens its starch so the grains become tender.

The step that matters

Testing for doneness. Rice can look cooked while still firm at the centre or be overcooked and mushy. Rubbing a few grains between the fingers shows whether the starch has fully softened, which is why the test matters before draining.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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