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Preserve

To Boil Rice

A simple method for cooking plain rice with salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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To Boil Rice

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the rice in two or three waters with a little salt.

  2. Drain it in a colander.

Boil

  1. Add the rice to plenty of boiling water with ½ teaspoon of salt.

  2. Stir once or twice with a wooden spoon.

  3. Boil briskly for about 20 minutes with the lid partly off.

  4. Test a grain; when tender, drain the rice in a colander.

Dry

  1. Dry the rice before the fire or return it to a warm, dry saucepan for 2-3 minutes.

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
Absorbs boiling water and swells as its starch softens, becoming tender, separate grains.

The step that matters

Testing and draining when tender. Rice keeps cooking from its own residual heat after draining. Checking a grain as it nears tenderness and draining promptly prevents overcooked, mushy grains.

“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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