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To Boil Rice

A method for cooking plain rice in water with salt, then drying it.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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To Boil Rice

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the rice

  1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stewpan.

  2. Wash the rice in cold water.

  3. Drain the rice.

  4. Rub the rice with your hands.

  5. Remove any yellow grains and bits of black.

  6. Wash the rice four times.

  7. Pour fresh cold water over the rice just before boiling.

Boil the rice

  1. Add the rice to the boiling water.

  2. Stir the rice with a spoon.

  3. Add ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt to help remove scum.

  4. Skim the scum occasionally while the rice boils for 15 to 20 minutes.

  5. Test if the rice is done by pressing a grain between thumb and finger; it should mash easily.

Drain and dry

  1. Drain the rice in a colander.

  2. Rinse the drained rice briefly under cold water to separate the grains.

  3. Transfer the drained rice to a clean, dry stewpan over low heat.

  4. Cover the stewpan partially.

  5. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

  6. Once the rice is dry, transfer it to a hot dish using a wooden spoon.

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; its starch cooks soft and absorbs the water.
Water
Cooks the rice by boiling, carrying away surface starch and scum as it cooks.

The step that matters

Testing for doneness. Grains that look cooked may still be firm inside. Pressing a grain to check it mashes easily shows the starch has fully softened, so the rice is not left undercooked or overcooked.

“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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