What makes rice come out chewy and how do you prevent it?

Question

I find that sometimes my rice will come out chewy no matter how much water/more cooking time I add. What makes rice come out chewy and how do you prevent it?

Answer 1

I use par-boiled long grain rice, and DO NOT pre-soak or rinse it. Put your rice into a good heavy based pan, add about three times as much cold water and bring to the boil, yes, you can stir it once or twice if you want. Boil for about a minute or two, turn off the heat, leave the lid on and wait about 30 mins (some times it might be up to 45 mins), the rice cooks very nicely. Strain and use as required. This always for me makes perfect fluffy non sticky rice - I have never had an issue with rice with this method. Of course this is for par-boiled long grain rice, other types of rice might act differently.

Answer 2

Use basmati rice for fluffy rice where the grain remains unbroken. Rinse and soak beforehand for upto 10 minutes. Bring to boil the water for cooking, and then drain the rice and add to the water. Do not stir and allow the rice to cook for upto 15 mins depending on quantity. Once the grain has cooked drain the rice using a colander. Rinse the excess starch from the rice by holding the colander under running cols water. This will prevent the rice from going gooey and maintain the shape of each individual grain. Place colander on top of the cooking pot which has been removed from the heat to allow excess water to be drained. Thereafter transfer to serving dish. Warm up in the microwave prior to serving. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Adding a little pat of butter into the rice certainly helps keep it from getting a rubbery texture

Answer 4

Basmati rice cooking follows a simple proportion: 2:1 water:rice. I usually rinse a few times the rice to remove dirt and excess starch (makes for a fluffier rice). Add rinsed rice and water to a covered pot. Bring it to a boil, stir vigorously making sure there are no kernels stuck to the bottom of the pot. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 20 min 2-3min into the cooking I stir again, just to be sure nothing is stuck to the bottom. At the end of 20 min stir the pot of rice with a fork to fluff the rice and return the cover for a few min. It should be fluffy individual grains of rice.