Picture the scene: You’ve just spent hours labouring in the kitchen over a delicious homemade curry which has turned out perfect. Yet, when you try to cook the simple accompanying rice, it’s either too sticky and wet, or hard, dry and burnt. There is no inbetween.
Despite being an uncomplicated ingredient, rice is up there with one of the most challenging foods to cook, as it’s so easy to overcook or undercook. But while us mere mortals continue to struggle with the carby side dish, Gordon Ramsay has revealed how to cook the perfect "light, fluffy and delicious" rice, as well as some of the most common rice-cooking mistakes - and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1 - not rinsing your rice
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To start, Gordon explains, you need to add your rice to a sieve and run it under the cold tap, to help get rid of all the dust and starch. This might be a simple to step to most of us, but is one that people commonly get wrong, according to the chef.
"Cold water, always, and just rinse the rice. That stops the rice from getting clumpy in the pan," he explained. "It ensures it gets really nice and fluffy when it’s cooked."
Mistake 2 - not seasoning
If you’ve ever watched a single episode of Hell’s Kitchen, you’ll know there’s nothing that upsets Gordon more than under seasoned food.
When it comes to cooking his rice, Gordon adds salt and pepper to the pan, alongside the rice and water, and even suggested adding extra spices based on personal preferences.
"To make a plain fluffy rice exciting, infuse it. Get three cardamom pods and pierce them to allow flavour to come out," he said.
"Then star anise – these are beautiful, whole star anise – it makes the rice really nice and fragrant."
Mistake 3 - seasoning the rice after it's cooked
If you’re on top of mistake number two this shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but Gordon says too many people make the mistake of seasoning their rice once it has already been cooked, altering its texture.
"It is easier to season the rice before than it is once cooked. It starts to break up if you season it once it’s cooked," he explained.
Mistake 4 - using the wrong measurements
Going back to the issue of rice being under or overcooked - this is almost always down to people not using the right ratio of water to rice.
Gordon also said that if the correct measurements are used, there should be no need to stir the rice while it's cooking.
He recommends using "one part rice to one and a half parts of water," for example, in this video Gordon adds 600ml of cold water to his 400g of rice.
Mistake 5 - cooking your rice at the wrong temperature
Another vital error people make when cooking rice is leaving the pan on to boil for the entire duration, instead of reducing the heat and allowing the water to simmer.
"Always start off with cold water. Then bring it up to the boil as quick as possible, then let it simmer for 8-10 minutes," Gordon said.
"That’s the secret to cooking great rice – allow it to steam as it’s cooking. Do not lift the lid up."
Mistake 6 - not 'fluffing' your rice before serving
"Fork it through so it’s nice and fluffy," he concluded. "And then, that is perfectly cooked rice."
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