Is anyone cooking basmati brown rice on the stove? Tips?
It is the only "normal" brown rice I can find at Aldi. I am struggling. Three attempts so far. In all cases, I rinse the rice first and saute it in oil for a minute or two, before adding the water:
1. 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water. simmer for 35 minutes, sit for 5. These were the instructions on the bag. The rice wasn't cooked. Eating it hurt.
2. 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, simmer for 50 minutes, sit for 10. Got these off the internet, the rice was soft enough, but not tender. Poor texture.
3. Soak rice for 30+ minutes, simmer for 40 minutes, sit for 10. Better, but still not great. The soaking is also annoying.
My metric for "good" is the frozen brown rice from trader joes. None of my attempts are even close.
Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Brown rice can go rancid. I believe there is a stage for brown rice freshness between it being "fresh" and being rancid. Stale? I often buy expired food from my friend who is a grocery liquidator. Every once in a while I will get some brown rice that just will not seem to cook right. My theory is that it has to do with the husk, the part that also causes the rancidity. Maybe there is a stage of of staleness that involves husk impermeability but not outright rancidity. That's my guess.
One alternative is to boil it in way too much water. Strain it when it is 80% done and reboil it with a small amount of fresh water for the remaining 20%. This technique will also remove much of the arsenic. Some brown rices have lots of arsenic.
One alternative is to boil it in way too much water. Strain it when it is 80% done and reboil it with a small amount of fresh water for the remaining 20%. This technique will also remove much of the arsenic. Some brown rices have lots of arsenic.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Buy a better quality rice.
Commodities are very efficiently priced, with low margins across the value chain.
So when you buy canned beans, rice, pasta, lentils, oil, shrimp etc, if they cost more it’s because they’re usually better quality*.
Better quality means they are safer to eat (look for example at how cheap shrimp is farmed in SE Asia), taste better and are more forgiving when cooked.
*all else being equal and outside of extremes: buying in bulk/promo id obviously a win and Whole Foods clearly takes very high margins.
Commodities are very efficiently priced, with low margins across the value chain.
So when you buy canned beans, rice, pasta, lentils, oil, shrimp etc, if they cost more it’s because they’re usually better quality*.
Better quality means they are safer to eat (look for example at how cheap shrimp is farmed in SE Asia), taste better and are more forgiving when cooked.
*all else being equal and outside of extremes: buying in bulk/promo id obviously a win and Whole Foods clearly takes very high margins.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
It's possible the rice is old. I am eating it because my wife didn't want to, and now I am into the idea. I'll try a boil method next.
This is the rice. Does it look like a low quality product? Usually their specially selected stuff is pretty good. It's about $3 for 2lbs:
This is the rice. Does it look like a low quality product? Usually their specially selected stuff is pretty good. It's about $3 for 2lbs:
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
If that doesn’t work, consider trying one or a combination:
1) Rinse rice before cooking. (Some has more dust or whatever than others, even with the same brand.)
2) Toast the rice in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and a bit browned.
3) Use broth and/or seasonings to mask the flavor and complement whatever is being served.
4) Let rest covered longer, 20 to 30 minutes.
5) Use a stovetop pressure cooker. The covered bowl within the pot with water on the bottom is less prone to scorching, but there are more dishes to wash.
Update of tonight’s action research:
I made brown rice tonight 2:1 water to rice. It took 40 minutes to cook. I let it set and started testing at intervals: 5 minutes (crunchy), 10 and 15 minutes (soft yet crunchy), 20 minutes (tender), 25 minutes (tender and fluffier, served at this point because the Korean beef was ready).
1) Rinse rice before cooking. (Some has more dust or whatever than others, even with the same brand.)
2) Toast the rice in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and a bit browned.
3) Use broth and/or seasonings to mask the flavor and complement whatever is being served.
4) Let rest covered longer, 20 to 30 minutes.
5) Use a stovetop pressure cooker. The covered bowl within the pot with water on the bottom is less prone to scorching, but there are more dishes to wash.
Update of tonight’s action research:
I made brown rice tonight 2:1 water to rice. It took 40 minutes to cook. I let it set and started testing at intervals: 5 minutes (crunchy), 10 and 15 minutes (soft yet crunchy), 20 minutes (tender), 25 minutes (tender and fluffier, served at this point because the Korean beef was ready).
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
I appreciate everyone's input on this. I've been slowly trying the ideas:
1. Different rice, basic 2:1 simmer method. Basic riceland brown rice, but fresh. This definitely helped, though the texture was still off.
2. New rice, simmer method, broth instead of water. Didn't love it. The broth was expensive and left a gummy residue on the rice.
3. New rice, drop into boiling water at a 6:1 ratio, boil 30 minutes, drain, sit covered for 10. Best so far - maybe a little firmer than I would have liked, but very even texture. Perhaps letting it sit a little longer like Frita did would solve that. I'll try. I also like the reduction of arsenic in the rice.
I save half my rice to eat tomorrow. If that's good reheated, I'll settle on the boil method. It is more annoying than white rice via simmer method, but I like the nutrition profile. Maybe I can dial it in with a fresh bag of the Aldi basmati brown rice.
This article is pretty comprehensive and seems to match my experience:
https://www.recipetineats.com/how-to-cook-brown-rice/
1. Different rice, basic 2:1 simmer method. Basic riceland brown rice, but fresh. This definitely helped, though the texture was still off.
2. New rice, simmer method, broth instead of water. Didn't love it. The broth was expensive and left a gummy residue on the rice.
3. New rice, drop into boiling water at a 6:1 ratio, boil 30 minutes, drain, sit covered for 10. Best so far - maybe a little firmer than I would have liked, but very even texture. Perhaps letting it sit a little longer like Frita did would solve that. I'll try. I also like the reduction of arsenic in the rice.
I save half my rice to eat tomorrow. If that's good reheated, I'll settle on the boil method. It is more annoying than white rice via simmer method, but I like the nutrition profile. Maybe I can dial it in with a fresh bag of the Aldi basmati brown rice.
This article is pretty comprehensive and seems to match my experience:
https://www.recipetineats.com/how-to-cook-brown-rice/
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Lately I've been using plain red lentils as the "rice" for a stir fry. It works well enough for me.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
I know this is in the thread of minimalist kitchen, low spending, etc, but I inherited an oooooold (now it’s close to 30 years old I think) zojirushi rice cooker from one of my many roommates over the years, and it is my favorite kitchen appliance. Simple (just uses magnets to tell when rice is done / water is all evaporated) and makes damn good rice for me at least 3x/week for the 5 years I’ve had it so far. At somewhere near a thousand uses (and the ability to make many of the cheapest foods in the world ultra tasty and delicious), it’s definitely worth spending the Craigslist price for a used one (honestly even just buy a new one will save you money if you eat a lot of rice).
Second side note: agreed with above on rice quality. Basmati brown is the best for you I think (lowest glycemic index and still good taste when toasted before cooked, which you can do in the rice cooker too!). I recently had a long conversation with a phd nutritionist / Ayurvedic ?guru? I met randomly about 14% (1/6) of younger Indians being pre-diabetic due to eating processed rice with every meal. He suggested eating Low GI rice which is fermented over two years instead of processed. I have yet to fully personally process whether I think this price doubling is worth it for the less processed rice.
Second side note: agreed with above on rice quality. Basmati brown is the best for you I think (lowest glycemic index and still good taste when toasted before cooked, which you can do in the rice cooker too!). I recently had a long conversation with a phd nutritionist / Ayurvedic ?guru? I met randomly about 14% (1/6) of younger Indians being pre-diabetic due to eating processed rice with every meal. He suggested eating Low GI rice which is fermented over two years instead of processed. I have yet to fully personally process whether I think this price doubling is worth it for the less processed rice.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
I've eyed zojirushi cookers in the past. In a world where my kitchen space is infinite, I'd already have one.
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ducknald_don
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Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Ok then… I have one bad suggestion that you might hate this (and I would never do it on a regular bases) but I think that the win for brown rice would be a much longer soaking time (several hours to overnight) before the cooking at a 1.8 to 1 ratio on brown basmati. Say, 3 hours soaking minimum. I will make a test batch for entertainment value to see if this works at all (but I only have short grain brown rice, so I will drop the water ratio a bit to like 1.5)
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Ok reporting in with results here. Did 2 trials, the answer is in between. Soaked 2 batches of brown rice for 3 hours, then cooking for 20 mins with slightly < 2 cups of water (on low, covered) was just a touch too hard, but 30 mins and 2.5 cups of water was too much water. I am at 6000ish ft of elevation, so timing may differ slightly. Next trial would be 2.2 cups of water, like 22 mins. I think this one would be quite good. 30 mins and 2.5 cups of water is still pretty delicious. Neither of these results of mine are quite as good as the rice cooker method which requires no thought and no soaking though…
I would want you to try something like that last result with the basmati brown; I think with the longer rice grain that would end up being right around the correct amount of water. Timing may be different, just cook until all the water has boiled off. Start with just the 2 cups of water, then once that has boiled off keep adding more in small amounts (that you measure!!!) till you hit or go past the texture you like. Keep notes because you will likely bypass the best result in this trial.
Then if you get a good result here, see if you can reduce the soaking time to optimize. It may be that if the rice is soaked less, it is gonna need cooked slightly better, but I’m just trying to find the best spot in parameter space without too many trials.
Let me know if you want me to fine tune my recipe further. I’m happy to (I would like to know how make perfect rice on the stove even if I never do it) but I’m not sure the results will be transferable to you in any way.
I would want you to try something like that last result with the basmati brown; I think with the longer rice grain that would end up being right around the correct amount of water. Timing may be different, just cook until all the water has boiled off. Start with just the 2 cups of water, then once that has boiled off keep adding more in small amounts (that you measure!!!) till you hit or go past the texture you like. Keep notes because you will likely bypass the best result in this trial.
Then if you get a good result here, see if you can reduce the soaking time to optimize. It may be that if the rice is soaked less, it is gonna need cooked slightly better, but I’m just trying to find the best spot in parameter space without too many trials.
Let me know if you want me to fine tune my recipe further. I’m happy to (I would like to know how make perfect rice on the stove even if I never do it) but I’m not sure the results will be transferable to you in any way.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Interesting results! I'll give the long soak a try, after I play out the boil method and get some fresh basmati rice. I don't want to eat rice every day, so it's going to be awhile.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Since I'm eating a brown rice bowl, I figured it's time to update. Using the basmati brown rice from aldi, here's what I do:
1. Rinse rice, picking out any dark brown pieces. These still have the hull and will not soften.
2. Boil water, using a volume of >6:1 for the water to rice ratio
3. Add rice, cover. Without a lid, the water will boil away before the rice is done.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes. The flame may need to be turned down as the rice cooks, to prevent boil over.
5. Drain rice quickly, it doesn't have to be perfect. A little extra moisture will be absorbed. Move the rice as little as necessary.
6. Return to pot, stirring as little as possible, keeping the grains in tact
7. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes
8. Fluff and serve with fork. Don't stir it with a spatula, it will mash the rice.
I am consistently getting tender, well separated grains. They are good on day 2 as well. I am very happy with the result.
The method above does produce grains with an oblong shape. My guess is the outside cooks faster than the center, but the moisture evens out while sitting. This could be why the rice is so sensitive to stirring, when being drained and moved back into the pot.
I have not played with soaking the rice yet. I bet doing so would solve the shape problem, getting me very close to Trader Joe's frozen brown rice. While that is the standard I initially set, I am hesitant to keep chasing it. My current result is highly acceptable. The wait from "I want rice" to eating is my least favorite part. Adding a soak isn't going to help.
1. Rinse rice, picking out any dark brown pieces. These still have the hull and will not soften.
2. Boil water, using a volume of >6:1 for the water to rice ratio
3. Add rice, cover. Without a lid, the water will boil away before the rice is done.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes. The flame may need to be turned down as the rice cooks, to prevent boil over.
5. Drain rice quickly, it doesn't have to be perfect. A little extra moisture will be absorbed. Move the rice as little as necessary.
6. Return to pot, stirring as little as possible, keeping the grains in tact
7. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes
8. Fluff and serve with fork. Don't stir it with a spatula, it will mash the rice.
I am consistently getting tender, well separated grains. They are good on day 2 as well. I am very happy with the result.
The method above does produce grains with an oblong shape. My guess is the outside cooks faster than the center, but the moisture evens out while sitting. This could be why the rice is so sensitive to stirring, when being drained and moved back into the pot.
I have not played with soaking the rice yet. I bet doing so would solve the shape problem, getting me very close to Trader Joe's frozen brown rice. While that is the standard I initially set, I am hesitant to keep chasing it. My current result is highly acceptable. The wait from "I want rice" to eating is my least favorite part. Adding a soak isn't going to help.
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Decided to abandon the Aldi rice. Going to try Trader Joe's brand instead, to see if it is better quality.
The reason - I have to pick rice that won't cook out. This was from 2 cups:
Sorting rice is as fun as it sounds.
The reason - I have to pick rice that won't cook out. This was from 2 cups:
Sorting rice is as fun as it sounds.
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SouthernAlchemy
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:11 pm
Re: Stovetop Cooking Basmati Brown Rice?
Since you are on your way to a cooking solution, I won't confuse you with my thoughts on that. But for the annoying waiting part, I'd suggest doing like Trader Joe and making big batches and freezing appropriate size portions to reheat when needed. I do this for most all grains and beans I eat and it works pretty well across the board. Of course you still have to plan ahead and get it out of the freezer to thaw a little but that wait seems less annoying to me...