Cooking mishaps don't discriminate.
You could be as skilled as Gordon Ramsay and still mess up basic dishes, such as rice.
This versatile dish may seem simple to make, but all it takes is one misstep to leave the rice mushy or — worse — undercooked.
Thankfully, one chef has come to the rescue by teaching us yet another dish we've been making wrong. Onward!
In a rice masterclass (yes, that's a thing), she taught BBC presenter Cherry Healey the right way to cook rice. She started by having Cherry cook rice the way we've all done it for years — maybe even decades.
Then, she turned up the heat to let it cook.
While the end result looked pretty basic to most, Bhardwaj called the slice of rice "inedible."
According to her, the secret to perfect rice every time is the absorption method. It may sound complicated, but the chef broke it down into foolproof steps.
The best rule of thumb is to rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Step three is to use the right saucepan. "You want to choose a pan that is heavy bottom," chef Bhardwaj said.
"That's what going to cook the rice. The rice is going to absorb all the liquid that you put in here, so you don't want any of the steam to escape."
Step four is pouring the rice and water into the pan and cooking on high heat. Once the rice has come to a boil, you want to turn the heat right down and put the lid on.
"You just leave it and let it do its thing," she said. Once 10 minutes are up, you can turn the heat off and let the rice sit for five minutes.
"Every grain is separate, it's all fluffed up," Manisha said, adding that it has the aroma, taste, and texture you're looking for. "It tastes nutty and sweet and lovely," Cherry said, clearly impressed.
When you finish cooking pasta, what do you do with the water the pasta was boiled in? If you said, "put it down the drain," you're doing yourself an incredible disservice!
This equals out to one measure of rice and double the amount of water.
"That's crucial," Chef Bhardwaj said. Then, you want to rinse your rice for step two since she said it still has starch on it.
He explained to Insider that this will keep the sauce at the right consistency and allow the pasta to bond with the sauce. In the end, you'll be left with much better flavor.
Until next time, check out the rice video for yourself and have a rice day!
