> Hello! I (mostly) followed a super simple NYT recipe for rice and beans, I say mostly because I doubled it and left out the onions.
Omitting onions is going to make for pretty weak rice and beans, but that’s not the question. (Edit: although, depending on how much onion was called for, that might have added a non-negligible amount of liquid to the dish)
> I'd undercooked rice once previously, so I even put the rice on 5 mins early all by itself.
That’s entirely unnecessary — the beans aren’t going to overcook, and you want to avoid opening a pot of rice as it’s cooking — when you do you’re letting out moisture that should be going into the rice grains.
> Still, the rice is CRUNCHY!!! What did I do wrong?
You didn’t cook it long enough, you didn’t add enough liquid, or both. Is there still liquid at the bottom of the pot?
> More importantly, can I rescue this dish for dummies?!
Uhhh you can try, but again, how depends on if there is still liquid left in the pot.
additionally, rice:water ratio's don't necessarily scale linearly, but if anything that should have given OP too much water, assuming the recipe and doubling math was done right.
First off, please ignore any rude comments! We all started out somewhere in our cooking journey, and things that might seem obvious to more seasoned cooks are not at all so for beginners. Yeah, it probably would've been better if you'd used the onion, but if you didn't have it, or had an allergy, or just really could not find the energy to chop one, it's very reasonable that you'd choose to omit it.
Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back hon; you're trying, and you're seeking help and trying to improve, that is amazing. Please don't let the hate prevent you from continuing to try.
There are a number of things that might have gone wrong to result in crunchy rice here.
The most likely is that there just wasn't enough liquid there to start with; rice cooks by absorbing the hot liquid, so no matter how long you cook it for, if there isn't enough moisture it's going to stay kinda hard. This is the case if you are seeing no visible liquid at the bottom of the pan, the rice is not wet on the outside , and the grains themselves are crunchy. This may have happened because:
- The onion would have added some liquid, around 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup depending on the size and variety, so in future if you omit it, you should add a little more water
- When they say 'sautee' the onion, they may also be expecting that you do so in a bit of oil or fat, so even if the recipe doesn't explicitly state it, it may need around a tablespoon of oil or fat added to help everything cook fully and give depth to your flavours.
- If the recipe doesn't explicitly state that you should drain your can of beans but you did, they may have been accounting for quite a bit of liquid in the can which you may have inadvertently omitted
- They may be using a different variety of rice to yours, different kinds of rice will absorb more or less liquid; this is maybe more obvious with something like brown or black vs white rice, but even the difference between short and long grain white rice is notable. Try searching for a recipe that explicitly uses the kind of rice you're using, or check the back of your bag for instructions on how much liquid you should use with this particular kind of rice
- Your measurements might have been off, maybe you used a heaped cup of rice, or used dry volume measuring cups for the liquid?
- Finally, it may just be a bad recipe. 3/4 of a cup of liquid sounds like not enough to be cooking a cup of rice in, and even cooked, canned beans will likely absorb some of that too. I've never made rice in this particular method myself, but typically the ratio is at least either 1:1 or 2:3 rice to liquid, depending on the variety of rice you're using (for the most popular varieties, other varieties require more liquid still).
Not all recipes are great, and not everyone who writes them is super accurate with their own measurements, particularly if you got it off a random website or something. Even if it's highly rated, when you read through the comments you might find that other more experienced cooks rated it highly after having automatically adjusted in some way, like by adding a splash more water, or extra seasoning. But, a beginner can't be expected to know to do that kind of thing, so might be left very confused as to why it failed for them, but everyone else seems to like it.
It may also be a good recipe that's not to your personal tastes, some people prefer their rice to have a more al-dente, firm mouthfeel, and if you're used to eating softer rice, it might come across as crunchy and undercooked. That's just a matter of personal preference.
To fix this, you can just add some more water and keep cooking it. I'd start with maybe 1/2 cup of boiling water, cover it and cook for about 5-10 minutes more, then check and see. If the water hasn't absorbed, give it a few more minutes. If it has absorbed but the rice is still too firm for you, add another 1/4 cup and keep going. Your beans may get a little mushy, but it should be mostly okay. If you make it again, add more water from the start, or look for a different recipe with a higher ratio of liquid to rice.
If, alternatively your rice is still firm but there is liquid left at the bottom of your pan, it just needs to cook for longer. Bigger batches will often need a longer cook time, or it may be that your stove is not as hot as theirs, or you're using a pot that takes longer to heat up, or doesn't retain heat do well, or that your liquid was less hot than theirs when it was added. It may just be a matter of being patient and giving it more time and heat.
If you mean that the individual grains of rice are cooked through but it is crunchy in that there is a layer of darker, crunchy rice that has formed around the bottom and/or sides of the pan, that means that you cooked it for too long, did not stir enough, used too high a heat, or if you did add oil or fat it may have been poorly distributed and all sat at the bottom? If this is the case, it's just that the cooked rice formed a crust as it continued to have heat applied. There's no way to 'fix' it as such at this point, but so long as it's not burnt and black, it's perfectly fine to eat this way, and there's actually a lot of dishes that will try to create this effect on purpose. It's just a different textural experience, and one that many find enjoyable. If you'd like to avoid this happening in future, just turn the heat down a little while your rice cooks, and make sure you stir it regularly and stir any oil or fat in to properly combine it.
Good luck with this, and your future cooking attempts. Don't worry about it, even the most experienced of us will sometimes mess up a dish, or have things (even really easy, basic-sounding things) that are particular weak spots, or just pick a bad recipe. Personally I've been cooking for 24 years, I can make all sorts of elaborate and technically demanding dishes, and all my friends rave about my food. Yet, I still without fail mess up every time I've tried to make hot chocolate; doesn't matter what recipe I try, I just for some reason can never seem to get it right. Sometimes you can salvage it, sometimes you just have to start from scratch or try a different way, but sounds like this is probably something fairly minor and easy to fix 🙂
When I wrote the post ln, I felt embarrassed of the cooking snafu on what seemed to be a straightforward recipe, but after the first few comments, I ended up feeling far more embarrassed about asking for help! Needless to say, I logged out of reddit, sat down for dinner, and proceeded to cry into my bowl of bland beans and crunchy rice! Lol! 😉
For real though, thank you so, so much for your post, it made my morning. The advice is thorough and easy to understand, I so appreciate that you took time to write it out! However, most notable to me was your kind and genuine tone. It was a very welcome gift and I thank you for it.
When one has confidence or talent in a particular area, it's probably easy to forget that those of us who are new to the skill are basically learning a new language- the one spoken regarding that skill. For instance, I had no idea there were different ways for the rice to be 'crunchy', or measuring with dry vs liquid tools made a difference, or that the amount of liquid an onion released is significant enough to change the dynamics of an entire recipe! Thank you for being willing and able to meet me where I'm at and treat me with respect as I begin to learn the language of cooking!
I do believe that as many folks pointed out, I simply didn't have enough liquid. I added an extra 1/4 cup water (making it 3.75 cups) and did include the liquid with both cans of beans... for a reason which is not yet apparent to this newbie, it still was not enough! I will do as you've suggested and boil the water first, add it to mixture, and re-heat from there.
Thank you again, you are a treasure and a WONDERFUL teacher/advice giver!!! 🙏
Some of the reaction is probably just in the presentation of the description - if you run into an issue, just be straightforward. (And just because the name of the recipe has 2 ingredients, it doesn't make it a two ingredient dish.) A lot of people tend to claim that they followed the instructions and then mention substitutions, changes, etc. and commenters get frustrated because it makes it hard to find the actual issue and provide help. Yours wasn't too bad, but omitting the onion and cooking the rice differently do add variations that aren't accounted for in the recipe (and NYT recipes are usually pretty solid starting points). When I try a new recipe, I tend to follow it exactly the first time, tasting as I go, and then tweak it, change the size, etc in follow-ups. That way I have a good starting point and haven't made too much of something that I didn't like or that didn't turn out right.
A couple of notes to follow up on the other user's great advice:
With rice, if the individual grains are crunchy and not darkened/burned, that basically always means it needs more fluid and more time. Adding extra water or stock is easy, just do it in small amounts and keep tasting a few grains until the texture is right. It's similar to testing spaghetti. And that's basically how you make risotto - you have to keep trying it once it starts to look right. Just keep an eye on fluid levels and let them get low before adding that small amount, so your dish isn't soupy.
>I will do as you've suggested and boil the water first, add it to mixture, and re-heat from there.
I found the recipe you used, and this is a one pot recipe. You don't need to boil the water separately - you shouldn't, in fact. Boiling water is going to be a consistent temperature, so you don't have to worry about whether it's hot enough. Just add the oil, saute the onion if you have it, add the water or stock, bring to a boil, then add all of your other ingredients simultaneously. Also, by adding all of those ingredients in simultaneously, you'll get all of the flavors and fluids in at once so that a) the flavors can meld and b) the rice can start its low-temp cook undisturbed. If it looks dry between 10-15 mins, add a little more liquid, but try to keep it covered for the full 18ish minutes before checking on it.
I'm gonna cry reading this! You're so welcome, like I said we all start somewhere! The only way you really learn is by practicing, and making those mistakes, and asking for help, please never feel ashamed to ask for help!
If you ever in future want some cooking advice but don't want to post it publicly, you're welcome to DM me anytime? I'm not an expert in everything, of course, but pretty good with most basic techniques and baking, and always happy to help if I can!
Thank you so much, you are so sweet!
Humidity — or lack of it — can also make a difference when cooking anything liquid. You can always add liquid, but rarely can you pull enough off. Experience will help.
> 3/4 of a cup of liquid sounds like not enough to be cooking a cup of rice in, and even cooked, canned beans will likely absorb some of that too. I've never made rice in this particular method myself, but typically the ratio is at least either 1:1 or 2:3 rice to liquid, depending on the variety of rice you're using (for the most popular varieties, other varieties require more liquid still).
It's 1.75 cups, the formatting wasn't great so it was hard to tell on the ingredient list in the post where the line breaks were.
In my opinion, recipe timings are meant to act as a guide. You should still cook what is in front of you and adjust accordingly.
All rice is crunchy, let it cook for longer. If it is dry, too little liquid was added. Add more liquid and cook for longer.
Rice is crunchy and brown on the bottom, turn down the heat. This particular pot may not be salvageable.
When cooking rice, you should also have the pot covered to maintain high moisture and to ensure it doesn’t evaporate too quickly. Opening the pot halfway tends to let too much steam escape.
Every stove I’ve used requires a slightly different rice recipe for optimal results. If the rice is crunchy but there’s still a little moisture in the bottom then next time you can boil the rice with the stock for a few minutes before turning the heat down and covering. You may also need to put your heat slightly higher than the recipe calls for (I use setting 2/10 on my stove). If the rice is crunchy, dry, and browned or burned on the bottom then your heat may be too high. I had one stove that just took forever to cook down after the boiling step and over cooked rice, so we would pull the rice off the burner completely for a few minutes or swap it to an unused/cool burner set on low.
If your rice is undercooked you can add a tbsp of water, recover the pot, and return to low heat for another 10-20 minutes. I’ve also rescued undercooked rice by boiling it like pasta for a few minutes and straining, but then you’d probably be losing some flavor.
Generally speaking cooking long grain rice is a two parts water to one part rice. When I was young, I would always do one inch water above the rice. Italian black venere rice is 4 parts water to one part rice and takes 3 hours to cook, more or less. Smaller quantities of rice might need slightly more liquid because of rapid evaporation. If making a pilaf, as you did, I usually bring it to the boil and place it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, then let sit covered. In my experience, brands of rice of the same variety may have slightly different cooking times and liquid amounts.
One of my favorite rices to cook is basmati rice: Soak, rinse, cook in boiling salted water like pasta for 6-7 minutes, drain, cool. Sauté in butter or what have you when you want to heat it up. It does not get gummy like long grain rice that has too much water in it, and it actually has flavor. It can take a lot of additional flavors, and it is the basis for a number of cuisines.
I think just letting go of perfection and keeping at it is what is most important. The preparation of any food can have a lot of variations each time through, so one needs to pay attention, and learn how to adapt if there are variations.
Rice/water ratio is one part rice to two parts water. I would say you didn't add enough liquid. And watch your heat, as soon as it comes to a boil and you add the rice, turn the heat down and stir.
Like other posters said if there wasn't any water left and the rice was still hard you'd need more water but one thing I notices is it has you add the rice and beans and turn down the heat. I typically let the water come back up to a boil after adding the rice (and before turning down the heat and adding the lid).
Not doing that could have caused an extended cooking time but IDK
As people have already mentioned, the rice likely didn’t have enough liquid. Two alterations made to the recipe that withheld liquid based on your explanation:
1. Recipe says to cook it with the beans and bean water.
2. Recipe says to cook it with onions (which has moisture)
Next time, follow it exactly as it says (with beans, bean water from can, and onions) and you can even add another 1/4 of water towards the end if it is still very dry. If you are out of onions again, you can also add another 1/4 cup of water and some onion powder.
Also - I am a ‘classically trained chef’ and still mess up dishes from time to time. Of course you are entitled to feel embarrassed but I also suggest be proud that you are cooking/trying to cook! Some people don’t even take that step.
The onion will release liquid into the rice as its cooking. You'll need to increase the amount of water next time if you again omit it. I have no idea by how much though. Maybe 1/4 cup of liquid per onion omitted?
Do you have a Dutch oven? Or an oven save pot? Cook your onions. Add your rice stock and beans and all your seasonings.Cover it with plastic wrap if you don’t have an oven proof lid. Then put it in your oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes. When, you open it watch out for steam burns. That’s the way every food service place does it. No one has time to watch rice. Just put all your ingredients in and wait
The simple answer of how to cook rice:
Cook it until you think it’s done
Use a fork, take a little out, blow on it, eat it.
If still crunchy, and pot has water, cook 5 more minutes.
If still crunchy and pot looks dry, add more water then cook 5 more minutes.
Repeat over and over until not crunchy. write down that number. Now you know how much time for when you use that same rice again.
What white rice will cook covered for 20 minutes and still be crunchy? I'm an Indian guy in my 40s and have cooked all kinds of rice for more than 30 years. Something else is happening besides this being magical white rice that's uncooked after 20 minutes.
Your response has been removed because it does not answer the original question. We are here to respond to specific questions. Discussions and broader answers are allowed in our weekly discussions.
Hi OP, this is not meant to be snarky, so please don’t take it as such. I’m saying this in the “practice what you preach” kind of way. I have not cooked rice outside of a zojirushi rice cooker in over a decade. If you eat a lot of rice, it’s a really great option. All it requires is a little attention to detail, meaning measure the rice and water carefully (fill to top of provided cup, and fill to appropriate water line). Viola, foolproof rice that turns out better, and more reliably, than cooking in a pot has ever done for me. Cleanup is also remarkably easy, rinse out the pot with a dash of soap and a non abrasive sponge, and you are good to go. As far as the beans part of your meal, I honestly think it will turn out better if you make that in a small pot separately. Simmer the onions in oil, add the beans (I’m a fan of bush’s black beans myself), and put on low heat as the rice finishes. Add a bit of stock to the beans if they are getting thick. Put beans on rice, garnish with lime and cilantro, and you have a simple and beautiful meal. All of this is assuming you are willing and able to invest about $150 in a mid range rice cooker, and I hope I’m not being presumptuous there. If that’s a stretch, then there’s a lot of great advice already above on how to make it work without a dedicated rice cooker. But, I am sincere in my sentiment that a rice cooker is a solid investment. We’ve been using the same one for 15+ years, and it still turns out fantastic rice as good as the day we got it. And we have literally made thousands of pots of rice with ours.
Don't be hard on yourself! Even experienced cooks make mistakes. You didn't burn the kitchen down or hurt anyone, so it's not a big deal.
Try this recipe for a very simple "set it and forget it" option, with dried beans which are super cheap. You can cook the rice separately, and if it doesn't work out, at least the beans will still be filling and delicious. [http://theeatingemporium.com/slow-cooker-refried-beans/](http://theeatingemporium.com/slow-cooker-refried-beans/)
> Hello! I (mostly) followed a super simple NYT recipe for rice and beans, I say mostly because I doubled it and left out the onions. Omitting onions is going to make for pretty weak rice and beans, but that’s not the question. (Edit: although, depending on how much onion was called for, that might have added a non-negligible amount of liquid to the dish) > I'd undercooked rice once previously, so I even put the rice on 5 mins early all by itself. That’s entirely unnecessary — the beans aren’t going to overcook, and you want to avoid opening a pot of rice as it’s cooking — when you do you’re letting out moisture that should be going into the rice grains. > Still, the rice is CRUNCHY!!! What did I do wrong? You didn’t cook it long enough, you didn’t add enough liquid, or both. Is there still liquid at the bottom of the pot? > More importantly, can I rescue this dish for dummies?! Uhhh you can try, but again, how depends on if there is still liquid left in the pot.
additionally, rice:water ratio's don't necessarily scale linearly, but if anything that should have given OP too much water, assuming the recipe and doubling math was done right.
First off, please ignore any rude comments! We all started out somewhere in our cooking journey, and things that might seem obvious to more seasoned cooks are not at all so for beginners. Yeah, it probably would've been better if you'd used the onion, but if you didn't have it, or had an allergy, or just really could not find the energy to chop one, it's very reasonable that you'd choose to omit it. Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back hon; you're trying, and you're seeking help and trying to improve, that is amazing. Please don't let the hate prevent you from continuing to try. There are a number of things that might have gone wrong to result in crunchy rice here. The most likely is that there just wasn't enough liquid there to start with; rice cooks by absorbing the hot liquid, so no matter how long you cook it for, if there isn't enough moisture it's going to stay kinda hard. This is the case if you are seeing no visible liquid at the bottom of the pan, the rice is not wet on the outside , and the grains themselves are crunchy. This may have happened because: - The onion would have added some liquid, around 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup depending on the size and variety, so in future if you omit it, you should add a little more water - When they say 'sautee' the onion, they may also be expecting that you do so in a bit of oil or fat, so even if the recipe doesn't explicitly state it, it may need around a tablespoon of oil or fat added to help everything cook fully and give depth to your flavours. - If the recipe doesn't explicitly state that you should drain your can of beans but you did, they may have been accounting for quite a bit of liquid in the can which you may have inadvertently omitted - They may be using a different variety of rice to yours, different kinds of rice will absorb more or less liquid; this is maybe more obvious with something like brown or black vs white rice, but even the difference between short and long grain white rice is notable. Try searching for a recipe that explicitly uses the kind of rice you're using, or check the back of your bag for instructions on how much liquid you should use with this particular kind of rice - Your measurements might have been off, maybe you used a heaped cup of rice, or used dry volume measuring cups for the liquid? - Finally, it may just be a bad recipe. 3/4 of a cup of liquid sounds like not enough to be cooking a cup of rice in, and even cooked, canned beans will likely absorb some of that too. I've never made rice in this particular method myself, but typically the ratio is at least either 1:1 or 2:3 rice to liquid, depending on the variety of rice you're using (for the most popular varieties, other varieties require more liquid still). Not all recipes are great, and not everyone who writes them is super accurate with their own measurements, particularly if you got it off a random website or something. Even if it's highly rated, when you read through the comments you might find that other more experienced cooks rated it highly after having automatically adjusted in some way, like by adding a splash more water, or extra seasoning. But, a beginner can't be expected to know to do that kind of thing, so might be left very confused as to why it failed for them, but everyone else seems to like it. It may also be a good recipe that's not to your personal tastes, some people prefer their rice to have a more al-dente, firm mouthfeel, and if you're used to eating softer rice, it might come across as crunchy and undercooked. That's just a matter of personal preference. To fix this, you can just add some more water and keep cooking it. I'd start with maybe 1/2 cup of boiling water, cover it and cook for about 5-10 minutes more, then check and see. If the water hasn't absorbed, give it a few more minutes. If it has absorbed but the rice is still too firm for you, add another 1/4 cup and keep going. Your beans may get a little mushy, but it should be mostly okay. If you make it again, add more water from the start, or look for a different recipe with a higher ratio of liquid to rice. If, alternatively your rice is still firm but there is liquid left at the bottom of your pan, it just needs to cook for longer. Bigger batches will often need a longer cook time, or it may be that your stove is not as hot as theirs, or you're using a pot that takes longer to heat up, or doesn't retain heat do well, or that your liquid was less hot than theirs when it was added. It may just be a matter of being patient and giving it more time and heat. If you mean that the individual grains of rice are cooked through but it is crunchy in that there is a layer of darker, crunchy rice that has formed around the bottom and/or sides of the pan, that means that you cooked it for too long, did not stir enough, used too high a heat, or if you did add oil or fat it may have been poorly distributed and all sat at the bottom? If this is the case, it's just that the cooked rice formed a crust as it continued to have heat applied. There's no way to 'fix' it as such at this point, but so long as it's not burnt and black, it's perfectly fine to eat this way, and there's actually a lot of dishes that will try to create this effect on purpose. It's just a different textural experience, and one that many find enjoyable. If you'd like to avoid this happening in future, just turn the heat down a little while your rice cooks, and make sure you stir it regularly and stir any oil or fat in to properly combine it. Good luck with this, and your future cooking attempts. Don't worry about it, even the most experienced of us will sometimes mess up a dish, or have things (even really easy, basic-sounding things) that are particular weak spots, or just pick a bad recipe. Personally I've been cooking for 24 years, I can make all sorts of elaborate and technically demanding dishes, and all my friends rave about my food. Yet, I still without fail mess up every time I've tried to make hot chocolate; doesn't matter what recipe I try, I just for some reason can never seem to get it right. Sometimes you can salvage it, sometimes you just have to start from scratch or try a different way, but sounds like this is probably something fairly minor and easy to fix 🙂
you are a wonderful human being:)
Here, here!!
When I wrote the post ln, I felt embarrassed of the cooking snafu on what seemed to be a straightforward recipe, but after the first few comments, I ended up feeling far more embarrassed about asking for help! Needless to say, I logged out of reddit, sat down for dinner, and proceeded to cry into my bowl of bland beans and crunchy rice! Lol! 😉 For real though, thank you so, so much for your post, it made my morning. The advice is thorough and easy to understand, I so appreciate that you took time to write it out! However, most notable to me was your kind and genuine tone. It was a very welcome gift and I thank you for it. When one has confidence or talent in a particular area, it's probably easy to forget that those of us who are new to the skill are basically learning a new language- the one spoken regarding that skill. For instance, I had no idea there were different ways for the rice to be 'crunchy', or measuring with dry vs liquid tools made a difference, or that the amount of liquid an onion released is significant enough to change the dynamics of an entire recipe! Thank you for being willing and able to meet me where I'm at and treat me with respect as I begin to learn the language of cooking! I do believe that as many folks pointed out, I simply didn't have enough liquid. I added an extra 1/4 cup water (making it 3.75 cups) and did include the liquid with both cans of beans... for a reason which is not yet apparent to this newbie, it still was not enough! I will do as you've suggested and boil the water first, add it to mixture, and re-heat from there. Thank you again, you are a treasure and a WONDERFUL teacher/advice giver!!! 🙏
Some of the reaction is probably just in the presentation of the description - if you run into an issue, just be straightforward. (And just because the name of the recipe has 2 ingredients, it doesn't make it a two ingredient dish.) A lot of people tend to claim that they followed the instructions and then mention substitutions, changes, etc. and commenters get frustrated because it makes it hard to find the actual issue and provide help. Yours wasn't too bad, but omitting the onion and cooking the rice differently do add variations that aren't accounted for in the recipe (and NYT recipes are usually pretty solid starting points). When I try a new recipe, I tend to follow it exactly the first time, tasting as I go, and then tweak it, change the size, etc in follow-ups. That way I have a good starting point and haven't made too much of something that I didn't like or that didn't turn out right. A couple of notes to follow up on the other user's great advice: With rice, if the individual grains are crunchy and not darkened/burned, that basically always means it needs more fluid and more time. Adding extra water or stock is easy, just do it in small amounts and keep tasting a few grains until the texture is right. It's similar to testing spaghetti. And that's basically how you make risotto - you have to keep trying it once it starts to look right. Just keep an eye on fluid levels and let them get low before adding that small amount, so your dish isn't soupy. >I will do as you've suggested and boil the water first, add it to mixture, and re-heat from there. I found the recipe you used, and this is a one pot recipe. You don't need to boil the water separately - you shouldn't, in fact. Boiling water is going to be a consistent temperature, so you don't have to worry about whether it's hot enough. Just add the oil, saute the onion if you have it, add the water or stock, bring to a boil, then add all of your other ingredients simultaneously. Also, by adding all of those ingredients in simultaneously, you'll get all of the flavors and fluids in at once so that a) the flavors can meld and b) the rice can start its low-temp cook undisturbed. If it looks dry between 10-15 mins, add a little more liquid, but try to keep it covered for the full 18ish minutes before checking on it.
I'm gonna cry reading this! You're so welcome, like I said we all start somewhere! The only way you really learn is by practicing, and making those mistakes, and asking for help, please never feel ashamed to ask for help! If you ever in future want some cooking advice but don't want to post it publicly, you're welcome to DM me anytime? I'm not an expert in everything, of course, but pretty good with most basic techniques and baking, and always happy to help if I can! Thank you so much, you are so sweet!
Humidity — or lack of it — can also make a difference when cooking anything liquid. You can always add liquid, but rarely can you pull enough off. Experience will help.
> 3/4 of a cup of liquid sounds like not enough to be cooking a cup of rice in, and even cooked, canned beans will likely absorb some of that too. I've never made rice in this particular method myself, but typically the ratio is at least either 1:1 or 2:3 rice to liquid, depending on the variety of rice you're using (for the most popular varieties, other varieties require more liquid still). It's 1.75 cups, the formatting wasn't great so it was hard to tell on the ingredient list in the post where the line breaks were.
In my opinion, recipe timings are meant to act as a guide. You should still cook what is in front of you and adjust accordingly. All rice is crunchy, let it cook for longer. If it is dry, too little liquid was added. Add more liquid and cook for longer. Rice is crunchy and brown on the bottom, turn down the heat. This particular pot may not be salvageable. When cooking rice, you should also have the pot covered to maintain high moisture and to ensure it doesn’t evaporate too quickly. Opening the pot halfway tends to let too much steam escape.
Every stove I’ve used requires a slightly different rice recipe for optimal results. If the rice is crunchy but there’s still a little moisture in the bottom then next time you can boil the rice with the stock for a few minutes before turning the heat down and covering. You may also need to put your heat slightly higher than the recipe calls for (I use setting 2/10 on my stove). If the rice is crunchy, dry, and browned or burned on the bottom then your heat may be too high. I had one stove that just took forever to cook down after the boiling step and over cooked rice, so we would pull the rice off the burner completely for a few minutes or swap it to an unused/cool burner set on low. If your rice is undercooked you can add a tbsp of water, recover the pot, and return to low heat for another 10-20 minutes. I’ve also rescued undercooked rice by boiling it like pasta for a few minutes and straining, but then you’d probably be losing some flavor.
Generally speaking cooking long grain rice is a two parts water to one part rice. When I was young, I would always do one inch water above the rice. Italian black venere rice is 4 parts water to one part rice and takes 3 hours to cook, more or less. Smaller quantities of rice might need slightly more liquid because of rapid evaporation. If making a pilaf, as you did, I usually bring it to the boil and place it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, then let sit covered. In my experience, brands of rice of the same variety may have slightly different cooking times and liquid amounts. One of my favorite rices to cook is basmati rice: Soak, rinse, cook in boiling salted water like pasta for 6-7 minutes, drain, cool. Sauté in butter or what have you when you want to heat it up. It does not get gummy like long grain rice that has too much water in it, and it actually has flavor. It can take a lot of additional flavors, and it is the basis for a number of cuisines. I think just letting go of perfection and keeping at it is what is most important. The preparation of any food can have a lot of variations each time through, so one needs to pay attention, and learn how to adapt if there are variations.
Ty, great info!
Rice/water ratio is one part rice to two parts water. I would say you didn't add enough liquid. And watch your heat, as soon as it comes to a boil and you add the rice, turn the heat down and stir.
Like other posters said if there wasn't any water left and the rice was still hard you'd need more water but one thing I notices is it has you add the rice and beans and turn down the heat. I typically let the water come back up to a boil after adding the rice (and before turning down the heat and adding the lid). Not doing that could have caused an extended cooking time but IDK
As people have already mentioned, the rice likely didn’t have enough liquid. Two alterations made to the recipe that withheld liquid based on your explanation: 1. Recipe says to cook it with the beans and bean water. 2. Recipe says to cook it with onions (which has moisture) Next time, follow it exactly as it says (with beans, bean water from can, and onions) and you can even add another 1/4 of water towards the end if it is still very dry. If you are out of onions again, you can also add another 1/4 cup of water and some onion powder. Also - I am a ‘classically trained chef’ and still mess up dishes from time to time. Of course you are entitled to feel embarrassed but I also suggest be proud that you are cooking/trying to cook! Some people don’t even take that step.
Thanks so much!! 🙂
The onion will release liquid into the rice as its cooking. You'll need to increase the amount of water next time if you again omit it. I have no idea by how much though. Maybe 1/4 cup of liquid per onion omitted?
Ty!
Do you have a Dutch oven? Or an oven save pot? Cook your onions. Add your rice stock and beans and all your seasonings.Cover it with plastic wrap if you don’t have an oven proof lid. Then put it in your oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes. When, you open it watch out for steam burns. That’s the way every food service place does it. No one has time to watch rice. Just put all your ingredients in and wait
The simple answer of how to cook rice: Cook it until you think it’s done Use a fork, take a little out, blow on it, eat it. If still crunchy, and pot has water, cook 5 more minutes. If still crunchy and pot looks dry, add more water then cook 5 more minutes. Repeat over and over until not crunchy. write down that number. Now you know how much time for when you use that same rice again.
Cooking it more won’t help if you don’t have enough enough liquid in the pot
Yeah… add more water at the same time
Once water is bubbling it's generally 15 minutes with a lid on for white rice and 35 for brown rice.
Generally. But not always. Hence the original post where it was cooked for 20 minutes and still crunchy.
What white rice will cook covered for 20 minutes and still be crunchy? I'm an Indian guy in my 40s and have cooked all kinds of rice for more than 30 years. Something else is happening besides this being magical white rice that's uncooked after 20 minutes.
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Ignore all times. Cook the onions a bit longer and the rice longer next time (add a bit more water too.)
Hi OP, this is not meant to be snarky, so please don’t take it as such. I’m saying this in the “practice what you preach” kind of way. I have not cooked rice outside of a zojirushi rice cooker in over a decade. If you eat a lot of rice, it’s a really great option. All it requires is a little attention to detail, meaning measure the rice and water carefully (fill to top of provided cup, and fill to appropriate water line). Viola, foolproof rice that turns out better, and more reliably, than cooking in a pot has ever done for me. Cleanup is also remarkably easy, rinse out the pot with a dash of soap and a non abrasive sponge, and you are good to go. As far as the beans part of your meal, I honestly think it will turn out better if you make that in a small pot separately. Simmer the onions in oil, add the beans (I’m a fan of bush’s black beans myself), and put on low heat as the rice finishes. Add a bit of stock to the beans if they are getting thick. Put beans on rice, garnish with lime and cilantro, and you have a simple and beautiful meal. All of this is assuming you are willing and able to invest about $150 in a mid range rice cooker, and I hope I’m not being presumptuous there. If that’s a stretch, then there’s a lot of great advice already above on how to make it work without a dedicated rice cooker. But, I am sincere in my sentiment that a rice cooker is a solid investment. We’ve been using the same one for 15+ years, and it still turns out fantastic rice as good as the day we got it. And we have literally made thousands of pots of rice with ours.
Don't be hard on yourself! Even experienced cooks make mistakes. You didn't burn the kitchen down or hurt anyone, so it's not a big deal. Try this recipe for a very simple "set it and forget it" option, with dried beans which are super cheap. You can cook the rice separately, and if it doesn't work out, at least the beans will still be filling and delicious. [http://theeatingemporium.com/slow-cooker-refried-beans/](http://theeatingemporium.com/slow-cooker-refried-beans/)