National Rice Week

Whilst we love to talk about them, we admit that some food awareness celebrations get us scratching our heads (World Nutella Day is one that comes to mind) but National Rice Week is not one of them.

After all, as we specialise in chilled Asian food, it would be a little silly of us to let this one pass by without throwing in an opinion or two.

It surprises us, how many people still have a problem cooking rice properly. For the very best results, wash the rice in cold water before you do anything else and please note that putting it in boiling water doesn’t constitute a wash!

Drain the rice and put into a saucepan, then pour in fresh water until it just about covers the rice. Add some salt and bring to the boil, reducing the heat as soon as it does. Put a lid on the pan, then simmer gently for around 10 minutes. You shouldn’t need to drain the rice as all the water should be absorbed by now, but when you are ready to serve, fluff the rice with a fork to separate the drains. Easy or what?

The one time when you must never leave rice to simmer unattended is, of course when you are making risotto. Here the trick is to add small amounts of stock and stir continuously until the rice becomes al dente, or in other words, not too mushy!

Ask most people what rice should be served with and they will undoubtedly say curry, but it’s surprising how versatile it is and how many ‘native’ foods across the world embrace this tiny speck of pleasure.

In Italy, you can’t go a few paces without buying Arancini; what would the Spanish do if they had no rice for their Paella and even here in the good old UK, we would miss our rice pudding if there were no paddy fields to grow it.

So, during National Rice Week, there should be no reason why you can’t eat rice every single day to celebrate – we will be!

About Neil Shaefer

Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.

Your food. Our Passion.

View all posts by Neil Shaefer | https://www.skfoods.co.uk