We all know that some skills in the kitchen take time to learn. No one (except maybe, say, Emeril. Or some other ridiculous chef) was born with the innate ability to julienne vegetables, perfectly sautee mushrooms, or anything else. I know I wasn't, at least. It's all a learning curve (something I've been struggling with, in and out of the kitchen. Learning my way around a new job is always frustrating).
One of the skills that seems so very basic but actually takes practice is making rice.
Yep, rice.
The white grains of cheap goodness. Requires skill.
I'm not talking Minute Rice, where it's not really rice at all, and easily microwaved, and magically perfect. I can do that.
What I'm talking about is making rice on the stovetop, the kind that comes in the bag and takes a good 20 minutes of simmering in order to get it right.
I've also failed at making rice more times than I can count. But unlike other culinary failures of mine (ahem, pancakes, I'm lookin' at you!) I have successfully managed to conquer rice.
... Most days.
I find that my way of making rice works best when I have a pot that is almost too big for the batch, with high walls so that it won't be able to boil over that easily. I also use a bit too much water, and if the rice seems really dry, I'll even rinse it before I throw it in. It's a process that becomes unique to everyone. I don't get it perfect every time, because different stoves, pots, etc. are all unique. Like today, I made a big batch of rice in order to have something I can just nuke and pair with a protein for an easy dinner when I get home from work, and while the majority of the large batch was perfectly fine (I love my rice kind of sticky), there was the fact that some of it was stuck to the bottom of the pan. Oh well. At least it wasn't burned on, per se. Just stuck. It wasn't a non-stick pan, either, so it's not a huge loss.
Everything in life takes practice. If I wasn't so dang frustrated with my previous failures at pancakes, I might practice more. But I practiced at rice because there were a few long stretches where rice made up the bulk of my food availability -- it was cheap, and easy to buy in bulk, and make ahead of time. A lot of meals have centered around "What goes with rice that I haven't eaten six times this week already?" It's a staple. Pancakes aren't so much of a staple. So at least I've conquered something important, right?
-A
