Do I need to soak rice for pilaf and how to do it correctly?

Pilaf is a wonderful dish that is especially loved in Eastern cuisine. Preparing the dish in different ways, each nation adds its own spices and ingredients.However, one ingredient remains unchanged, and this is rice. In order for the cereal not to stick together and turn into a shapeless product, you need to know how to prepare it correctly.

There are three main types of rice: round grain, long grain and medium grain (medium grain). Among them, you can count hundreds of species.

• Round grain has a high starch content, so the grains stick together during cooking.
• Long grain cooks much longer. Low starch content makes the cooked grain lighter, drier and crumbly.
• Medium is a cross between the two varieties.

Distinguish rice and color.

• White, although less nutritious, has some advantages over brown: it is stored longer and cooks faster.
• Brown rice, in turn, has a peculiar nutty flavor, more useful elements, but cooks for a long time. Sweet brown cereal is popular in Asian cuisine.
• The black It is a very nutritious source of iron, vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. It is interesting that during cooking such rice gets a purple hue.

Arborio rice is a starchy white cereal, used most often in risotto. It helps to thicken the dish.

Gummy is fine-grained, usually used in Asian cuisine, in the manufacture of rolls and sushi. It has no gluten. There are other varieties that are harder to get in stores.

Before cooking rice, you can often see some housewives soaking it in water. Not everyone understands why it is needed, and prefer to simply wash the cereal with water. In fact, the purpose of the procedure is to remove starch and dirt. The result is a product that has a grain to a grain, airy, non-sticky and perfectly impregnated with spices.

Grains become softer after soaking, cooking time is reduced. The need for this method of processing depends on what is being prepared. If it is sushi, then of course it is best to let the rice soak in the water so that it boils well and is sufficiently sticky.

Here the opinions of culinary experts differ widely, since taste preferences differ. Someone likes the dish to be crumbly, and someone prefers porridge with fully boiled grains.

If the first option, the soaking time can not exceed more than thirty minutes, and, in general, it is desirable to simply wash the rice with water. Salt is added to the water for soaking, and it itself must be cold, then you can get perfectly cooked cereal in the end.

For cooking pilaf, you can use pre-soaked rice. As a second basis, simple water and all sorts of broths are allowed. In addition, you will need:

• oil (olive or sunflower);
• diced onion - green, white, yellow or red;
• chopped vegetables: celery, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini;
• spice;
• pine nuts, peanuts, almonds or raisins.

You can prepare a dish in rice cooker, cauldron, using fire, stove, oven. Onions put in large quantities, but depending on personal preference. Celery is highly recommended by professional chefs, carrots will add a beautiful color and a pleasant taste, mushrooms - the color and flavor. Vegetables can be as much as a minimum. The main ingredients are always considered carrots and onions, the rest are put individually.

Heat the butter in a pan and throw the vegetables into it so that they become golden in color. A choice of added spices. By this time, rice should already begin to prepare in a cauldron. Why is it desirable to take dishes with thick walls - in it the dish is completely steamed and saturated with the aromas of vegetables and seasonings.

The lid is occasionally lifted and stirred the contents of the pan, then closed again.When using nuts or fruits, wait until rice is fully prepared to mix everything together.

You can cook rice in plain water, but the broth adds a special flavor. Black rice is cooked in the proportion of one and a half - two glasses of liquid for one cup of rice. Wash it in a colander until the water is clear. Bring the water to a boil, cover with a lid and reduce the flame to the minimum. Cooked cereal for 30-35 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. After the pan has been removed from the heat, the product is allowed to infuse for 5 minutes.

For cooking wild rice use 3 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice. It is desirable to soak before cooking. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes.

To create a risotto, you need 3 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice. As in the case with pilaf, the grits are first fried in butter. Then water is added to make the starch necessary for thickening.

The most difficult thing is to make sushi rice correctly. On a glass of cereals, you must use one glass of water. Only short rice is used, which is brought to a boil at maximum heat, and then covered with a lid, and the temperature is reduced to a minimum. It will take about 20 minutes for full readiness.

Steamed rice does not need to be poured with water, since it has already been pre-processed. If the hostess knows these subtleties, she can easily prepare a tasty side dish for meat, fish or high-quality pilaf.

You will learn more about how to soak rice for pilaf in the following video.