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Q. I’ve always had trouble making perfect rice. Can you help me? — Dale, Darboy

A. Well Dale, the proper rice selection and the amount of liquid used when cooking the rice play a significant role to get the perfect rice we are looking for.

Sometimes, we want a rice that is light and fluffy like in a pilaf or other side dish, so we will probably use long-grain white rice and a ratio of 2 parts liquid to 1 part rice. If we want a rice that is somewhat creamy like for making risotto or rice pudding, we would likely start with a short-grain rice like Arborio and prepare it using a ratio of about 3 parts liquid to 1 part rice. Other times, we might want a rice that is slightly firmer for a cold salad application or when we want it to flow freely from the spoon, so we would use a long-grain white rice and a ratio of about 1½ parts liquid to 1 part rice.

Of course, the healthiest rice for us to eat is brown rice, which is the least refined and still contains the healthy outside bran and all of its nutrients and fiber. Because brown rice still contains the bran, the cooking time is about three times longer and uses much more liquid due to evaporation during cooking.

Does this help you, Dale?

Get Chef Jeff’s recipe for Zesty Tomato Cabbage Bonnets here.