CONCEPT 30: RINSING (NOT SOAKING) MAKES RICE FLUFFY Flashcards
Rice is a seed from a plant know as what?
Oryza sativa
When harvested, what is rice covered by?
A protective husk.
After the rice’s protective husk is removed, what are we left with?
Brown rice
What is brown rice composed of?
Three parts: the bran (which encloses a layer of cells called the aleurone layer, which is rich in oil and enzymes), the germ and endosperm.
Parboiled, polished rice is simply know as ______ _______.
White rice, the most common form called for in recipes.
Why has whole-grain rice been parboiled and milled for several thousand years?
To remove the bran and germ, leaving only the starchy endosperm.
Like potatoes and pasta, the main challenge when cooking rice is what?
Figuring out how to control the starch.
What requires a more precise cooking method: potatoes, pasta or rice?
Rice
What happens if you boil and drain rice?
You wash away its delicate flavor and the grains turn soggy and bloated.
How is rice cooked best?
With a measured amount of liquid in a covered pot.
Why cook rice with a covered lid?
It ensures the liquid doesn’t evaporate but instead eventually gets absorbed by the rice; if too much water evaporates rice will burn before becoming tender.
Are starch granules the primary component of rice?
Yes
Do starch granules absorb water when held at room temperature?
No
What makes rice’s starch granules absorb water? Final product? Explain.
The energy from fast moving water molecules begins to loosen the bonds between the starch molecules, allowing water to seep in. This causes the starch granules to swell and release some gummy starch molecules that act like glue to hold the grains together. The rice softens and becomes stick, or “starchy.”
What two kinds of starch molecules does rice contain?
Amylose and amylopectin.
What determines the textural properties of rice?
The amount of amylose and protein of the starch granules, though there are exceptions.
Final product of rice with higher amylose and protein. Example.
Long-grain rice cooks into grains that are separate, light and fluffy.
Final product of rice with lower amylose and protein content. Example.
Arborio cooks into grains that are moist and tender, with greater tendency to cling together.
Does higher amylose and protein of long-grain rice affect cooking temp?
Long-grain rice will swell and gelatinize at a higher higher temp (158ºF) than granules in medium-grain rice (144ºF).
Starch granules that gelatinize at lower temperatures release more _______. This is what causes them to cling together.
Amylose
How much protein and amylose does- long-grain rice contain?
22% amylose and 8.5% protein.
Describe length and width of long-grain rice.
Grains are four to five times longer than they are wide.
Which rice needs the most moisture for cooking?
Long-grained rice needs the most water for cooking and, when cooked, remains as separate grains that harden as they cool (because of their high amylose content).
How much amylose and protein does medium-grained rice contain?
18% amylose and 6.5% protein.
Describe length and width of medium-grain rice.
Two to three times longer than they are wide.
How much water does medium-grain rice need for cooking?
A bit less than long-grain rice and cooks up tender and somewhat clingy.
How much amylose and protein does short-grained rice contain?
15% amylose and 6% protein.
Describe length and width of short-grain rice.
Grains are almost round.
How much water does short-grain rice need for cooking?
This rice needs the least amount of water and can be quite sticky and tender when cooked.
What is short-grain rice ideal for?
Dishes like sushi, in which grains need to stick together.
The structure of a grain of rice, outside to inside.
Bran, aleurone cell layer, endosperm, germ.
Each grain of brown rice contains what?
The outer bran and aleurone cell layer, which are removed when milling for white rice.
All types of rice contain what?
The endosperm.
Black rice is also known as what?
Purple or forbidden rice.
Does soaking rice before cooking help rice cook faster and better?
No, it’s a waste of time. Every variety turns out overcooked and bloated, with grains that tend to blow out.
