Preparation Hacks For Enhancing The Flavor Of Rice Before Cooking

There is one key extra step people are being encouraged to take when they’re cooking rice – but be warned, it’s not for those preparing a meal in a rush

Rice is a key ingredient in many of our diets. It’s cheap, it’s not too unhealthy and it has a long old shelf life so you can always have an emergency pack in the cupboard.

But despite most of cooking it pretty regularly, many will admit to still managing to get it wrong far more often than we should. A top chef has revealed a secret trick which could put the days of burnt saucepans and mushy meals behind us.

Australia’s Monty Koludrovic shared his expertise on 9Honey’s podcast What the F is for dinner for He says the key to the perfect flurry rice is washing the grains before you cook them.

But we’re afraid a quick old rinse won’t do, and if you want to do it properly you’ll need to wash it about 30 times. Yep, 30 TIMES . Monty says: “When you wash it well it’s just amazing. They say to wash it 30 times. If you picture the starch being microscopic grains of stickiness… as they absorb water, they don’t have the ability to stand up to pressure so their structure is pasty. Whereas the starch in the rice helps it stand up and be fluffy.”

Now all we need to do is work out how to get the portions right…

Celeb chef Phil Vickery also has a clever hack for cutting the time it takes to prepare a jacket potato in half. During an appearance on This morning Vickery advised viewers that they could reduce their cooking time significantly simply by grabbing an ordinary spoon from their kitchen drawer.

Demonstrating his clever hack, the chef said: “A couple of things to remember, yes they do take a bit of energy. However, you can microwave them and finish in the oven for a crispy skin. When you fill them and put them back in the oven, you don’t have to have the oven on, you can finish them under the grill to cut the energy down. Now, the thing to say also is – always, always, always use a sharp knife and score the potato around the outside [before you cook it] because they will explode otherwise.”