I remember it always being before.
If I could work out a version of Minute Rice’s Souper Rice using regular rice, that would be great. This conversation has me wanting some for comfort-food reasons (made this as a kid, minus the peas and chives listed in the recipe).
I usually do white rice in the Instant Pot and it’s dependable. Just gotta remember to turn off the Keep Warm function, since scrubbing cooked-on rice off the bottom of the pot is not a favorite activity.
DH and I both actually like Rice-a-Roni. Gourmet foodie snobs we are not. 
I started cooking when I was a kid. I made some mistakes on some things, but if you don’t forget the pot on the stove, making rice is easy peasy. 
Minute rice is okay. I like most other rices better. Rice is one of the easiest foods in the world to cook. You just leave it on the stove until it’s done.
Okay, I do slightly more than that. I start it on medium, and keep an eye on it until I notice it’s boiling. Then I turn the burner down all the way, and just leave it there until the rest of dinner is done. It will finish cooking, and then stay warm without burning for a REALLY long time. After supper, I remove any remaining rice from the pot, and fill the pot with water to soak. (stainless steel interior.) Half an hour later, it’s easy to clean. Or the next morning, if I didn’t get to it that evening.
I need to get more basmati rice.
Isn’t just rice and orzo basically? Or is “orzo” too fancy a term for what’s in it. I loved that stuff as a kid. I suspect I’d still enjoy it, though I seem to remember it being particularly salty. That and Noodle Roni were staple snacks/emergency food in our house. My parents literally cooked 95% of their meals at home from scratch, but as a kid I was seduced by these convenience foods and their sharp American flavors, so I’d beg my folks to stock up on them.
As a Puerto Rican, I too have rice standards. Not high ones, mind you. Minute Rice will do in a pinch but it’s too small and broken for me to like, like like.
Not at all. It used to be vermicelli, but I noticed the switch to orzo. Tastes the same.
I never knew there was such a thing as rice cookers.
I just boil two cups of water, add one cup of rice, immediately turn down heat to Lo and cover, and it’s ready in less than ten minutes. Better yet, I can use my mad math skillz to make more or less rice using different proportions as needed.
Much time wasted compared to Minute Rice, I suppose.
Rice and vermicelli, according to Wikipedia, along with seasonings (on edit: that’s apparently changed recently). Wikipedia also notes that it was originally created by adding dry chicken soup mix to rice and pasta.
Actually, now that you mention it, it was vermicelli back then, as that’s where I learned that word!
The first time I visited San Francisco they even had Rice-A-Roni ads on the cable cars!
I like instant brown rice. But it’s hard to find. Kroger often doesn’t have it in stock.
I love my rice cooker. I always make more than I need for whatever meal I’m making so I can make rice pudding the next day.
I like kayaker.
We have rice most days for supper. I like rice pudding, but maybe not every day.
no. I don’t usually bother with the rice cooker, but my daughter does. Yes, you get a layer of starch. But no, it doesn’t brown. It’s not critical to soak it, but if you do, everything just brushes away with one wipe of a sponge. Maybe you had a bad rice cooker?
My gf restricts my rice cooking to once a week due to carbs.
Or maybe you’re not rinsing your rice well enough. I rinse until the water remains clear.
I don’t rinse at all. I’ve never had rice burn in a rice cooker, and almost never with my “leave the pot sitting on low until the rest of the food is done” method.
Wow. I’ve always been a rinser, if I don’t I get rice that all sticks together (especially short grained rice).
When my rice cooker is done I dump out my rice and do a quick rinse of the pot.
I also almost never rinse, only when I absolutely want very good grain separation. When I use shorter grained rice, especially, it’s for uses that explicitly want the extra starch and stickiness (pudding, risotto, sticky rice.) But for long grain, I’m happy with the texture and slight adherence, and prefer it in most dishes. I never find it super clumpy or anything. The classic advice is to always wash your rice, but after doing it both ways, I personally don’t care and it’s more to my tastes not to.