I agree. I’ve considered buying one, but I just don’t make rice often enough to justify it. It’s not that they’re particularly expensive, but I’m starting to run low on countertop and storage space. The last big countertop appliance I was able to accommodate was an air fryer, which was definitely worthwhile.
As you said yourself earlier, cooking any rice on a stovetop needs monitoring. My point was, Ben’s Original is more forgiving than others – just use a heavy saucepan, turn down the heat to simmer, time it for 15 minutes, turn off heat, and let sit for at least 5 minutes or, if necessary, up to a few hours! It will still be fine.
Cultural differences run deep. Uncle Ben’s is not like Chinese rice and caters to prevalent Western preferences. If it’s an “abomination” to Chinese preferences, then Chinese style rice is an “abomination” to Western preferences. Who wins?
I love Chinese food but among my culinary preferences it’s really sushi that obviously requires a sticky rice, and in Japanese cuisine that’s accomplished with short-grain rice. Most Western rice cuisine, as exemplified by Ben’s converted, uses long-grain rice.
There are Chinese dishes which call for glutinous rice (very sticky) including Lo Mai Gai - a classic dim sum dish consisting of glutinous rice with various mix-ins wrapped in a lotus leaf. Not sure the difference between glutinous rice and sushi rice. Now I’m hungry…
No, it really doesn’t. I bring my rice to a boil, turn it all the way down (as low as my stove goes) and then ignore it. I’m not even sure how long it takes to be done, because i start it when i start cooking the meal, and take it off the stove when everything else is done.
I grew up with Uncle Ben’s rice, but no longer use it. I prefer my rice to stick some, and to take up more of the sauce of whatever i am cooking it with. I dislike the firm distinct individual grains of Uncle Ben’s (and i guess i haven’t bought it since they changed the name.) I’m not very fussy about rice, and eat most rice. The only rice i don’t like is when it’s mushy, or burnt, or Uncle Ben’s.
I finally got to try my little rice cooker and it was slightly over cooked and I feel like it would hade gotten worse if I left it on warm. I use Jasmine rice and it called for a 1:1.25 ratio of rice to water. I’ll try again with 1:1.5.
I agree with @hajario - jasmine rice does better with much lower amounts of water than other varietals. I normally do fine with 1.25 cups of water to 1 cup rice, BUT that’s with well rinsed rice where I’m deliberately a bit lax about fully draining. So the net is probably 1.3 or 1.4 cups of water to rice. And since I’m doing it all in a pot on the stove, it doesn’t sit on “warm” to dry out much.
While it wasn’t always historically true, I find the water-to-rice instructions on a lot of bulk rice to be more accurate than the prior general ratios from the days of yore.
Cool! I just bought a 2.2 kg bag (about 5 pounds) of Ben’s Original (Uncle Ben’s) to make sure I didn’t run out, because my main storage container was running low.
Lol, i bet it actually is 5 pounds. That’s a really standard size for “a large bag of rice in the supermarket”. When I’m not shopping at the Indian grocery store (when i buy 10 and 25 pound sacks of rice), i usually grab a 5 pound bag.
Yes, rice is one of our staples, and i probably ought to find space for a rice cooker. But it’s so easy to cook on the stove, even if it comes out better in a rice cooker.
Slightly off topic, but usually I prefer oat groats to rice on most occasions (though the many varieties of rice provide delightful variations), and I’ve found that 2:1 is just about right for groats.
2:1 doesn’t require any measuring - if you remember from middle school math the volume of a cone is 1/3 the volume of its enclosing cylinder. So, if you put some water into a saucepan, any amount, get it boiling then pour the dry groats gently into the center of the water, when the tip of the pile breaks the surface you’re done. Stir, turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and let it simmer until you don’t see any water between the grains. Turn off the heat and let it rest as long as you like, it’ll be perfect.
I scoop the rice into the pot, and then use the same scoop to add water, just using it twice. This also rinses the scoop clean enough that i can put it in the drying rack as soon as I’m done with it.
But for formed shapes, like for my onigiri, I didn’t reach nirvana until I gave up trying to hand form with nori and plastic wrap and bought a series of molds. Ideally a more rigid one with a useful push through feature.
I use this cheap but cheerful option, though I’m sure there are better ones out there. But they work a LOT better than the individual cheap ones I had before.
Rice wrecks my blood sugar but I found Laxmi Diabetic Friendly Basmati Rice w/Lower G.I. Index Value on Amazon. It barely does anything to me. I do 2:1 water to rice in my Instantpot on the standard rice setting. I make a cup ahead of time to store in my fridge for when I do fried rice.
I bought some super low glycemic index basmati rice when i was prepping for the pandemic. (I went to the Indian grocery store and bought a lot of rice and beans shortly before stuff started shutting down.) It… tastes pretty different from other rice. I love regular basmati rice, but i wasn’t a fan. I’m glad it works for you, but others thinking about it might want to know they might not love it.
I’m told that regular basmati rice has a lower glycemic index than other rice, though. Depending on how much the stuff messes up your blood sugar, that’s also something maybe worth trying.
I don’t really eat it plain. I put in some Better than Bouillon or some curry paste when I make it, plus the soy sauce. It’s not bad. Better than the abomination that is riced cauliflower.