Rice is a versatile, staple food. This useful grain has a mild flavor that combines well with so many dishes. Although rice is easy to cook, there are a couple of watchpoints that are useful to know.
Also, there are many different types of rice and they all have different cooking times. For instance, basmati rice cooks very quickly whereas short-grained brown rice takes longer.
Cooking a perfect bowl of rice – one that is neither stodgy nor undercooked – takes a little practice. We’ve all ended up with hard, undercooked rice at one point or another.
You may be wondering why this has happened to you. Read on and we’ll provide you with some reasons and simple solutions.
Is It Okay To Eat Hard Rice?
Hard or undercooked rice can make you go through digestion issues. Not only does hard rice make your stomach ache but it is really not enjoyable to eat too.
This is exactly why you need to cook an even bowl of rice to enjoy rice to the fullest.
Why Is My Rice Hard?
1. You have removed the pot lid too early and the steam escaped. Steam helps your rice finish the cooking process and become fluffy and moist.
2. You didn’t add enough water at the beginning and now there isn’t enough for the rice to absorb and soften.
3. The water or liquid dried out long before your rice was fully cooked. This can be due to cooking it at too high heat. This is probably the most common reason for hard, undercooked rice.
4. You didn’t let the rice sit for a while with the lid on after the cooking process was finished.
5. You have made your rice on a very high flame that evaporated the water long before the rice is cooked and now your rice is unnecessarily crunchy.
6. You didn’t cook the rice for long enough.
How Do You Fix Hard Rice?
Above, we have mentioned the most likely reasons for your rice ending up hard. You can fix undercooked, hard rice by adding more boiling water and cooking for longer.
Add about half a cup of water and keep the lid on while gently simmering the rice for another five minutes or so. Be patient and don’t turn the flame too high.
Keep it low so the hard rice can simmer gently and absorb some more water.
How to Cook Rice Perfectly
Many people become intimidated and discouraged at the prospect of cooking rice. Once you know the principles, it’s easy so please don’t give up!
Follow our step-by-step instructions and you will never have hard rice again.
To make perfectly soft and fluffy rice:
- Use a ratio of 2 cups water to 1 cup white rice. Use 2 ½ cups of water to 1 cup of rice for brown rice. Double or triple this depending on how many people you are cooking for.
- Make sure you use a big enough saucepan. Rice expands a lot as it cooks.
- Bring the water to a boil over a high flame and add a little salt.
- Add the rice and bring the water back to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a low flame, put the lid on, and allow the rice to simmer gently for about 15-17 minutes for white rice. Brown rice will need around 45 minutes. A large quantity may need a little longer.
- Turn the flame off and leave the rice, with the lid on, to stand and steam. It will absorb any remaining water and become soft and fluffy.
- Use a fork to loosen the grains and fluff them up a little.
- If you made too much (I always do!), you can store it covered in the fridge for 4 days.
Final Thoughts
You end up having your rice hard when you remove the lid multiple times while making rice. Besides that, there are also other reasons that spoil a good bowl of rice for you.