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The $1.50 bag of rice at the Hong Kong market in Chinatown changed how I cook
I was killing time at the Hong Kong market on Grant Ave in San Francisco last month waiting for a bus, and I picked up a 5 pound bag of jasmine rice for $1.50 because it was on a pallet by the door. The lady at the register said something I did not catch, then pointed at the rice and made a stirring motion with her hand. I got home and looked it up, and she was telling me to rinse it three times before cooking, which I had never done in my life. I tried it that night with a pot of chicken thighs I got marked down for $3.20, and the rice came out so much fluffier that my roommate asked what I did different. Now I buy the big bag every couple of weeks and it feeds us for days with whatever cheap protein is on sale. I used to grab those 99 cent instant packets and call it a meal. Has anyone else had a random store clerk hand them a tip like that?
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phoenixa645d ago
Somebody told me once that rinsing rice gets rid of the extra starch on the outside of the grains, and that starch is what makes it gummy. I read on a cooking site that the water should run mostly clear before you put it on the stove. Three rinses sounds about right for that big bag you got. A clerk pointing it out with hand motions is a funny way to learn it, but it stuck with you. Cheap rice plus a marked down chicken is a solid meal for not much money at all.
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