My battle with rice
Rice. Simple enough to make successfully right?
Wrong.
For some reason rice has been one of those things that I could never get right. It has been so frustrating that I've even gotten in the habit of ordering extra rice when I order Asian food just to have some on hand. I have been able to master other much more challenging foods in the kitchen. Why had rice continued to allude me???
That all changed on Monday. It was pork day (yay!) in school, and one of the sides was rice pilaf, which was assigned to me and my partner.
Great. A chance to show my classmates and chef instructor how I can't cook rice. I can't even make successful rice pilaf from the box. I made myself feel better by reminding myself that regardless of how awful I managed to butcher it this time, we were far enough along in school that people wouldn't look at me like I was a fool to dream of being a chef.
Chef went through the proper technique behind how to correctly cook a rice pilaf. I still wasn't convinced that there was any way that I was going to be able to pull this off, even with the help of my very competent partner. I secretly hoped she was a master rock star rice cooker, grabbed my recipes and headed in to the kitchen.
We also were assigned to empanadas, so I put the stress of rice cooking on the back burner (pun TOTALLY intended). After rocking those, it was time to tackle the rice. Procrastinating time was over. Here we go.
We cooked the onions and mushrooms in oil then added the rice to cook until it was opaque. It's important to not toast the rice, as that technique is reserved for risotto. Add liquid (ideally broth, but can use equal parts stock and water), place towel on top of pot, cover and into the oven for 20-30 minutes.
Dealing with a "dinner time" deadline that was quickly approaching, we weren't sure that our rice would be done on time. But somehow it all came together, and we folded the almonds in just as the crown roast needed the side for plating.
I was scared to taste it. And I was scared to have everyone else taste it. I have total faith in my partner Candy's cooking abilities, but I was worried that my rice curse would have transfered to her too.
I took a deep breath, and took a bite. I braced myself for the countless 'wrong' textures that I've managed to pull off in my home kitchen. They never came. I finished chewing and quickly took another bite.
Could it be? Could I have been a part of delicious rice? No. Can't be.
At this point, Candy leaned over to me and said "we pulled off the rice. It's really good". Phew. I had done it.
I had finally won against rice. Bring it on.
Wrong.
For some reason rice has been one of those things that I could never get right. It has been so frustrating that I've even gotten in the habit of ordering extra rice when I order Asian food just to have some on hand. I have been able to master other much more challenging foods in the kitchen. Why had rice continued to allude me???
That all changed on Monday. It was pork day (yay!) in school, and one of the sides was rice pilaf, which was assigned to me and my partner.
Great. A chance to show my classmates and chef instructor how I can't cook rice. I can't even make successful rice pilaf from the box. I made myself feel better by reminding myself that regardless of how awful I managed to butcher it this time, we were far enough along in school that people wouldn't look at me like I was a fool to dream of being a chef.
Chef went through the proper technique behind how to correctly cook a rice pilaf. I still wasn't convinced that there was any way that I was going to be able to pull this off, even with the help of my very competent partner. I secretly hoped she was a master rock star rice cooker, grabbed my recipes and headed in to the kitchen.
We also were assigned to empanadas, so I put the stress of rice cooking on the back burner (pun TOTALLY intended). After rocking those, it was time to tackle the rice. Procrastinating time was over. Here we go.
We cooked the onions and mushrooms in oil then added the rice to cook until it was opaque. It's important to not toast the rice, as that technique is reserved for risotto. Add liquid (ideally broth, but can use equal parts stock and water), place towel on top of pot, cover and into the oven for 20-30 minutes.
Dealing with a "dinner time" deadline that was quickly approaching, we weren't sure that our rice would be done on time. But somehow it all came together, and we folded the almonds in just as the crown roast needed the side for plating.
I was scared to taste it. And I was scared to have everyone else taste it. I have total faith in my partner Candy's cooking abilities, but I was worried that my rice curse would have transfered to her too.
I took a deep breath, and took a bite. I braced myself for the countless 'wrong' textures that I've managed to pull off in my home kitchen. They never came. I finished chewing and quickly took another bite.
Could it be? Could I have been a part of delicious rice? No. Can't be.
At this point, Candy leaned over to me and said "we pulled off the rice. It's really good". Phew. I had done it.
I had finally won against rice. Bring it on.
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