Rice cooking, no pressure!

blurry rice and barley nubbins in their warm cavern

Making rice is not difficult. So you should give it a try!

1. Wash rice, as in add water, swirl it around, and pour out water. Do this until the water runs semi-clear (2-3 times is probably fine). Traditionally, rice was washed to get out the rice bugs, and the ricewater would be used for cooking or for face-washing in geisha houses (news to me!). You don't have to worry about rice bugs and please don't watch Memoirs of a Geisha while having rice on "Asian" night, cuz then you are lame. And I will come to your house and beat your leg while only speaking Engrish, so that you are doubly lame. ANYWAYS, washing rice gets rid of dust or other unsavory particles that have accumulated while it has been sitting patiently for you to eat it.

2. Add around 1 cup (or a tad more - about 1/4 of a cup) of water to 1 cup of rice. You can also use the "knuckle method" where you dunk in your hand and stop the water where it comes up to your knuckles. (For an explanation and other tips on cooking rice, check out My Korean Kitchen.)

Some people like to soak their rice for a while to speed up cooking time on the stove, but it's not necessary, especially if you're using a rice cooker. And most rice cooker pots will have markings to show you the water level. Easy breezy!

3. Close machine and push button! Or put on stove!
For the stove: Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Take off the heat and let it rest covered for about 10 minutes.

4. As soon as the rice is ready, fluff it with a rice paddle or a spoon if that's what you have, or the rice will become dense and stick together and form rice blocks. You don't want to eat rice blocks. No fun.

Inaugural post - Very Rice!

Right now, I'm exuding the smell of korean bbq, which is simultaneously grossing me out because I don't want to smell like eau de boeuf - and making me hungry, even though dinner was not too long ago. No matter! We soldier on, for you, our dear readers, who don't exist just yet.

What better foodstuffs to start the KC blog than the staple of Asian nations and stupid racist jokes?? RICE!! Just like how Italians have oodles of noodles (well, pasta), the star starch of the Korean household is rice (accompanied by its best friend kimchi) at all meals, even breakfast (it is a cereal grain!). Koreans eat short-grain rice, which is starchier and stickier, more like Japanese sushi rice than American Chinese take-out box rice. You can tell good quality rice by its pearly sheen and the way its cute fluffy bodies stick together like the happy friends they are. In fact, if rice is good and well-prepared, in Korean one says "It's very sticky." I guess we weren't terribly creative on that one. But don't confuse this sort of short-grain rice with glutinous or more commonly termed "sticky rice" or "sweet rice" (in Korean, chap ssal).

Ooh vocab lesson time. Ssal is uncooked rice. Bap is cooked rice. You'll probably be more familiar with bap or other such variations if you've had bibimbap ("mix rice"). Hm. When it comes to food, Koreans don't beat around the bush. What dish is that fancy bowl of veggies and meats and spicy stuff and rice over there? Mix rice. Duh.

Most households prepare rice in their handy rice cooker, though the trend nowadays is to use a special kind of cooker that is a sort of pressure cooker. But you can still prepare "It's very sticky" rice in a regularl ol' pot, whatever you have, and for those on-the-go, there's microwavable rice that'll do in a pinch.

Obviously since rice is such a big part of the diet, it takes many forms. Not ghosts though. No rice ghosts. Plus, there are a ton of rice variations and add-ins, whether other grains like barley or wild rice, or veggies and legumes like peas or beans. Rice is a tasty, nubbly canvas to create something fabulous and to fill your bellies. A quick rundown on how to cook it soon to follow.

(Photo from jiva)

About

Welcome to Kimchi Confidential!

No more recipes for Korean dishes calling for sriracha! Navigate through your banchan with panache! Kimchi Confidential is where we'll explore the riches of Korean cuisine and work to overcome sloppy, white-i-fied writing on the subject, through the practiced taste buds of two Korean American foodies. CK will laugh at JC's bumbling first attempts at the basics. JC will laugh at CK's k-pop habits. Expect recipes, food histories, ingredient primers, article links, and other awesomeness.

Do you have any comments, suggestions or questions for us to tackle? Send us a note at gourmetkorean AT gmail DOT com