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French Chef (Pick over rice add slowly)
Pick over rice; add slowly to boiling, salted water, so as not to check boiling of water. Boil thirty minutes, or until soft, which may be determined by testing kernels. Old rice absorbs much more water than new rice, and takes longer for cooking. Drain in coarse strainer, and pour over one quart hot water; return to kettle in which it was cooked; cover, place on back of range, and let stand to dry off, when kernels are distinct. When stirring rice, always use a fork to avoid breaking kernels. Rice is more satisfactory when soaked over night in cold water to cover.
This is the old boil-and-drain method for rice, closer to cooking pasta than to the absorption method most cooks use now. It works, but the timings assume a rice that no longer dominates the market.
- QuantitiesThe text gives none. Figure on 1 cup long-grain rice to about 3 quarts of boiling water with 1 tablespoon salt, which yields roughly 3 cups cooked, or four servings.
- Thirty minutes is for old stockRice of the period was often long stored, and the recipe itself notes that old rice takes longer and absorbs more water, so the half hour is plausible for what was on sale. Modern packaged long-grain white rice boiled in abundant water is done in 12 to 15 minutes; test a kernel from about ten minutes on and stop when the chalky core is gone.
- Brown rice is another matterIf you are using brown rice, the thirty minutes is about right and may run to forty. The bran layer is what slows it, not age.
- The overnight soakOptional now, and it will shorten the boil further. If you soak, reduce the cooking time by a third and check early, or the grains blow out.
- Do not skip the rinse and steamThe quart of hot water poured over the drained rice rinses off surface starch, and the covered rest over low heat drives off the remaining moisture. Skipping it makes clumping more likely.
- "Back of range"A wood or coal range had a cooler zone at the rear. Use the lowest burner setting, or set the covered pot off the heat entirely for five to ten minutes.
- The forkSound advice and still standard. A spoon crushes the softened grains against the pot and releases starch.