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Brown Rice
Soak brown rice 1 hour in lukewarm water to shorten cooking time and then cook according to direction for Boiling Rice.
A one-line note that depends entirely on a companion recipe for Boiling Rice, so here is what the missing half amounts to for brown rice.
- The soak is the whole pointAn hour in lukewarm water hydrates the bran and may cut perhaps a third off the cooking time, which matters over a campfire or a small gas burner where fuel is limited.
- Water ratioUnsoaked brown rice wants about 2 to 2 1/4 cups water per cup of rice. After an hour's soak, 1 3/4 cups is closer to right; too much and you finish with porridge rather than separate grains.
- TimingSoaked brown rice simmers covered in 25 to 30 minutes rather than the 45 to 50 the dry grain needs. Then take it off the heat and let it stand, lid on, 10 minutes before forking it up.
- Do not stirOnce the lid goes on, leave it. Stirring breaks the grains and works starch loose.
- SaltA teaspoon per cup of dry rice, added to the cooking water, does more for the finished dish than anything you can add afterwards.
- YieldOne cup of dry brown rice gives roughly three cups cooked, enough for four as a side dish.
- A note on modern riceBrown rice carries more oil in the bran than white rice does. Store it in the refrigerator or freezer if you are keeping it more than a few months, or it turns rancid and tastes of old nuts.
Brown rice was, for much of the twentieth century, more of a health-food item than a staple in American kitchens; polished white rice cooked faster, kept longer and looked cleaner, and it dominated grocery shelves. Soaking is far older than any of that and is common to whole grains in many cooking traditions, where fuel saved is a real consideration.