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Photo:ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
We love receiving all of the cooking advice we can get, fromIna Garten’s easy pancake tipstoKatie Lee Biegel’s genius chicken cutlet hack. Now, another one of our faves just showed us how to make the fluffiest rice, and our lives are better for it.
Padma Lakshmi, formerTop Chefhost, current host ofTaste the Nationand cookbook author, is a proven expert in the kitchen—especially when it comes to cooking rice. The cook posted on TikTok her now-viral demonstration of how to make the best rice.
“People get freaked out about rice, but rice is really easy to make, so I’m going to show you how to make this basmati rice,” Lakshmi shares at the start of the video.
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While she uses basmati rice in this video, this advice can be applied when cooking any type of rice. Rice (yes, evenwhite rice) is a healthy grain to add to your eating pattern, asits benefitscan include helping with healthy digestion, boosting your energy levels and more. Not to mention that a side or base of fluffy rice is the epitome of comfort food.
Take some notes: here are Lakshmi’s top three tips for making fluffy, flavorful rice—and we think that you’ll never make rice the same way again.
Padma Lakshmi’s Top 3 Tips for Cooking Rice
Tip 1: Wash Your Rice Until the Water Turns Clear
Rinsing your riceis a crucial tip, according to Lakshmi.
“What people don’t realize is that the most important step to cooking basmati rice is to rinse it,” Lakshmi says as she pours out cloudy water from the pot of uncooked rice after her first rinse. “We want water to run clear. And this can take anywhere from three washes to seven.”
Tip 2: Add the Rice to Already-Boiling Water
What surprised commenters the most was Lakshmi adding her washed rice to water that was already boiling. Starting to cook your rice when the water is already at a boil will help the outside and inside of each grain to cook evenly.
“So you want to put 2 cups water to each cup rice,” she explains, dumping her rice into the center of a boiling pot of water. “See how it’s in a pile? You just want to give it one stir so it’s level.” This leads her to her next and final tip.
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Tip 3: Don’t Overstir Your Rice
“Don’t disturb it, don’t stir it, don’t do anything,” she insists. Over-stirring rice as it cooks can actually activate the starches, which can also cause a gummy texture (this is why we love ourtest kitchen-approved rice cookersso we’re forced to leave the rice alone). The rice will cook for 15 to 17 minutes, and according to Lakshmi, you will know when it’s almost ready once you can start smelling the “beautiful, starchy” aroma.
The Bottom Line
We’re taking note of Lakshmi’s three tips: wash the rice until the water runs clear, boil the water before adding the rice to the pot, and allow the rice to cook on low without extra stirring in between. Once you have fluffy rice that dreams are made of, you’ll want to enjoy it with ourEasy Tofu CurryorOne-Pan Spicy Okra & Shrimpfor a complete meal.
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