Easy Plain Brown Rice Recipe – Pilaf Method
No rice cooker? No problem! Here’s a simple and reliable method for great fluffy (not sticky) brown rice on your stovetop. Now, remember that brown rice does have a significantly longer cooking time than white rice so this method is portable, but the cooking times will differ between brown and white.
Rice is ubiquitous, and yet few people feel comfortable making rice on a stovetop. While there’s no shame in using a rice-cooker, not everyone has one. It’s a staple food, so it’s good to know how to make it with just a few simple ingredients.
This method is known as the ‘pilaf method’, which involves toasting the rice a little in oil before adding the water and salt. Some scientists have reported that using this method and then chilling the rice for 12 hours after cooking makes the rice substantially more healthy, even if the rice is subsequently reheated.
So here I have a very simple recipe for you to follow – its a very easy fail-proof recipe from making rice in this case we’re making brown rice not wild rice that’s a little bit different but this is a just a really nice regular brown rice. This recipe will not work the same with white rice as it takes a little bit longer to cook when you’re using the brown but lets get started with the ingredients.
This makes enough for 12 servings, roughly a litre of cooked rice.
Cookware and utensils required:
- 1 medium saucepan with a lid
- 1 wooden spoon or other heat-resistant implement for stirring the toasting rice
Ingredients:
11⁄2 cup brown rice
1⁄2 tsp coconut oil
3 cup water
1 Tbsp salt
Cooking Method
So we obviously start with our regular brown rice; we have some salt, we are going to use a little bit of coconut oil; and some water – twice as much water as we have rice by volume so starting off you’re going to put it on a high heat. Now get your pan nice and hot and the first thing you do is get your coconut oil in there and let it melt completely. So you want to make sure that it’s completely liquefied; so once it’s nice and hot (it is usually solid at room temperature so I find that it works best when it has completely melted before the rice goes in) it will melt in no time. The heat really gets it going and then the rice goes in right away so that rice is going to toast in the oil for a little while you’re just going to make sure it’s well coated. You don’t have to use much oil for the rice to get a little bit of a coating on it. This is the pilaf method where you toast the oil in the toast the rice in the oil before you add the water.
Coconut oil actually has a beneficial property where if you cook it your rice in coconut oil and then chill it and then use it after it’s been chilled it actually makes it a little more healthy so once it’s nice and toasted you’re starting to get that kind of nutty toasty smell.
Next you’re going to pour in the water and add your salt and give that a good stir just to make sure everything is combined and that the salt is all dissolved in there. You don’t want to stir it too much though – the more you stir the more starch is going to come out of the rice. The more starch is released, the stickier it’s going to be and you don’t want sticky rice.
Now you’re going to turn the heat way down and then cover the pan with a lid. At this point set the timer for 50 minutes and remember this is for brown rice only. (white rice does take a little less time than that)
Once the lid is on the pot, do not remove it until the cooking process is completely done. But you’re not completely done yet after the 50 minutes are up.
Now here’s the number one mistake that most people make when they’re cooking rice – they remove the lid as soon as they’ve taken the pan off the heat. DON’T DO THIS.
When the rice is done boiling, simply turn off the heat, but leave the lid on.
Now just let it sit covered for at least 15 minutes and here’s why – the rice will continue to cook and to soak up water while it sits, covered. Removing the lid right away (like many people do) will allow water vapor to escape, and may cause the rice to turn out dry. You don’t want this. By keeping the lid on, this is going to steam the rice and any residual moisture gets soaked up in the rice. Do not take the lid off until those 15 minutes have gone by at least or the rice will come out dry.
Then once you’ve waited at least 15 minutes, you should take off the lid and just give it a little fluff with a fork, otherwise it will come out a little bit clumpy. But if you fluff it right away after you open the lid, you should get that really nice fluffy rice texture. And that’s it – DONE.
Now lets recap – here’s a quick step-by-step summary of the cooking instructions :
- Put the saucepan over the heat and allow the coconut oil to melt if need be.
- Put the rice into the pot and stir to coat with the oil. Allow it to cook, stirring, until the rice starts to release its nice aroma.
- Pour the water into the pot; but be careful, it may spit.
- Add the salt.
- Stir everything together.
- Place the lid on the pot and allow the water to come to a boil.
- Optionally stir one last time before setting a timer. Once the timer is set, do not remove the lid again until after the entire cooking process has completed.
- Reduce the heat under the rice to allow it to simmer.
- Set the timer for 50 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit another 15 minutes covered and undisturbed.
- After 15 minutes, remove the lid, and fluff the rice with a fork.
The rice will be ready to eat now. Or you can leave the pan covered about another hour, and then refrigerate the rice for use the next day. It’s really really easy. It’s just a very simple method for making rice.