There’s nothing worse then a rice fail so learn how to troubleshoot an array of common rice problems and how to correct them.
Rice is a dietary staple for many people cultures now, it’s a food that most of us have tried at some point in life. Rice is here to stay and with so many people cooking it, with every win there is guaranteed to be some epic fails.
There’s why I’m here to highlight some of the more common issues that many people encounter with rice and how to rectify them so nothing goes to waste.
There’s nothing worse than a rice fail, it sucks! It truly does! I know this and you know it too. We are often left disappointed and most of the time the rice ends up in the bin. What a waste of money that is!!
As a food blogger, I make rice dishes using brown rice which absorbs a lot of liquid. I’ve been cooking rice brown and white rice since I was a child but by no means am I pro-claiming to be an expert because I’m not.
**Please note for demonstration purposes I used some cheap random WHITE rice. So I could burn, mush and so fourth without having to waste a ton of brown rice (Yup, I’m just being honest)….but keep in mind these issues are subject to any rice grain.**
Like most Caribbean households we didn’t measure our ingredients, risky I know but this is a cultural thing that goes back to our ancestors.
I think it’s safe to say most people have had their fair share of rice fails, no one is above a rice fail and I’m not hear to tell you otherwise. I’m human too, just because I’m food blogger doesn’t mean I don’t troubleshoot too.
Rice fails can even happen using a rice cooker, instant pot or steamer……no gadget is exempt, it just happens less often.
Reasons for rice fails
- Not measuring ingredients – for every win there’s a fail!!
- Over or under estimating your rice and/or water ratio
- Cooking for large gathering/number of people
- Constantly stirring the rice grains
- The size of your pot/saucepan
- Under cooked the rice (unevenly cooked top cooked but the bottom is mushy)
- Too much water (rice is soggy/mushy)
- The type of rice you used (short/long grain, white/brown etc…)
The above are just some of the common problems when cooking rice, but trust me there are so many reasons as to why it doesn’t work out. Now that we have established some of the core problems, let’s not sit here and dwell on it.
It’s time to be positive and pro-active! Okay, so the rice didn’t go accordingly to plan. Now what? What’s the solution?
I’m going to go through some ways to rescue your rice, so whether you have made one of my recipes, your own or someone elses, hopefully this can help you out!
Steaming undercooked rice
Undercooked rice (chewy/grainy)
This dilemma can happen if you have cooked your rice using a high temperature and the water is evaporated far too quickly. Alternatively, it could be because you have lifted the lid off the rice too soon, letting the steam escape.
As a result you may be left with uneven spots or simply dry/grainy rice. You can remedy this by creating some steam by doing the following;
- Add little more water (how much you use will vary depending on the amount you are cooking) put the lid on and simmer on low heat.
- Place saran wrap/cling film directly over the saucepan, place the lid back on and this will generate an intense build up of steam to finish off the cooking process.
Burnt rice
Burnt Rice
Salvaging burnt rice is subjective to how badly burnt the rice is. The best thing to is place the pot in some cold water to prevent further cooking then scoop off and save whatever portion of the rice you can. If the top is cooked but underneath is burnt, simply toss off the burnt parts and serve the remaining bit.
On the other hand, if the rice is burnt but grainy then transfer the salvaged part into a another saucepan. Assess the condition of the rice as you may need to add some water to your “saved rice” and/or finish it off by applying the steaming method as mentioned above.
Excess water/liquid leftover
If the rice is perfectly cooked but you want to finish it off by removing every bit of liquid, do so by removing the lid and increasing the heat.
Keep an eye on your saucepan while you are doing this so you don’t end up burning your rice. Once the excess liquid has been cooked off remove the pan from the stove.
Saucepan bubbling over
The pot is bubbling over
This is the starch in the rice reacting and this could be something as simple using a high temperature which you will need to reduce.
Also, another issue that you maybe facing is your using the wrong sized saucepan, it’s too small to contain the capacity so in other words, it is overloaded and you may need to transfer your rice into a much larger pot.
Before picture is clumped and after picture is the rice dried out
The rice is too wet (not mushy)
I just had to make a clear distinction here and will explain why further along. Wet rice and mushy rice are 2 different things, even though some people use both words interchangeable. Wet rice is where the grains are still intact but fused together. The good news is that the rice can be saved!
Mushy rice is a starch problem, the grain has split exposing the creamy interior, it’s completely congealed and looks like rice pudding where you can’t even see where the grain starts and ends.
Assess, you situation (let’s hope it’s the former) and from there see if it can be rescued. If you have mushy rice then sadly you can’t do much with it.
You can make rice pudding or porridge, i’m not mocked you, you really can! (depending on the recipe). If it’s just a basic plain rice recipe gone wrong.
If it’s just rice that’s slightly on the wet side then you can absorb the excess water and bring your recipe back to life using the following technique.
- If rice is sitting in a pool of water, simply drain off the excess liquid (use the lid to allow a small amount of liquid escape the pot so the entire content doesn’t fall out).
- Return the pot to the stove, on low heat allow the water to evaporate the excess moisture.
- Check the pot in a few minutes to see if the rice is dried out, if not leave for a bit longer.
OR
Grab a baking tray and line with parchment paper, spread the rice out in a thin layer as possible.
Leave the rice to dry out on low heat, check occasionally until the rice is dried out
Before is mushy and after is dried out in the oven
Keep in mind if you are using the oven to “dry out” and recipe with beans i.e rice and peas, Mexican rice, you’ll want to make sure the rice is cover with foil because the beans will burst.
Here are a few rice recipes that is these tips might come in handy for
**Don’t forget to comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Let’s be friends and engage on Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**
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