Freshly-made grains of rice (short or medium grain, please) are bloated with water (read: mushy), which are nearly impossible to get as crunchy and crisp as good fried rice should be. Day-old rice, on the other hand, has dried out and is perfect for frying.
Ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked. If that is not possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within 1 hour). Keep rice in the fridge for no more than 1 day until reheating. When you reheat rice, always check that it's steaming hot all the way through.
For those of you who haven't made homemade fried rice before, day-old rice is recommended for most recipes because refrigerated rice dries out, making fluffy but sturdy grains of rice.
Chilled, day-old rice has stiff, dry grains that are easier to break apart. In short, buhaghag. These firm grains can withstand the heat and moisture of stir-frying without clumping up.
Day old rice or rice that has been kept in a fridge… has less moisture and does not stick together in a lump while frying… Which is why you are usually told to use 'day old' rice instead of freshly cooked rice…
There are few dishes that are made better with leftover ingredients, but fried rice is one of them. Not only is it a great way to use up the odds and ends of leftover vegetables and proteins, it's actually better to use day-old white rice.
Have you even wondered why Asian countries have eaten white rice for thousands of years, not brown? Because brown rice is full of phytates and lectins, which bind to vitamins and minerals and prevent them from being absorbed. Phytates are anti-nutrients found in grains and legumes.
Microwave It. The right way to reheat leftover rice in the microwave is to add a few tablespoons of water for every cup of rice. To make it even better, wrap the rice bowl with a plastic wrap (or you could even use another bowl) while reheating it. This will create a steaming effect and make your rice taste even better ...
The majority of people start their day with a bowl of rice to satiate their appetite till noon as it is a complex carbohydrate that will slowly release energy throughout the morning. Traditionally, a Japanese breakfast will follow the rule ichi-juu san-sai (一汁三菜) which means one soup and three sides.
If there's no day-old rice in the house, don't freak out—just turn to the freezer. Make a batch of rice and spread it in a thin layer on a sheet tray. Put the tray in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes (this keeps the grains from clumping), then portion out the rice into individual freezer bags.
Cover tightly and heat over low heat, for about 5 minutes. If there still are clumps, stir softly and occasionally to break them up. Remove from heat when steamed and heated through. Using a lid over low heat helps to create steam, which will moisturize the rice until it gets back that fluffy texture.
The reason for washing rice (or any food, for that matter) is cleanliness. Rinsing rice removes dirt, dust, debris, chemicals, and bugs—in short, you're getting rid of the types of things you probably don't want to eat in your finished rice dish.
It is possible to reheat rice, but people must take precautions to ensure it is safe to eat. Rice is more problematic than some other leftover foods as it may contain bacteria called Bacillus cereus, which survive some cooking processes . This bacterium is often the cause of food poisoning from reheated or cooked rice.
It can be assumed that for every 100 grams of chilled rice, the digestible carbohydrate content is reduced by about 5 grams compared to a freshly prepared product.
Leftover rice is ideal because it's drier and therefore, cooks great right in your skillet along with the other ingredients. Any moisture you need at all comes from the bit of oil and the veggies.
The word of the day is “retrogradation,” and it takes place when cooked rice is refrigerated. The rice's starch cells collapse, squeezing out moisture and causing a realignment of starch molecules that results in the texture changing from soft and tender to hard and chewy.
The most widely consumed rice in Japan is a cultivar of Japonica rice, a short-grain rice with a firm texture. Compared to its long-grain counterparts such as jasmine and basmati, Japonica rice is characterized by its plump shape and sticky texture that makes it easy to pick up with chopsticks.
To begin with, what is aged rice and new rice? Well, aged rice or old rice is nothing but stocked rice which is kept for ageing for one or more years. On the other hand, new rice is the one which is produced from newly harvested crops.
A great and easy dish to make. Ideal for day-old leftover rice. So you can use your leftover rice as a base for different dishes, such as fried rice but also Japanese stir-fry dishes. Add different spices or ingredients if necessary to change the taste a bit.
While Japanese people eat rice daily. It is an essential food for most of their meals. Plus, it is cooked without butter or salt, so Japanese people are able to keep their slim figures. The Japanese diet mostly avoids junk foods and high-calorie.
"They don't really wash their rice because what they want to do is retain the [starch] that is essential in making sure the dish ends up tasting creamy. "Whereas in Asian cultures, the tendency is always to wash the rice," Tan says.
Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed to make brown rice.
The basic elements of Chinese fried rice include rice, meat and vegetables, soy sauce and garlic. A number of fried rice recipes have been developed in China, such as Yangzhou and Sichuan fried rice. Leftover cooked rice among the Cantonese is commonly made into fried rice, prepared with chopped vegetables and meat.