Cooking any starch in water will first cause the starch granules to swell and eventually tangle up with each other (the gelatinization). Dissolving sugars or salts in the water slows down the process by raising the temperature the swelling starts.
“Koreans, Japanese and Chinese do not add salt to plain rice when cooking it.
Boil water
Salt the water, just as you would salt water for pasta: it should taste like the sea. The amount of water doesn't really matter as long as the rice will be completely submerged.
The best reason to add salt to water is to improve the flavor of food cooked in it. Salting water also helps it boil (slightly) faster. While salting water does increase the temperature at which it boils, the effect is so small that it really has no impact on cooking time.
Even if you forgot to put salt in a dry dish like rice or dry curry just take some water add the required salt and mix it with the dish but mix well and thoroughly for good amount of time so it combines evenly.
1. This can prevent over-bloating of the rice due to over-absorption of water, and perhaps prevent grain damage. 2. Since osmosis squeezes out water from lower to higher concentration, it might be able to 'squeeze' out the flavor molecules of the rice better, which might come along as water passes out..
In contrast, long-grain rice tends to be less sticky, so adding salt may make the grains even less likely to clump together. Overall, the effect of salt on rice stickiness is relatively small and may be more noticeable in certain types of rice or when using larger amounts of salt.
Rinsing or washing rice removes that excess starch, resulting in grains that are more separate when cooked. (There's the added benefit that rinsing rice before cooking can reduce the level of arsenic, but FDA research shows that the impact is minimal on the cooked grain.)
Well, you don't need to add salt to the water. You can always use plain water to cook with, but that can dilute flavor and your concern is that your food will taste bland. If you want to add flavor, you can flavor-up anything you cook in water by adding ingredients to increase flavor.
4. Fluff up the rice. Fluffing the rice helps separate the grains, break up any clumps, and allows trapped moisture to evaporate. This should be the last step before serving it!
Rice also doesn't need stirring while it's cooking. In fact, stirring rice while it's cooking can break up the grains and have you end up with a pot of unappetizing mush. If you have a gas stove, use the smallest burner.
Rinsing rice before cooking is an Asian practice to remove dirt, dust and excess starch; but it's actually optional. However, we recommend cooking with a little less water if you rinse, because, without the starch to absorb the bit of extra water, your white rice may turn out too mushy.
Just make sure to use a pan that is large enough to accommodate the increased amounts and remember to increase the amount of salt. I usually do 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per 1 cup of rice.
Kosher salt is ideal for cooking because of the shape of the salt crystals. The crystals are like little uniform squares, and are very easy to pinch between your fingers. This is very important when seasoning food and cooking because you can really feel the amount of salt that you are pinching over the food.
What is this? Mushy or soggy rice is usually caused by two things: the rice is overcooked, and too much liquid is absorbed into the rice.
Wash the Rice
Repeat this step two to four times, depending on how starchy your rice is. For less than four cups of rice, wash it twice. For between four and seven cups of rice, wash it three times, and for more than eight cups of rice, wash it four times.
Rinsing Jasmine rice is not necessary, it comes out great without the rinsing. If you do want to rinse it: add your rice to a medium bowl, add water and stir the rice until the water is cloudy. Strain the cloudy water on a sieve and repeat the process two more times.
Over time, it's likely to pick up some dirt and dust. So let your tap water clean your rice, washing away all but the grains. A second reason to rinse rice stems from the nature of bagged rice. It's slightly dehydrated.
According to Bon Appétit, you should think about rice the way you think about pasta, in the sense that adding salt to the cooking water is a non-negotiable if you want the starch to taste anything but bland by the time it's done cooking.
Rice contains two types of starches: amylose and amylopectin. The former lends to long grains having a light and fluffy texture while the latter gets short grains nice and clumpy. In other words, the higher ratio of amylopectin makes sticky rice sticky!
The Secrets to Perfect Sticky Rice
The key to sticky rice is to not rinse the rice — this washes away the starch dust that allows the rice to clump.
In fact, the regular Japanese rice is commonly cooked plain for everyday meals, whether it is for Japanese curry, donburi rice bowls or to make onigiri rice balls. It is only when you are using the rice for sushi, you will then 'sushi rice' or sumeshi by seasoning the cooked Japanese rice with vinegar, salt, and sugar.
Ingredients For White Rice:
Unsalted butter – gives extra flavor; you can use salted butter and reduce the salt amount. Fine salt – for flavoring and can be adjusted to taste.
Iodized salt, otherwise known as table salt, is salt mined from underground, while sea salt is obtained by evaporating sea water. By weight, the two types contain the same amount of sodium, but sea salt is sometimes seen as more healthy, because it contains more minerals.