Fluffy rice???

[Shada]

I love rice.
Actually I love the rice sold at Chao Cajun in the food court at the mall with bourbon chicken.

I was just there Thursday... can't speak highly enough of it.
The rice is light and fluffy.. and I can't make it.

My rice is always thick and clumpy. It works, but how in the heck do you make fluffy rice??

I follow recipes. Nope. Bought a rice cooker. Nope.
I use brown rice. Most people I know use white rice and claim no problems. I really don't want to change to white rice... prefer the brown.. so what am I doing wrong?

Oh and if any of you have a tried and true recipe for bourbon chicken like that sold at Chao Cajun, I promise to make your next house payments for a year!
I have tried many I have found on the net.. not even close. I found a site that sold the ingredients that promised to be as good if not better than Chao Cajun's.. bought it for $25.00 and again not even close.

So what I am saying here is... HELP!

[Janet]

I love rice too...preferable the brown and mine always tastes nice and fluffy. I follow the directions and then the only thing I do is not lift the lid until I'm ready to pour it in a bowl. My hubby's grandmother told me to leave the lid on rice and on dumplings if I wanted them to turn out right.

[Shada]

Thanks Janet... but directions just don't seem to work for me!!
I don't take the lid off either.. what could I be doing wrong???

Really frusturates me.

[Janet]

I really don't know Shada. I'm an awful cook I think, it's just not something I enjoy doing. Now I do love fixing a nice Thanksgiving Dinner and the food is always so good, but to do it everyday...I'm just not good. I was fixing smoked sausage on Friday...I've been wanting it so bad recently and I burnt it all to a crisp...black as night. So we had frozen pizza.

[DianaB]

I fix all of my rice in the microwave. If you have your microwave book there should be instructions in there for it. On mine I have a "Rice" button that I push but on my old microwave I had to put in two different times and temps and it cooked it all on it's own. After it comes out then you just take a fork and fluff it.

[teri88]

I only use brown rice, and I've never had a problem either. ARe you using enough water?

BTW Diana I LOVE that butterfly bench. My son's eagle scout project was building a butterfly garden and he tried to find something like that to put in it.

[DianaB]

Originally Posted by teri88

............BTW Diana I LOVE that butterfly bench. My son's eagle scout project was building a butterfly garden and he tried to find something like that to put in it.

When we were in Branson my husband and I went to The Butterfly Palace and they had a few benches like this one sitting around. I thought that the picture turned out really neat! Maybe you could figure out a pattern from the picture. It would look really neat painted instead of cut out also and would be easier.

[Shada]

Guess what I cooked tonight?
Yep. Rice. No change. Followed directions to a tee. Still not light and fluffy!!!!

Ok. Here is how my package said to cook.

1 c. rice
2 1/2 c. water
Bring water to boil. Add rice. Bring back to boil, cover, place lid on, simmer for 45 minutes.

Did that. Fluffed with fork... nope not fluffy.
I mean, its not bad, its edible, but its not like the rice I get in resturants at all. Mine is clumpy and sticks together. Always.

So... I made a drink. LOL

Have never tried the microwave method.
Maybe I will try that next.

[Janet]

Maybe even add a little more water...I'm not sure what to tell you. Maybe you should let it sit all day like they do in restaurants....LOLOL.....just kidding.

[Shada]

Well it is still sitting... and I made another drink!!!! LOL

[Janet]

Sounds like a great meal to me...LOL

[Shada]

Rice update:

Opened a can of chicken, fried it for a bit with cajun seasoning. Put the lumpy cooled down stuck together rice in pan, stirred for approx. 5 minutes.

Added bourbon sauce (aquired from resturant that I pleaded, begged for, and ultimately bought) heated well.. ATE!! It was good.

More than enough for lunch tomorrow, then small dinner tomorrow night.

And yes, the rice was still clumpy.

[DianaB]

I think that Chinese restaurants use a different kind of rice than what I can get from the store because it is fluffier and is different. You might check into rice from a Chinese store.

[Emmsmom]

Have you tried using a rice cooker? We usually use long grain fancy rice I think is what it is called. We always use our rice cooker and the rice comes out nice and fluffy. We had to play around with the amount of water and rice till we found the right combo...

[pope1982]

When I was taught how to make puerto rican rice, I was told a couple things....
Rule number one is you are only allowed to "stir" your rice with one turn from the bottom when all the liquid has almost completely absorbed...
Two, you need a proper rice cooking pan hun. You can find them in the international section of your grocery store usually.

It will look stainless steel or brushed nickel with handles on either side to grasp, of course a lid...come in all different sizes to fit your lifestyle. I was trying to look for a picture online, but no luck. I will take a picture of mine later if you want.

Other than that, the only other "secrets" I can think to share, are I usually just dump a bowl full of rice with double that of water. So two bowls full. I always use a vegetable oil as well and a palm full of salt.

Take the lid off (not including the one stir) when you are ready to fluff and serve.