Cooking Rice by absorbtion on induction cook top

Grandad5 · Senior Member

Cooking Rice by absorbtion on induction cook top

Muzzlehatch · Senior Member

I am guesssing wildly here. My theory would be that the cooking that gets done during the initial warm up is not that important. I always use the one knuckle method but sometimes I put in a little bit more water if I think the cooking process might be a bit fierce and the rice might wind up too al dente. The reason I like to cook it slow is purely so I dont miss the point at which the rice goes dry and toasts to perfection and then catches and burns onto the pot requiring soaking and scrubbing and ruining the rice. You gotta catch it on that bit where you can just smell it toasting. If I have nough lecticity I go lazy and use the rice cooker.

Grandad5 · Senior Member

Thanks Muzzlehatch. Apparently one of the common mistakes with absorption cooking is to not start with cold water. The time taken to bring cold to boil is a vital part of the process.
It so happens however that I had the opportunity to go to the Homeshow recently and was able to ask a guy who was selling Inverter cookers. He told me it was a common question and the answer is to simply turn the wattage down to a setting that extends the time to what it would be with a conventional ring.
He then proceeded to demonstrate.

I too have enough "lecticity" ( I like that expression. Must remember that) but what I don't have is storage space for any additional appliance. My van is only 10' 6".

Cheers
Jim

Muzzlehatch · Senior Member

I learned the adsorption method from the Vietnamesse cookie on a pearl boat back in the 80s and never use any other method. (Rissotto is a completely different thing). You need to get a good quality rice that has plenty of starch and doesn't turn to moosh before it starts to brown on the bottom. Little bit of sallt and oil. Gotta start with cold water and cook as slowly as practicable.

That van in the picture is yours? It looks like a real sweetie. Mine is 21 foot and I am fitting it out just for me and it seems too small. You are doing well with a 10 footer !! Keeping the appliance to a bare minimum is a real case of Sophie's Choice. Back in the house I had masses of appliances but now I am off grid and simply haven't the space. I am probably going to settle on a Bread Maker . Blender and ~not sure~ the rice cooker.

Nomes · Senior Member

Not sure about absorption method with induction cook top but here is a tip, use Basmati rice, refrigerate the left over rice without a lid and make the best fried rice the following day.

Panther · Senior Member

I agree Nomes. The Basmati rice tends to stay in separate grains and not glug together so is perfect for yummy "Flied Lice".

The Phantom · Guru

There are a couple way of cooking rice by the absorption method. Both rely on washing the rice first. Place your rice in a pot or bowl and cover with water, stir and pour off the "milky" water. Continue this way until the water runs clear.

Method 1. Used by the Chinese when steaming rice. Prepare as above, and place the rice in a bowl. Cover with water to about half an inch (12mm) above the rice grains. Sit the bowl in a wok or bigger pot and add enough water to come halfway up the bowl. Put a lid on and steam the rice until the water in the bowl is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Check towards the end that the rice is done, if not, add more water to the bowl and steam a little longer.

Method 2. This is one I use when on the road. Prepare rice as above, place rice in a vacuum flask (Thermos) and pour over boiling water till covered. Screw lid onto flask and leave for 30 - 40 minutes. Test and add a little more boiling water if not quite ready. Dead simple.

My preference is for the Chinese method. It always produces really nice rice.

Basmati rice is also low GI and is good for those on a diet. Asian menus that contain rice must be short or medium grain. Basmati just does not cut the mustard with a Chinese dish although it makes a passable fried rice.

If you wash the rice as mentioned above, you will not have "gluggy" rice.

The Phantom

Grandad5 · Senior Member

Muzzlehatch wrote:
I learned the adsorption method from the Vietnamese cookie on a pearl boat back in the 80s and never use any other method

Oh dear! That statement reminds me of a lady I met some years ago with a most unusual surname. When I asked her about it she informed me it was not her family name but one she had adopted. Quite matter of factly she told me the name had just come to her one day while she was meditating in a Buddhist temple in Tibet. Say what??? Forget the name. Tell me about the Buddhist temple in Tibet. I'll bet there's a good story behind the pearl boat too. I hope to bump into you at a happy hour one day as I'd love to hear it.

Mine is 21 foot and I am fitting it out just for me and it seems too small. You are doing well with a 10 footer !!

I started with what I had simply because the more I looked into bigger vans the more issues I uncovered. The bigger the van, the bigger a tow vehicle I would need etc.

At the end of the day, I figured what I really needed was

1. A place to sleep. Check..Got it.
2. Somewhere to cook a simple meal when I can't/don't wish to light a fire or use the bar-b-q. Check. Got it.
3, Somewhere to sit comfortably when outside is not a favourable option. A place to use my laptop, watch a movie on TV or read a book. Check. Got it.

The only real issue was going to be storage and roof space to mount solar panels.

I've designed enough capacity inside to cover the basics of food and clothing, bedding etc and to have a porta potti shoved away out of sight. For everything else, including the solar, I'm buying an old Falcon panelvan or ute with a canopy.

There's my roof space for another 800W of solar and more storage capacity than I think I'll need. It's all a question of separating what I "need" from what I'd "like". Time will tell when I hit the road whether the theory works in practice. At which point it will be too late so I'll have the incentive to make it work.

One thing I don't have enough of is water storage. I'm planning on 60 litres under the van and maybe the same again in the panel van/ute. At home, I'll use 120 litres in one day. Thus my foray into absorbtion cooking of rice. At home, I'll happily fill a big pot of water and boil myself up some rice. That can take anything up to 5 litres.

I got my instructions on how to cook this way from a very boring spot. On the packet of rice.

1 cup rice.
1 1/2 cups water

Bring to boil stirring occasionally. Then on a very low simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on. Fried rice is my principle use of rice.

Nomes wrote:
Not sure about absorption method with induction cook top but here is a tip, use Basmati rice, refrigerate the left over rice without a lid and make the best fried rice the following day.

When the kids were at home and the wife was here fried rice was a favourite. And cheap when you're feeding 5 kids. We always left it in the fridge overnight. Then I saw an episode of Better Homes and Gardens with that Fast Eddy guy and he just cooked up some rice and used it straight away. So I tried it.

Maybe if I had some cooked both ways next to each other I might see a difference. But really, not much.

I still refrigerate if I can but if I decide at the last minute I feel like fried rice for dinner I find it works ok for me. Might not suit others taste perhaps.

Basmati is my rice of choice and you're right about it being low GI Phantom. I had to learn a bit about this GI thing when the ex was here because she was battling diabetes with diet alone. Successfully I might add. Apart from avoiding sugar and the bad fats, the key to her success was eating low GI exclusively and I got the taste for it.

Apart from weight.....which I can assure you I have zero need to consider.....I find it fills you up. I used to have dinner then snack all evening. Low GI meant I felt full until bed time.

Definitely worth pursuing this low GI thing for a number of reasons.

The Phantom. Cooking rice in a thermos!!! Now I've heard everything. That's a definite goer for my "I gotta try that" list.

Thanks everyone.

Jim

Muzzlehatch · Senior Member

Grandad5 wrote:
<snip>
I started with what I had simply because the more I looked into bigger vans the more issues I uncovered. The bigger the van, the bigger a tow vehicle I would need etc.
At the end of the day, I figured what I really needed was
1. A place to sleep. Check..Got it.
2. Somewhere to cook a simple meal when I can't/don't wish to light a fire or use the bar-b-q. Check. Got it.
3, Somewhere to sit comfortably when outside is not a favourable option. A place to use my laptop, watch a movie on TV or read a book. Check. Got it.
<snip>
Man after my own heart!

I have been looking on from afar at GNs both here and in Canada / Northern USA. In America they love to use these behemoths but I guess with the climate they really need a bit of space.

I like the "less is more" freedom from having to look after a heap of crap. I am fitting out the van ATM and unless I absolutely need it it goes. i do want and electronics workshop and a woodworking capacity so I have to figger out how to make the saw horses into an unobtrusinve piece of furniture. I have been doing a lot of tripping over stuff during this process. Once I have a build that is starting to work I will take some pictures and ut them on my blog.

Cheers !