In keeping with our Hispanic Heritage Month, I've decided to tackle a subject that's near and dear to us. It's something that we feel absolutely passionate about.
But we Cubans are passionate about so, so many things. (Well, everything, really….but that's not important right now.)
I know I shouldn't be surprised when the mildest topics bring up so many intense and varied opinions.
Today's seemingly innocuous topic is rice.
Much to my everlasting delight, my beautiful and enormously entertaining cousin, Yllien, takes on the topic of Hispanics and Asians and Rice and Rice Cookers and a poor mook named Osvaldo.
Please enjoy. (And get some popcorn. I'll wait.)
My friend, Ana Quincoces has an entire section in her cookbook ¡Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine about rice. She even shows you how to make it old-school in a pot on the stove. (Page 82.)
I, personally, use a rice cooker. Often. Next to my pressure cooker, it's the hardest working appliance in my kitchen and is in constant use.
So now, let's talk rice.
Today's giveaway is an autographed copy of Ana's cookbook, ¡Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine.
Of course, you know that the real reason you should have this book in your kitchen is because my recipe for My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Torrejas (made with guava and creme cheese, thankyouverymuch) can be found on page 204. *takes bow*
But I digress……
Rice.
To be entered in the drawing for the cookbook, please answer one or all of the following questions:
- Do you wash your rice?
- Do you use a rice cooker or are you an old-school pot-on-the-stove-topper?
- Isn't my cousin, Ylli adorable? 😉
I'm guessing we have a lot of rice to talk about, so let's let this contest run through the weekend. Please share it with your friends. Ask them the questions on Facebook. You'll be surprised at how much emotion rice engenders.
I will pick a winner randomly from your comments on Sunday, September 25th at 5 pm.
So, rice…..your thoughts?
I never wash my rice, I use a rice cooker for white rice but when making Congri, arroz con pollo, arroz con mariscos, arroz con garbanzos y chorizo or any rice with “whaterver” I have to use a cazuela.Yllien is adorable, she sounds like you.
I don’t remember ever seeing my mom not cook in her Hitachi rice cooker, so when I got married, that’s the first item on my gift registry.I wash my rice four times. I don’t know why, but three is not enough and five is OCD. 🙂
And believe it or not, for a few years now, I’ve been cooking my rice in a Microwave rice cooker. That’s right! The only thing is that you need to eat it when it’s done. Not like the Hitachi that hot for you. !
And yes, your cousin is adorable!!!
Un beso!
Ody
We love rice. I usually do not rinse the rice and make it old school on the stove. Unfortunately, I do not own a rice cooker. Not sure if I would prefer it made that way. Of course, your cousin is adorable.
Love Rice! Dont clean..cook old school! Your cousin is precious!
I cook a whole lot but rice specifically works very hard for us at home. I was always taught to wash my rice before I put it on my rice cooker/pot (because of my busy schedule I prefer a rice cooker than the stove top version but I can do either) but recently I learned that the water can (and should) be recycled for the benefits of the plants in the house. Turns out that if you conserve the water from the washing of the rice and use it to water your house plants they grow bigger, stronger and greener. So ever since I heard that my rice has worked twice as hard at home. It’s become a nutritious staple for both myself AND my plants. And in response to your question about Ylli, how could she NOT be adorable??? 😉
I have always had problems getting rice to turn out on the stove and I’ve never owned a rice cooker.. maybe I should get one! And I have never washed it either…..
I LOOOOVE rice. I even love the sticky tasteless white rice you get at asian restaurants. Yes, I wash my rice until the water runs clear, but only if I’m making white rice. If I’m making arroz amarillo or moros, then really, why wash it? Also, different types of rice for different things. Jasmine for white rice, and anything else going into the rice cooker. Converted rice for moros or arroz con “fill in the blank” cooked on a pot on the stove, and then there’s valencia rice, which is for paella, or rice “a la chorrerra”, or arroz con leche. Sadly, I’m diabetic, so I have to limit my carb intake, so I only eat rice about once a week, and then I SAVOR it.Yes, your cousin is cute.
No, I don’t wash my rice. I believe that you’re washing away some of its nutrients when you do.No, I don’t have a rice cooker.
Yes, Yllien is adorable and is also right about the use of rice cookers and its space saving benefits however I don’t use a rice cooker, I do it (even more blasphemous), in the microwave!
I learned to cook rice in “El Hitachi” and have never looked back. It is my go-to and was literally the first thing I put on my wedding registry when I got engaged (although, I still plan on someday stealing Abuela’s ancient one since it cooks the rice better!)…I rinse the rice because that was drilled in my head thousands of times…and yes, your cousin is adorable!!
No rinsing, old skool in a pot. I’m not pasionate about rice unless its under some carne con papas or thai curry hehe
I quickly rinse my rice, just enough some of that rice dust off.I usually use my little 3-cup rice cooker.
I will, on occasion (aka when I’m in a rush to get dinner on the table so the boys go to bed at a decent hour) use my microwave rice cooker to speed up the dinner process. My mom had taught me to make it on the stovetop, but I honestly don’t remember how to do it…
And Yli? She’s utterly adorable!
First let me tell you that my husband is not Cuban…He is an very handsome, tall and successful African American southern charmer ( yes, I am bragging a little)…lol…but anywhoooooo. When we first got married I was having a blast cooking for him. Cuban food several times a week, even making arroz con huevos fritos for breakfast, arroz con leche and so on and so on….Finally, he broke down and said…” Babe, do Cubans eat rice with EVERYTHING? ” LOL…Too funy..I recall the time I made white rice and his brother asked for the butter and sugar to put on it…..Que sacrilegio! I said….but that is common in the south to do with rice at breakfast…
Us Cubans…always have a story to share lol….
Anyway….I sometimes rinse the rice depending on how rushed I am. I make my basic white rice and yellow rice in the cooker and all the other rice dishes in the cazuela…..
Y la prima….Hermosa! : )
I LOVE rice. White rice, congri, arroz con maiz… my first lesson in rice making was when i was a kid – it was my job to measure out two cups, wash it until the water ran clear, then add the same amount of water, a dash of salt and some oil. Then put it all in the “Hitachi” and press cook.I still make it this way, 25 years later.
Small victory, I was stuck in traffic the other day and called my husband, a Gringo, to help me make the rice. “How do you want me to make it,” he asked, “the easy way or the rice cooker way?” I spent ten minutes on the phone with him, teaching him the rice cooker way – he finally admitted it was muche asier than cooking it in a pot.
And, you cousing – ADORABLE!
My mother taught us to always wash our rice but sometimes I don’t. I heard that it loses the nutrients. I still don’t know the truth but last night, I did wash my rice, which I cooked in the rice cooker. When I cook arroz con habichuelas or arroz con pollo, I always cook in my pot on the stove…and your cousin…truly adorable!!!
Don’t wash the rice. I use my trusty Aroma rice cooker. And yes, your cousin is A-DORABLE! 🙂
I always wash my rice as I don’t always buy it pre-packaged -I sometimes buy it loose at the market so I’ never risk it.. :)I’m an old-school pot-on-the-stove-topper, always have been, always will be despite the fact I’ve used a rice cooker a few times before. I can see the merit in owning a rice cooker but I’d only use it in case I had to cook large quantities of it and was strapped for time.
As for Ylli she is proper cute and extremely entertaining. hehe 😛
I never wash my rice – I used to and read about all the nutrients washing away. Sacriligeous as it may seem, I rarely eat white rice – if I make any kind of stew, I eat it as is.Now arroz con……pollo, maiz, carne de puerco, quimbombo, congri, I do as my mother did – I always use Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice. My mother swore by this as it was always perfect.
One exception – arroz con pollo a la chorrera MUST be made with arroz valencia.
I make my white rice in the rice cooker, and the other rices in my trusty old blue pot – I have had it for years and I swear one day it will hop onto the stove and say “What are we making today?”
The cousin is cute, but isn’t that a given in your family?
What a wonderful giveaway, thanks for offering it! I was JUST looking at Ana’s cookbook on Amazon–it was featured in Latina magazine along with a few of her recipes. It looks fabulous!Sometimes I wash my rice… depends on how lazy I’m feeling that night!
I have made rice on the stove, but ever since I got a rice cooker, I’ve been using that almost exclusively (don’t tell Mami!). It always cooks up a perfect batch of rice, with just the tiniest crust of grains along the bottom, which I LOVE. Tender, fluffy, lovely RICE!
Your cousin = adorable and awesome and hilarious!! 🙂
Our household consumes around 3 cups of rice per evening. I could live without eating meat before I could go without rice, and I’m an extreme carnivore. Heck, plenty of times I will save the “jugito” from the meat from dinner so I can have it over rice for lunch (heck, who am I kidding? breakfast:) My favorite comfort food, hands down, is “arroz con huevos fritos”. Favorite rice is Jasmine rice but I agree that you need parboiled for moros or congri and valencia for “arroz con pollo”.1. Never washed it,I think I like the taste of the rice dust;)
2. Microwave if just for us, rice maker if making more than 3 cups. I dont think I could make it on the stove any more; mostly cuz my insurance company would probably have to cancel us due to repeated airhead rice fires.
3. Adorable, but lets be honest, it runs in the family.
I always wash the rice before I make it in the rice cooker, and this is something I learned from my mom. Back then, though, she always made rice the old school way in a pot on the stove and I remember she’d get a piece of wax paper (or brown grocery bag if we didn’t have wax paper) and put it over the rice before she put the lid on the pot. She said that would keep the rice from drying out. I love my rice cooker though. I’ve made rice in it hundreds of times and it always comes out perfectly!
I love rice. I don’t eat it as much as I used to ehrnbi qas a kid but it still is comfort food for my soul. I have not master arroz en el caldero just yet. Hoping to learn this with the new cookbook. After I wash my rice twice I cook it in a nifty rice cooker my husband bought us at the Asian Market. I must add that NOBODY makes rice like Mami – to me anyways.Lastly, your cousin…….SUPER cute.
P.S. I LOVE my Big, Fat, Cuban blog !!!
I absolutely love it!! But I have a love/hate relationship with cooking it. For the life of me I cannot get it right, personally I prefer old school cooked on the stove to perfection but hey the rice cooker will do. Rice almost ruined my life…let me tell you how. My now husband was over and I was trying to impress him w/ my abuelita’s arroz con gandules(I’m Boricua y Cubana so ya know)and I burned the rice not once but twice. I was so embarassed and angry I didn’t know where to put my head. I’m from Chicago so we have gas stoves, I kept insisting that it was the electric stoves. Damn thing…well fast forward 5 years and I still blame the electric stove..lol I never get it right…if it’s not the water to rice ratio or I’ll forget to cover it…I’m horrible at it. My then boyfriend told me years later that he told his mother about my lack or cooking arroz and she told him..”dejala immediatamente!” Imagine that…
I never wash the rice only because I read that it washes away some of the nutrients. However, I used to wash it and now I find that the rice is stickier when you do not wash it. I cook the rice old school in a caldero just like my abuela did. My mom uses a rice cooker and I have thought of purchasing one. I kind of feel like it is a sacrilege though. Finally, I love your cousin she is awesome.
I love rice so much, I even eat it when it’s cooked wrong: hard, gummy, burned, I don’t care. I do not wash rice and I only know how to cook it on the stove. I have never learned how to use a rice cooker and my parents never owned one. I use jasmine rice and my rice almost always turns out delicious!!
When I got married, I put “La Hitachi” on the registry and had it for some years. When it conked out, I went old school. My two sons are sharing a college apartment and they got a rice cooker. It really is so convenient. I might have to get one again. As for cleaning, I was taught to do that, but haven’t for years. And, yes, your cousin is most certainly absolutely adorable!! Love her presentation! BTW, I did a lesson with adult students from all over the world, and I asked them to present information about a typical rice recipe from their country. Needless to say, it was so interesting, and we ended with a fun tasting feast! The world (and Cubans) love RICE!!
Don’t wash rice, old school and yes. 🙂
No rinsing. I use a colder for my rice. Yes, your cousin is cute!
A caldero, blast that auto speller on my iPad
I used to wash the rice, but after reading that the nutrients will go away with the water, I stopped washing it. I use the rice cooker when I have company and have to make a lot of rice, otherwise I just make it on the stove, 1 cup rice, 1-1/4 cups water, 1 tsp salt/cup rice and a little olive oil. I love making yellow rice and rice with vegetables in the rice cooker. I just LOVE the raspita at the bottom, made on the stove.Your cousin is so cute! I just love her face expressions. Thank you for all the fun stuff you do. I have recommended your page to many, many people!!!
Esther Avila-Young
When my grandmother stopped cooking and started getting the cantinas, I begged her for her Hitachi. I always cook my rice (any kind of rice except converted) in my prized Hitachi. Couldn’t cook it old school if I tried. I remember thay my mother and grandmother used to rinse their rice, but I never do it. When my daughters and my non-Cuban stepson went off to college, I gave them their own small rice cookers and they all still own them after many years away from home and having started their own families.Your cousin IS adorable.
(By the way, if I randomly get picked, you can give the book to someone else – I already bought the book based on your recommendation!)
OOps! Just realized that both of my daughters would also love the book, so if I do get randomly picked, I would love another copy!
Yes I do wash my rice EVERY time—My Cuban mother taught me that this is THE way to cook rice, you HAVE to wash it first. Then add little oil, salt, and water. I grew up having rice made in the rice cooker—and when I got married, a rice cooker was one of my best and most useful gifts—unfortunately, it broke—and I haven’t replaced it (yet)! SO because of that, I’ve been pushed to make rice the old school way on the stove. It took some time for me to perfect. At first it would come out too pasty. My husband gave me taste rankings of 90%, to 95%—but now it’s finally at 100%. 🙂
And yes! Your little cousin is ADORABLE! 🙂
No, I don’t wash rice and yes, I do it the old way (mind you, “a lo oriental”, I first fry some garlic in oil).
I used to wash the rice, as Mami and Abuela did, and cook it in the Hitachi, as both of them did too. For some reason I cannot remember, around 2004 I both stopped washing the rice, and stopped using the Hitachi (unless I’m hosting a dinner in which case I’ll use the Hitachi for convenience). So I cook stovetop, comes out perfect every time! The interesting thing: that’s how my daughter will learn how to cook rice!
I cook rice ALL the time!I wash the rice every time, I can almost hear my mother (en paz descanse) tell me “Lavalo bien” and if I am cooking more than 2 cups I use the rice cooker, a Hitachi of course.
Back i the late 60’s when we came from Cuba my mother had this cardboard looking disc with stainless steel ring around it and when the rice dried she would slide this disc under “para que no se ahumara” that’s how I learned to cook rice. I can’t find it anywhere any suggestions?
I also make congris in the rice cooker for my hubby and I, I use left over beans, the washed rice, water, olive oil, bell pepper, a pinch of oregano, comino, & hoja de laurel and press that cook button.
Your cousin is ADORABLE!!!
Thank you for your blog, I love it!
* Do you wash your rice? NOPE.* Do you use a rice cooker or are you an old-school
pot-on-the-stove-topper? RICE COOKER!!
* Isn’t my cousin, Ylli adorable? 😉 YES, VERY! 🙂
I do not rinse the rice. I cook it old style on the stove top. Your niece is a doll!
I don’t wash the rice and I cook it on the stove. Once in a pinch (I ran out of burners) I cooked it in the microwave. I can, but don’t at home, cook pans of it in the oven when cooking for crowds.And yes, Ylli is adorable.
Miss you.
Only for Japanese rice, I use the cooker and wash it before, but not for the rest.Congrí and arroz con pollo always pal caldero.
And yes, Ylli is nice and adorable, and made me laugh.
I use the rice cooker for our daily meals. When we have parties, I like use the stove top method and finish in the oven. When u try to cook rice for over 30 + people. The stove makes like easier. Also when I cook Congi, I use parboiled rice! It’s mistake proof and if you like it “desgranado” it’s always perfect 🙂
Everyone likes to talk about the nutrients. But I never met an undergrown, malnourished person who only ever ate rice that had been washed. In other words, wash your rice! You will still be nourished! Specially with all the other x-tra goodies that Cubans, et al. put in their rice. ;-)As for cookers vs. pots, I say be versatile.
Finally, your cousin is beautiful, adorable, and smart… just like *you*, Martica. Love your blog!!!
I LOVE all kinds of rice, cooked anyway. I wash mine once to leave some of the nutrients. I always use the rice cooker because that is how mi mama taught me. If I am making an Asian meal, I just add a little more water and use Jasmine rice.
I agree with Kiki, arroz con huevos fritos is the ultimate comfort food. As a matter of fact, that’s what we had for dinner last night, since I had spent the day getting all my “radiografias” (chest, bone density, mammo) and had forgotten to take anything out of the freezer. Arroz con huevos fritos is so easy it’s my go-to “end of a busy day” meal.**I don’t wash my rice (it removes the vitamins that have been added)
**Mom taught me how to cook rice on the stove, but I use my rice cooker, much easier
**I have also had to talk my husband through rice cooker 101 from my cell phone when stuck in traffic
**I’ve been using Jasmine rice lately…I buy the big 20 burlap bag at Costco
**She’s adorable, of course. Wonder where she gets that from?
My 81-year old mother loves hearing about your blog. When she heard about this latest topic, she asked me to post her comment: “RASPA!” 🙂
I learned to cook rice from my mother in law, 1 cup ofrice, 2 cups of water, salt and oil….comes out delicious
every time, I am from Mexico, so the Mexican way is
heat up oil with a clove of garlic, when the garlic turns
golden add your rice, and fry a little till it turns pale
yellow, then add a little tomato sauce, add chicken broth
and you let it cook, really good also, Love your blog, you
are great!!
Your last name might be helpful, since there are more than one Esther. :))
Your last name might be helpful, since we are more than one Esther. :))Esther Avila-Young
I just love rice! Deveras! We use the old school pot on the stove – and its an oddly shaped pot too!Best,
Li
In the micro? That’s a trick I have not yet mastered. Although, when I had my rice mishap (cooking for 300), it was a little Cuban lady who suggested we cook small batches in the micro that saved my reputation and the rice, of course.xoxo,
M
i love, love, love rice…. but i cook mine in the micro…. I know sorry fine upstanding old school rice chefs… but it does come out good if you are in a hurry….anyway i love rice!!!!!!!
Hello,Just want to begin and tell you that i love your blog. I’m Puertorican and Ecuadorian and married to a Cuban. Ever since i was young, my mother explained how it was super important to wash rice and there was noooooooo questioning. She cooks it on the stove top, so it is the same way i do today. Occasionally, i’ll have my mother in law tell me about her Hitachi and how is the easiest way to make rice especially when your making a lot of it. I’ve considered in buying one but i’m in no rush to get it. lol
Yes, Ylli is adorable and Well Educated!
I have a question, what do you think about using white rice and parboiled rice?
i know the difference in the rice process, thanks to google, but for cooking i just don’t know. is it okay to use parboiled rice for every rice meal ex. yellow rice, paella, etc?
I’ve always used white rice but my in law convinced me to use parboiled and i love it. In my opinion, it taste better and cooks better. I’ve read it has better nutrients than white rice.
Love your blog, very family oriented. Just nothing but love.
I wash my rice three times. I think it takes out the excess starch and pollutants* that way. I am a nurse practitioner and when working with a migrant diabetic population in a free clinic, I had a nutritionist come in to help me teach my patients how to eat a healthy diet. She first watched the patients cook (this clinic has a kitchen). She was appalled that each and every one (mostly Mexican patients since the clinic is in Homestead) washed their rice. She mentioned to me that by doing so, we are washing out all the added nutrients. *here is where the asterisk * above gets interesting. I stopped washing my rice as a result of the nutritionist. However, a few months ago, my father who lives watching the news told me that it was reported that there were high levels of arsenic being found on rice and the recommendation was to wash the rice. Hence, I wash my rice three times. I use a rice cooker, but occasionally use the stove top method as well if I am making a small amount of rice. I am the only one in my family that loves the “raspita”! We are Cuban and rice is a daily staple in our home. As for your cousin – Adorable!