White rice

[JLasker]

Hello everyone,

When I prepare a meal, I usually cook rice. The day after, this rice is hard and dry and has no taste.

Does anyone have a solution or alternative for this?

Thanks.

Cheers,

Jorn

[MarciM]

Hi @JLasker Welcome to the forum. First steps, switch out white rice for brown or wild rice. White rice is extremely process, thus not a great option for healthy eating. I like to add leftover rice to stir fried veggies, add a bit of coconut oil. garlic, fresh veggies and an egg to finish it off and maybe a crumble of feta cheese. Hope that helps you on your journey to a healthier lifestyle. 

[JLasker]

Hi @MarciM

thanks for the tip. Tonight i'll try it 🙂

[SeverdSoldier]

How are you storing the rice? Have a properly sealed container is half of the battle. Also the longer you leave the food out the easier it will become dry. There are some great options at Target or on Amazon for better Tupperware options. Try setting a lettuce leaf on top of your food before sealing the container. This can help keep some moister in. Processed or not sometimes white rice is just nice to eat and wasting food sucks.

[GershonSurge]

@JLasker,

I have at least four servings of long grain brown rice every day. It's the Natural Foods brand available at their stores. Different rices have different flavors, so try different options.

I use a one-liter pot, add a cup of rice and two cups of water. Sometimes I add a quarter-cup of dehydrated peas.  If there is only rice, I add two cups of water. If there are peas, I add an extra half cup of water. I set the stove on high for four minutes. When the water boils, I turn it to medium low and cook for forty-four minutes. Check every so often to make sure it's simmering. Leave the top on. The rice is most and tasty.

I mix the rice with two cans of Kruner's beans of any type. While the rice is cooking I heat the beans on low or just a bit off with the lid off. This reduces the water and spreads the flavors. You can add chili pepper, cayenne pepper or jalapenos to the rice. Also add any frozen vegetables you want during the last five or ten minutes. Use a 2-quart pot.

I mix the rice in the beans and eat it during the day. Usually, I make burritos. For extra flavor, make a pot of grated vegetables on the side or in the burrito. I use cabbage for about 1/4 of the vegetables and an assortment of eight others. Just don't use onions as they add too much moisture and the vegetables go bad more quickly.

I don't agree that tight fitting tops preserve food unless there are animal products in the refrigerator. I open all the plastic bags and put a spoon in the pot to prop the lids open. The anti-oxidants spread through the fridge and preserve the vegetables. They last weeks this way instead of days.

[SunsetRunner]

I'm not a big fan of white rice not because it's less healthy but because I don't like its texture but my wife uses is from time to time so I learnt few things about it :D. A day old cooked rice we usually make garlic fried. For dryness adding a little of water to the pan helps ( it will steam and refresh the rice ). Although, if you leave rice in the fridge and properly covered it shouldn't really get completely dry. With such rice I've been making rice balls, adding it to the breakfast ( blending with porridge ) and once I even prepared arancini. There are ways of reviving and reusing such rice.

[SteveL1964]

I try not to cook more rice than I need for the meal I am preparing as re-using rice is a very common cause of food poisoning.

If I do make too much I wouldn't store rice in the fridge for more than 1 day and I would definitely not reheat it more than once.

[Dominique]

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@SteveL1964wrote:

re-using rice is a very common cause of food poisoning.

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This was new to me. I found two contradictory views on the matter:

1) keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating (source)

2) Cooked white rice will generally stay good for 4-6 days in the refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer (source)

My own personal experience is more in line with the second view: I routinely cook white rice in bulk, keep it in the fridge for 4-5 days and I’ve never been intoxicated so far.

I’ll take note of the following advice from the NHS, though: "The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins could make the rice unsafe to eat."

[WendyB]

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@SteveL1964wrote:

I try not to cook more rice than I need for the meal I am preparing as re-using rice is a very common cause of food poisoning.

This is news to me as well
I freeze all my left over rice

[SteveL1964]

I would never eat a cold rice based dish in a restaurant or serve reheated rice to guests. But I make a good paella, and sometimes (if there's any left over, which TBH is rare) I'll eat a bowl of leftovers the next day. The trick is cooling it quickly. 

https://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/campaigns-0/germwatch/science-fsw/leftovers

[kaneohegirl]

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@SteveL1964wrote:

I try not to cook more rice than I need for the meal I am preparing as re-using rice is a very common cause of food poisoning.

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LOL this is REDICULOUS I lived in Hawaii for 13 years. leftover rice was NEVER refrigerated it sat in the rice cooker overnight and eaten with breakfast the next day then the pot was washed for use for dinner that night. NO one ever got sick not even ONCE.
I live in Missouri now and while I tend to store my leftover rice in Tupperware like containers and store in the fridge for up to a week for use in other meals mainly because I want all cooking utensils washed every night. there has been time its been left out like from childhood we just plan the meal accordingly and use it that night generally in fried rice.

I find storing leftover rice in a sealed Tupperware like container while still warm (preferable) is the best way to retain moisture and prevent the hard crusty top
I also like to top my rice with this its called furikake it is seaweed based and adds a lovely flavor to the rice the nori komi furikake is my favorite

[Dominique]

Just because you haven’t experienced it doesn’t mean it’s not real. I haven’t experienced it either, but it’s well documented (for instance, here). Same with listeria: I have been eating cheese (including cheese made from non-pasteurized milk) all my life and I’ve never been intoxicated. This doesn’t mean the claim you could get intoxicated by it when eating cheese is ridiculous.

[GershonSurge]

Sometimes, it pays to dig into the source of information:

5. Associated Foods:

A wide variety of foods including meats, milk, vegetables, and fish have been associated with the diarrheal type food poisoning. The vomiting-type outbreaks have generally been associated with rice products; however, other starchy foods such as potato, pasta and cheese products have also been implicated. Food mixtures such as sauces, puddings, soups, casseroles, pastries, and salads have frequently been incriminated in food poisoning outbreaks.

Why is it that meat was mentioned first, milk second, fish fourth, and rice way down the list along with many other things? If you look more deeply, you will find two sets of symptoms. One that involves vomiting and diarrhea and the other one that doesn't involve vomiting. That's the distinction with rice.

In my opinion, the article mentioned by the OP was part of the continuing campaign to make people think plant foods are dangerous. 

[USAF-Larry]

Really interesting how this thread has drifted away from the original post of "I usually cook rice. The day after, this rice is hard and dry and has no taste", to it being "part of the continuing campaign to make people think plant foods are dangerous".  I don't eat white rice since it doesn't seem to have any taste even when it is first cooked, but at the same time I don't think there is any conspiracy to convince people that plant foods are dangerous as McDougall, et al, would suggest.

[SunsetRunner]

@USAF-Larry Nevertheless, some plants are dangerous, and some of them you can eat only once in your life 😄

I know that any food left out may get spoiled and be a source of food poisoning. Before I use rice ( and anything else from left-over food ) I smell it, touch it and if necessary I check if it tastes off. Spoiled rice has a very unpleasant smell. My wife used to leave rice in the rice cooker and eat it on the next day or even on the next-next day. In the Philippines, where she comes from, it's a common practice not to refrigerate rice. They cook huge amounts of rice, you eat rice with everything, you can get rice in McDonald's and KFC instead chips etc. Leftover rice is considered to be quite edible. Dried rice may be garlic fried ( to make garlic fried rice my wife prefers dried one ). Dried rice may be "revived" by either steaming it or adding a little of water to the pan. Water will evaporate, the steam during cooking will refresh the rice a little and it will be perfectly edible ( at least in my opinion 😉 ).

[GershonSurge]

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@USAF-Larrywrote:

Really interesting how this thread has drifted away from the original post of "I usually cook rice. The day after, this rice is hard and dry and has no taste", to it being "part of the continuing campaign to make people think plant foods are dangerous".  I don't eat white rice since it doesn't seem to have any taste even when it is first cooked, but at the same time I don't think there is any conspiracy to convince people that plant foods are dangerous as McDougall, et al, would suggest.

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Actually, none of the doctors I follow suggest there is an active conspiracy and state so quite clearly.  A conspiracy would indicate sinister motives. What they do point out quite clearly is there is a systematic bias in what research gets funded and what information gets published. He also points out how reductionist thinking often overlooks the obvious. (For instance, there were two outbreaks from this bacteria in Mexico in 1980 and 1981. Both included shellfish and rice under the same conditions. Do I think this proves it was the shell fish instead of the rice? No, but it does suggest keeping all food at a safe temperature).

I suggest carefully reading "Whole" by Dr. Campbell to see how this happens. I also suggest not blindly accusing people of things they didn't do.

[USAF-Larry]

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@SunsetRunnerwrote:

Nevertheless, some plants are dangerous, and some of them you can eat only once in your life

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Very, very true, @SunsetRunner!  For example, I love Rhubarb and love seeing it coming up in the garden so we will soon be having fresh Rhubarb Pie.  But, I would never, ever eat the leaves.  Same with Mushrooms - I love mushrooms, but know exactly which ones I should eat and which ones I shouldn't.  On the other hand, I don't eat white rice simply because I don't like the taste of it (or, lack of taste of it), and I don't like the way it is processed, but I love Wild Rice and Brown Rice.

[GershonSurge]

I generally eat four servings of rice a day or about eight potatoes depending on the day.

In the morning, I cook a pot of rice and two cans of rinsed beans of various types. I add about a quarter cup of dehydrated peas to the rice. While I'm bringing the water in the rice to a boil, I put the beans in another pot and usually put some frozen corn on the top. It takes 44 minutes to cook the rice perfectly while on a setting between low and medium low. Same for the beans. I don't put a lid on the beans so some of the liquid evaporates.

While the rice and beans are cooking, I make some oatmeal, which takes 20 minutes. While the oatmeal is cooking I eat two types of fruit.

After I eat the oatmeal, I make a burrito with about nine types of chopped vegetables. Usually, depending on my weight, I eat a second burrito. 

During the day, I'll have several burritos or eat the rice and beans cold. Surprisingly, even rice and bean sandwiches are good, but I don't eat much bread -- mostly because it doesn't interest me as much as it used to.

I prefer organic long brown rice from Vitamin Cottage because of the taste. 

[Reeshe]

Adding some type of butter/ oil/ fat helps when cooking large batches it also give incredible flavor!

"I’ll take note of the following advice from the NHS, though: "The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins could make the rice unsafe to eat"

That happens with any food you eat. If you don't store food at a proper temperature it grows bacteria or toxins. Also, even in the fridge do not store your meat with cheese touching as it creates bacteria that can become unsafe.