[Sca-cooks] cooking rice

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Lorenz Wieland:
>vicki shaw wrote:
>>  I always have problems with Arborio rice.  My daughter always makes
>>  it to perfection, but mine turns unto a gloopy mush!
>
>Arborio (or Carnaroli or any other variety very high in starch) can't be
>cooked like other rices.

I vehemently disagree. But is there a point to doing that? Probably not.

Sorry. We'll proceed as if I had not interrupted ;-).

>   You need to start it using a quantity of liquid no
>more than equal to the quantity of rice, cook until most of the liquid is
>gone, and add more liquid in small quantities while constantly stirring the
>mixture.  Here's a basic, and relatively foolproof, risotto:
>
>2 tbl olive oil
>1 medium onion, chopped
>4 garlic cloves, chopped
>Salt and black pepper to taste
>1.25 cups arborio rice
>1 cup white wine (Sauvingnon Blanc or Pinot Grigio)
>4 cups chicken stock
>
>Heat oil in sautee pan over medium-high heat.  Heat broth to simmer in
>separate container (sauce pan, microwave container, etc.). Sautee onions,
>garlic, salt, and pepper until onions are translucent.  Add rice and cook,
>stirring, for 1 minute.  Stir in wine and reduce until almost no free liquid
>remains.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add in chicken broth 6oz at a time (one
>standard ladle-full), stirring rice constantly until done to taste.
>
>Optionally, add in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf
>parsley at the end.

That's one way of doing it. I've also seen Arborio cooked more or 
less like a pilaf, in bulk, then turned quickly into a recognizably 
close variant of risotto a portion or two at a time, in restaurants. 
I've also done it that way, but without the wait period between the 
first and second cooking, which is fairly similar to what you seem to 
be describing.

But ultimately, all of the people I've met in my life who have 
claimed an inability to get Arborio properly cooked, have invariably 
added too much liquid at one time, and not stirred it in properly, so 
it becomes overcooked, soggy pilaf, instead of being al dente grains 
in a creamy substrate/sauce.

Adamantius (who still loves the asparagus butter risotto he made 
every day for about a year, at one point)