Sticky rice. Tips to make you look perfect

When we talk about rice, many of you are scared. It seems that it is a little unknown subject among the most kitchens.

Well today I come to solve this. I hope that from now on you get a sweet rice the first time , with a little practice and these tips will leave more than one person open-mouthed.

Following the tips for cooking rice . We are going to explain this year how to do it with each one in particular. Without a doubt, the result will be delicious.

The rice is very versatile, you can make dry rices like a paella , some steamed rices like our rice with rabbit , of course, it is not the same to make a risotto than a syrupy rice , although they are similar. Well, each type of rice has an exact cooking point, different depending on the type of preparation.

We understand by a sweet rice a rice that is neither dry nor broth, with a creamy and unctuous texture , with a buttery consistency that binds all the ingredients. It looks good, doesn’t it? but to achieve this, doubts arise.

How much broth is the key to making a smooth rice? What is the ideal measure? How long does it take to cook? What type of rice do I need? And the power? Water or broth? Sofrito or no sofrito?

The expertise to find that exact and ideal point between dry rice and broth depends on a few factors, and we leave none in the pipeline.

How to make a perfect syrupy rice. Our 5 tips

1. Choose the type of rice according to the recipe and the container where it will be cooked

• You have to choose the type of rice that works well for making sweet rice. As with potatoes, each recipe with a type of potato is not the same as cooking, frying and baking. To choose rice well resides in a degree something that can go well or badly.
• For broth rice they are better with varieties such as the bay or arborio . Each grain has a different peculiarity, which is why it will be necessary to know the cooking time of each of them to obtain a rice at its point.
• For a smooth rice, at home we do not complicate ourselves, we use the special SOS broth and mellow , which will make it easier to get the result you are looking for.
• When we go to make a soupy rice we need a container of large diameter, but that has height. A casserole is perfect for cooking this type of rice.

2. The sofrito. A good base is everything

• You have to keep in mind that we are going to fry the rice. With which we can absorb less water. Be careful, the ingredients chosen to make the rice also influence the liquid that the dish will ask us for.
• From whatever the base of the rice, we will get a rice with color, more consistency and flavor. The sofrito base is made by heating extra virgin olive oil in the same saucepan where we are going to make the rice and sauté different vegetables over low heat.
• Frying the rice so that it is better impregnated with the flavors in a syrupy rice seems essential to me. We just have to add the rice to the sauce and stir for a while before adding the broth. This helps the flavor improve and the beans are looser.
• The sweetness point of the final dish will depend on whether we have used a vegetable sauce that is loose, without excessive presence of oil and water.
• In the video that you can in the post I advise you 3 types of sofrito that you can use depending on the chosen recipe.

3. Water or broth. Better with a homemade broth

• In Spain, sweet rice is usually prepared with a liquid. It doesn’t always have to be water. To improve our recipe my advice is to do it with a broth.
• If you are going to use tap water, it depends a lot on the geographic region in which you are. In the Valencian Community, tap water is hard, which is good for preparing any type of rice. If you don’t want to risk it, you can use mineral water.
• My recommendation is the homemade broths, they give flavor and help the rice to be tasty, even if it has few ingredients. A beef broth , fish soup or seafood , vegetable broth or chicken broth helps (as preparation) to succeed with your honeyed rice.
• Nor does it take a light in the kitchen to make a broth. You can choose the unusable parts of the products that will make up the rice (bones, rasps, heads). Only with this we will be able to give the rice a lot of flavor. And to avoid scares, avoid broth that is too thick, which could stick to the bottom.

4. Measures and times to prepare the rice

• For a smooth rice you should calculate 1 part of rice for every 3 parts of broth or water. Always depending on the ingredients that we are going to cook. Depending on the ingredients used, the dosage will vary.
• If you are making a rice accompanied by meat ingredients, you should increase the amount of water because they are drier products.
• If the dish contains vegetables, fish or shellfish, this proportion will have to be reduced since they are items that, by themselves, expel a large amount of water when cooking.
• In sweet rice, a round grain is usually used that does not absorb all the liquid and its texture is creamy. The cooking time also ranges from 16 to 18 minutes, but rest is sufficient with about five minutes. However, these times are approximate and it is always advisable to read the recommendations on the package.

5. The power. Fire, vitro or induction. What should we use?

• Power is of vital importance to achieve rice at its point. For this, we recommend direct fire or induction. I don’t want to see a ceramic hob or paint to make rice.
• The power must be equally distributed throughout the base of the casserole, its diameter being similar to that of the casserole chosen.
• When we add the rice to the sofrito, the intensity of the fire will be increased for ten minutes in order to achieve a faster cooking.
• After this time, it is lowered another ten minutes to simmer. The perfect point of rice is when, without having opened, it is tender on the outside and they have a harder point on the inside.
• My recommendation with the sweet rice (similar to risottos as well) is that you have to constantly move them while cooking so that we have a more linked rice.

With all these tricks, you only have one last step to obtain the perfect sweet rice… Enter the kitchen and enjoy your recipe with good friends or your family.