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I'm prepping for a dinner party. And I put uncooked long grain brown rice + oil + water in a pot, as usual. But I'm not cooking it right this minute. The rice is sitting in the pot with the water. Can I leave it as is for an hour or two before cooking? Or will that sog the grains and affect the result?

samthebrand
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4 Answers4

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That's fine. A lot of people actually do that on purpose, it's referred to as "soaking". It will shave a bit off the cooking time and won't negatively affect the rice at all. Give it a stir before you start cooking. You can drain and rinse it too if you want, that will give you very separate, distinct grains. Use about 1/4 less water for cooking if you do it that way, because the rice will have soaked up some water.

Jolenealaska
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Absolutely. The brown rice, & the old rice "aged" as it is also called, cook better after they have been soaked for some time ranging between 30-60 minutes. The parboiled rice is a little different, as it MUST BE soaked for AT LEAST 1 HOUR before it can be cooked. And it can take a soaking of up to several hours without ruining the results. Parboiled rice is the rice of choice for several rice dishes, especially ones in which the rice needs to be light, fluffy, each grain remaining whole and separate. And it is ideally suited to those of us who are cooking challenged (you understand what I am saying). But they will not have the same fragrance that a Basmati, a Jasmine, or even regular raw rice will have.

Robert
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Poonam Abbi
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As Jolenealaska said, lots of cooks do it on purpose. I learned the Chinese method of cooking foolproof rice by soaking it for an hour or longer in an inch of water. Then pour off the soaking water and cover the rice again with 1 inch of water. Uncovered, bring the rice to a boil and cook until only large bubbles appear. At that point, turn the fire down to the lowest setting, cover and cook until the rice is done. There is no reason to stir. You can use this method to cook any amount of rice in any size pot. You don't even have to measure it.

ethalfrida
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Leaving uncooked Rice while sitting on water,Yes they are really True! that's fine! Because I have been experiencing this moment it was in rice cooker were I'm using. Its accidentally i forgot to on it.The rice was soaked with in Five hours, but its super okay, you need to do is add at least half cup of water then stir it then cooked.Honestly there's something different taste when you compare between unsoaked rice and soaked rice.

jisnelyn
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