If you don’t have a rice cooker or microwave rice pot, boiling rice on the stove can be an alternative. However, boiling rice is also tricky.

“The rice is unforgiving,” says the Cajun. “Not enough water, or the wrong method can mean unfinished, unedible rice.”

To Rinse or Not

This is a debatable topic for many. Some people rinse the rice. Some don’t.

This is an area where it will be your choice. Some recipes may call for rice to be rinsed so be sure to follow your recipe if you’re unsure.

If you do rinse, make sure you rinse until there is considerably less “white cloud” in the water.

Rice to Water Ratio

For every one part of rice, there should be about one and a half parts of water.

For example, if there’s one cup of rice, you should use one and one half cups of water.

Cooking on the Stove

Cook the rice uncovered. While steamers and other cookers are constantly covered, cooking on the stove this way will require cooking uncovered, initially.

Cook at Medium High heat until boiling.

Reduce Heat

After there’s a rolling boil, reduce the heat and cover.

Reduce the heat to about medium low.

Cover, but leave a crack so that some steam is allowed to escape.

Check Rice

At some point, the rice will look to be cooked, and there are “holes” where it looks like the rice is uneven.

At this stage, it is time to cover the rice and let it steam in it’s own water for a while. Turn the heat to low.

Leave It Alone

For the next 15 to 20 minutes walk away from your rice. Don’t lift the lid to check.

Once the rice has had time to steam, open the lid and fluff.

Serve or Cook

It’s done! Eat.

If you are planning to stir fry the rice, remember to chill the rice for at least 24 hours before frying.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cereal. It’s sweet and filling and I grew up on the stuff. I also know that by mid-morning, I’m usually hungry again, whereas the Chinese rarely eat snacks. They completely fill themselves three times a day, fueling their bodies as much as possible.

Chinese porridge is made from about three tablespoons of dried rice boiled and cooked in about 4 cups of water for a long time, usually about 50 minutes, until the rice is mushy and the porridge is thick. Topped with fish, bits of meat, or vegetables, while the base recipe is the same, the flavor can change with what you add to it.

Photo by indyz

Since my new favorite combination of flavors is the holy trinity of Chinese cooking, (spring onion, garlic and ginger), I plan to make this dish very soon. Since it takes quite a bit of time to let the congee cook, I have to wait for the weekend to attempt the recipe. I plan on stir frying the trinity, and perhaps topping with leftover bits of chicken or meat if it’s available.

For a simple Chinese recipe, it’s a staple tradition in the homes of many people across China and neighboring countries. Chinese porridge seems like an inexpensive, healthy dish and I hope to learn the secrets to making it taste great.

The more I cook Chinese food, the more I love the holy trinity in Chinese cooking. Ginger, spring onion (scallions) and garlic. Three ingredients that makes all the difference in a wide variety of food. I love the things I can do with this combination. Rice is less boring. Meats and tofu taste better. Vegetables are a delight. Sauces are more flavorful. It’s a mixture of savory, tart, sweet, salty and pungent. It’s a taste that will begin to seep it’s way into more and more dishes in my kitchen.

Photo by greekgod

Now that I’ve learned about the trinity, I’m on to bigger things. Like perfecting the fine art of cooking a great noodle. My last stir fry noodle batch came out rather… icky. I wasn’t happy with the results, so I’ve got to dig out some noodle recipes.

By the way, if anyone knows how to make “Poor Man’s Noodles”, send over a recipe. I had some in a Thai restaurant and I haven’t found a duplicate recipe yet.

Chinese cooking has become more than an obsession. It is now becoming another edition to the wide range of cooking in my kitchen. Much like a roast and potatoes, or spaghetti dinners, a stir fry rice is another great weekday meal.

Photo by waggaway

I’m looking at investing in a good recipe book for all the new recipes I find on the Internet. I prefer not to drag my netbook into the kitchen with high amounts of wet things flying about, or the possibility of dropping it from the counter. The kitchen isn’t big enough ( I complain, yet the Chinese probably have less space than I do in their kitchens, how do they do it?) for a netbook to sit atop a microwave, a valuable space for a cutting board or a mixing bowl.

So much to learn…

This time, it’s cooking healthy. But there’s a catch. The food has to be good, because I’m a picky eater. The food also has to be filling. If I bother to cook or prepare food, I’m not about to go hungry doing so.

It also means being a bit frugal. I’m actually scouting for coupons, checking out grocery deals, and buying the sale products, too.

And I’m learning about Chinese cooking, and how to eat healthy on a Chinese diet. It’s actually going pretty well. I found great recipes for General Tso’s Tofu, which was fantastic. I also tried stir frying and I soon want to try different sauces and mixtures of vegetables and rice. I have a few noodles for this week.

Random comments on this recipe:

This was ABSOLUTELY THE BEST recipe I’ve found on this website so far! I’ve never had the real thing, but DANG!

Next time, I’m doubling the sauce, and adding all the veggies I can get my hands on!

Wow! This is the best recipe from Vegweb I have gotten so far, and I am always impressed with the stuff I find here. I did make some extra sauce, as someone recommended, and I was so glad. That sauce is amazing. I kicked myself for not picking up the shiitake mushrooms I was eyeing at the store, but the snow peas and green pepper were a lovely addition to the recipe. I used SG brown rice for the bottom. Man oh man, this stuff is pure heaven. I could go on for hours…

Photo by Climb3rChick

I completely agree. I made a double sauce one day, without making the tofu, just to top on rice. It was great and lasted in the fridge for about a week. I bought shiitake mushrooms for this recipe and forgot to use them. Maybe next time.

So you may be hearing a lot from me about cooking, the way Chinese and Japanese people eat, healthy food, frugal shopping and more.

One book I’d like to recommend is: Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold. It’s a great book with recipes and secrets to how the Chinese eat, and why they are so healthy all the time. It does make a lot of sense to fill up on rice and noodles, eat soup at meals more often, and to center meals around vegetables, not meat. Let the meat flavor the veggies, not the other way around.