Topic: advice about rice

[Sinbad7]

I do boil-in-the-bag rice, so no problems, any complaints I say "I followed the instructions on the box".

But after reading this thread I did go and pop a rice pudd in the oven, no boil-in-the-bag needed for this one.

Sinbad

[tim]

And by the absorption method, never a gloop!!

[Solorn]

I'm afraid I cheat and use a rice cooker. 1 cup of rice is 2 adult servings and 2 cups of water per cup of rice. I always cook a little extra for freezing as it's good for emergencies, egg fried rice etc. Once it's cooked I take the amount I want for the freezer and cool it fast with cold water. Let it drain properly for a few minutes then bag it in single portion sized bags. I've been doing this for years and never had a problem.

Frozen rice is a great thing for me as I use it in lots of things. In the winter I add it to soups to thicken them, stews, and even a few cake recipes. It's all in the handling and preparation.

[Garjan]

I don't want to put you in danger, so please do what you feel comfortable with. But I (or the other people in the Netherlands) have never even heard of leftover rice being a health hazard.

My parents are from Indonesia, so I have been brought up with rice. My mother always cooked too much and leftover rice was either reheated in a steamer the next day or fried with vegetables.
Because that's what fried rice is in Asia: it's reheated leftover rice!
Throwing away rice is one of the major sins in Indonesia. Rice is a gift from the gods, to throw it away is an insult. And I may not be a true believer in gods, I do respect the value of rice. Or any other food, for that matter.

Never have I been ill because of the way my mother dealt with rice. And I do the same myself now for many years. I'm 46 years old and have never suffered food poisoning or even a mild stomach ache from rice.

The reason for warnings that are more scary than they need be? Avoiding any claimes if things do get wrong. As they sometimes will.

[Hyacinth]

Garjan, I've a friend who is of mixed race..father Chinese. My friend's father impressed upon all 10 children to eat (or otherwise save to re-use) all the rice they had - he said that someone, somewhere, stood up to their knees in water, stooped over, to produce the food which peeps so carelessly throw away :o My friend also, btw, told me to only eat noodles in a chinese restaurant cos these have to be freshly cooked to order ;)

Saving left-over rice is safe, as long as sensible precautions are taken re: the temp at which the leftovers are kept?

[Borlotti]

I must admit this advice did surprise me.  I thought rice was completely safe to eat after two days in the fridge.  Cooked meat or fish I would throw away.  After hearing this I immediately threw away the left over curry rice and chinese rice as it is just not worth being ill.  I have beetroot in the fridge which is one week out of date, according to the label, I know I should have grown, cooked my own, but surely beetroot should be OK, unless it is going mouldy.  I would never have dreamed that cooked rice should not be kept, unless it has meat or prawns in it.  Plain rice should be OK, but perhaps not.  I will not chance it and will only cook want we need in future.  I must admit I eat many things that I would not give to children, grandchildren, visitors, and I am still alive at 65.  My mother said I used to eat sand from the beach as a child and ate coal when pregnant, but I am completely off left over rice now.  I quite like burnt toast as Mum always burnt it and scrapped it and said it would do me good.  I expect nowadays that is wrong. At least the smell of Mum cooking breakfast and burning the toast got me out of bed for school.

[Garjan]

Hi Hyacinth,
that's the other reason my parents had for not throwing away rice: it's the result of back breaking labour.

And yes, you need to store the leftover rice in a cool place, preferably a fridge.

My take on food is, that you need to be sensible. It is perfectly okay to eat products that are over the Best Before-date. But you have to smell it and to look at it. This requires some knowledge on how a product is supposed to smell and look. Knowledge a lot of people don't have anymore, or they don't trust their own judgement.
My co-worker doesn't want to eat the lettuce I bring for lunch, because it needs washing. And she thinks my carrots have cancer and are therefore not edible, because they are knobbly.
Well this is a bit off topic. Sorry.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

I don't remotely worry about food poisoning from cooked rice, but I do sometimes think about Arsenic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/29/eababy129.xml
We get ours in 10 kg bags, origin Pakistan. If I was still at the Uni i'd test it, if only for interest sake

[Hyacinth]

....and burnt toast is carcinogenic...it's a well-known scientific fact ::) ;)

I'm wondering why you throw away cooked meat, etc....can't you just throw it in your freezer, borlotti? Same with left-over rice..

[Borlotti]

Yes I do freeze cooked meat meals, but sometimes defrost and we eat some but would not refreeze the left overs. There are only two of us now and sometimes cook too much.  Remember the times when the children were always hungry and their was no food left.  I probably cook, buy too much.  The rice thing did surprise me as I thought it was OK, but would not keep it in the fridge and reheat.  Also I know you have to be careful about fish, prawns if kept in a warm temperature then throw away, do not freeze.

[grawrc]

I wash basmati before I cook it and there is a total absence of gloopiness. I use Elizabeth David's recipes for cooking rice and they always work.

Last night we had (watch out for the double whammy  :o :o :o) PRAWN RISOTTO!!! :o :o :o and I cooked double quantities.
So not only do I have cooked rice in my fridge but also cooked prawns - mixed. If you don't hear from me in the next few days suspect the worst!

On the other hand it could be down to Hyacinth's CHOCLUT.  Oops sorry, naughty me, not to talk about the choclut in other threads. :-[ :-[ :'( :-X

[cleo]

Up to two days in the fridge is fine.

How to cook `perfect` rice? I`m well read on this and have been to a class in Goa with a reasonably well known cook over there.

So many ways-but believe me-two times stock to one of twice rinsed rice-16-17 minutes in the microwave (medium setting)depending on the rice and leave for up to 10 minutes-perfect :)

[sarah]

well thanks for all the feedback on this everyone, its given me plenty to think about.  :D. i guess the answer is to not cook too much in the first place. i think i will try freezing any leftovers from now on (having cooled it down quickly first). i like the idea of rice being the food of the gods.  :)

[grawrc]

"Ambrosia" - it once had a loftier status.

[Hyacinth]

Hence Ambrosia Creamed Rice?

Ugh, really don't like Ambrosia creamed rice...

[Borlotti]

dear grawrc

Enjoy, hope to hear from you tomorrow.  Only heard about the dangers of reheating rice lately, and am still here, I hope.  What the h..ll is carcinogenic, perhaps Mum knew best and said a bit of burnt toast did me good. After having had food poisoning after a pensioners dinner at the Guildhall in London sleeping next to the toilet for three days, I would not risk any food that was out of date.  We had prawns as a starter and with over 500 people I am sure they were left out of the fridge, I have, never, ever been so ill. That was my reward for being a pensioner, but cannot prove that it was that what made me ill but certainly will eat at home from now on. There was an investigation into the food and another suspect was the horse radish sauce, if I remember rightly, but was so ill didn't really care.  Any way the caterers were cleared, but I do not want to go through that experience again. I wasn't the only one that was ill, but we did have a lot to drink and perhaps they said as OAP's we couldn't take it.  Next year I will stick to my burnt piece of toast which never upset my stomach.  Stuff mass catering.

[grawrc]

Carcenogenic means likely to cause cancer but don't stress about it cos just about everything you do or eat can cause cancer. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.  Bit like reheated rice really. These things are so unimportant in the grand overall picture of your life. Take care but do what you want to do. My FIL is 97 and eats cargenogenic stuff every day. that's the way he likes it!! His son (my husband) ate sensibly and did all the right "health" things but dropped dead 18 months ago when he had a massive heart attack. Who knows and what does it matter. Just get on with living while you can.

Prawns that are not quite right can really really make you ill. My Dad refused to eat them because of a bad experience like yours in France when he was a young man. I just don't care: I'll eat anything.

[artichoke]

"65 and still alive", what a slogan! I am too.

I took my husband to a small Egyptian restaurant the moment it opened, to have a quick meal before going to the cinema. The young man in charge said very honestly that he would not be able to cook us fresh rice in time, so he could not recommend a rice dish. He had rice left over from the day before, but he personally would not be willing to eat it.

This was the first I had heard that one day old rice was dodgy. We chose to eat it, had a very nice meal, and no problems afterwards.

I also often cook too much rice (same reason - used to cooking for big family who complained if there were no second helping, find it hard to rein myself in to only 2) and had never thought of freezing it, so thanks for the idea. There is a little bowl of old rice hardening in the fridge as I speak, which I will now chuck out.

We are all wary of mass catering, suspecting that there has not been enough space to keep food cool, yet it has to be cooked ahead.

My worst experience ever was buying a dish of clams and rice out of a warm, sunny display window in Spain. My teenage son warned me against it, so naturally I defied him and ate it, which he did not.

We were cycling across the Pyrenees at the time and I was so weak and ill and sick and helpless, he had to fasten my luggage onto his bicycle. I was very grateful to him, but all he said was that if he didn't carry my luggage, we would never get anywhere.

[tim]

1. Hate waste, but I have always been told that cooked Rice is a danger point.  I will only keep it for 2-3 days in the fridge - which is at 2-3C. Wonder where the idea originated?

2. Charcoal? Great for indigestion? Etc. And SO tasty!

3. Amazed that there is a worry over cooked meat or fish - if refridgerated.

4. When did you last do a 24 hour check on your fridge temperature. It might surprise you?

5. A bit OT but - Guildhall + drink? Can't resist. At the Premiere of the BofB film celebration, the lovely Pikemen had 'had a few'. As they ceremoniously marched off, they lowered their pikes - but not quite enough. Two stuck into the oak door lintel!!

[grawrc]

Tim there are all sorts of concerns over the way people manage their fridges and the health hazards that lurk within them. Normally I survey the fridge every Saturday before shopping and sort out what should no longer be there, but if I'm particularly busy it doesn't happen and I sometimes find things growing in a corner that shouldn't be there. Temperature is good: it's displayed on the front of the fridge and there is even a designated cold area at a lower temperature for putting "vulnerable stuff" such as raw meat (on lower shelf) and cooked food (on higher shelf).