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Helena Busiakiewicz, our food content creator, reveals all there is to know about rice
There are over 40,000 known varieties of cultivated rice from around the world, which makes a lot of sense, as it’s a main source of carbohydrates for more than half the world’s population. Rice is naturally gluten-free, and when we eat it, we are eating the seed of the plant. The earliest archaeological evidence of rice being grown dates all the way back to 5000 BCE. And yet, many in the western world still worry they’re cooking it wrong. There is myriad advice on how to cook and prepare rice, but the key thing is to make sure you wash it thoroughly. Washing it means you get rid of the starchy coating, leading to fluffier cooked rice. However, this isn’t universal advice. For dishes like risotto or rice pudding, you wouldn’t wash the rice – the starch released during the cooking process helps emulsify with the other ingredients and create creaminess. White rice and brown rice are in fact the same plant, but white rice has the outer bran and germ removed during processing, whereas brown rice keeps both. The bran and germ are incredibly nutritious, full of fibre and contribute to brown rice’s nutty flavour.