A Practical Guide to Korean Food and Korean Fusion Food

After rinsing the rice properly, we need to soak the rice in water.
The reason is to make evenly cooked rice and to make each rice grain sticky and resilient (“gelatinization”). However if you soak it too long, it can become brittle and lose some nutrition. So we need to do it for the right amount of time. Then what is the right amount of time?

-V How long to soak the rice-

• Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes in summer and 1-2 hours in winter minimum.

(The temperature is based on the Korean climate ; Seoul’s average daily high temperature – summer : 27℃, winter : 3℃)

Once the soaking is done, we can finally start boiling.
First we need to add an adequate amount of water to the rice. The adequate amount can vary depending on the the type of rice, condition of the rice and type of cooking method, but we usually need to add 1.5 times more water compared to the rice weight or 1.2 times more water compared to the rice volume.

(However, I always measure it manually. The so called “Knuckle method” – Add the water until it covers near my knuckles when my hand is flat on the rice. Does it sound logical to you? A lot of Koreans seem to use this method too. It’s not just me. )

The rice cooking process goes Boiling – Simmering – Thoroughly steaming. If you use an electric rice cooker like I do, we just put the rice and water into the cooker and press the button. However if you use the stove top method then there are a couple of things you need to be aware of.

-V How to cook Korean steamed rice on the stove-
:Recommended by a rice expert in the Rural Development Administration (Korean government)

1. Boil the rice for 5-10 minutes on high heat (The water gets absorbed into the rice and the rice expands).
2. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer it for 7-8 minutes (During this time we are accelerating the gelitinization process – making each rice grain sticky and resilient).
3. As the water gets absorbed into the rice or evaporates, reduce the heat to low gradually. Do not open the lid at this point. When the water has nearly disappeared, turn the heat off.
4. Let the rice sit (thoroughly steam) for 10-15 minutes with the lid on.
5. Then stir the rice around (top to bottom, side to side) lightly with the rice scoop (It is to evaporate extra moisture, even out the rice taste, and keep the good shape).

Now, theoretically, we should be able to make perfect Korean steamed rice. Fingers crossed for you all!

Comments

If you are interested in buying a Korean rice cooker, you can try Hmart online shop. They seem to sell the top brand Korean rice cooker “Cuckoo” and I am using one of their models. Or if you are interested in buying a Japanese brand like zojirushi you can try amazon

If you understand Korean food culture or Asian food culture, you know how important rice is to our daily life. Ask yourself. How often do you cook rice? I cook it everyday. Yeah, it is a very critical part of my daily life. But more importantly how often do you make a success with it?

Obviously “putting rinsed rice into a pot or a rice cooker, add some water, and boil it” isn’t as simple as it sounds, or at least not to everyone. To tell you the truth, I am not a rice expert. I don’t make perfect steamed rice all the time either. However, I wouldn’t mind eating perfectly cooked rice all the time, wouldn’t you? So I decided to start a discussion about this topic, so we can experience better eating life.

Successfully cooked Korean rice (in other words delicious Korean rice) is sticky rice that shines and has a tasty fragrance. Can you image it? (If you can’t, sorry, my English isn’t as good as I want it to be). But you can’t really taste the rice before you buy it, can you? So here is a check list, recommended by the Rural Development Administration (part of the Korean Government),which might help us to choose some good rice.

-V check list -

1. Good rice grain has a white, clean, clear and shining look.
2. The grain shouldn’t have partial black (brown) or white parts in the middle.
3. The grain should be even in shape and shouldn’t have chips or half crushed parts.
4. The Rice package should have milled date on it (Most recently milled rice is the best. Because 2 weeks after milling, the grain starts to lose its moisture).

If the rice basically meet these requirements, it is more likely “head rice” (which means good quality rice). After finding out about these, I checked my rice package and I found a lot of chips and white or black parts on the grains. Also there wasn’t a milled date on it (but Korean rice does). I use Sunrice brand and as far as I know this company is very well known in Australia. Yes, I am quite disappointed about it. Michael suspects that it might possibly be more than one year old – there is no way to tell (I’ve never had more than 1 year old rice in my life).

Apparently Japan has one of the highest standards and yield on “head rice” whereas Australia and Korea don’t have as high standards or yield than Japan (but this depends on the brand). Have you checked your rice yet? Are you eating good quality rice?