aem wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> >
> > Why soak for one and not the other? [snip]
>
> One possibility: when you fry the rice in oil for pilaf the grains
are
> coated and will absorb less water when it cooks, so you soak it
first;

I don't think so, oil will quickly float to the surface in hot water...
I think the oil is stricty to impart flavor during (toasting)

> when you have plain rice it absorbs more water in cooking and so
there
> isn't as much need to soak it first. In either case, it depends on
the
> rice crop and the texture you like. With the current bag we have of
> jasmine rice I found that soaking it first makes it softer than we
> like, so I don't soak it. The bag of regular long grain rice,
though,
> clearly benefits from a pre-soak.
>
> Madhur Jaffrey recommends in one of her books that rice for pilaf get
a
> three-step preliminary treatment: 30 minutes of soaking, then 30
> minutes of draining in a sieve, then the preliminary cooking in ghee
or
> oil. Comes out tender with separate grains. -aem

That's essentially how I described my method... and I never read
anything she has written, I suppose because I really don't much care
for the stench of Indian coozine. I cook my rice Puerto Rican style.

Sheldon