Bay Harbour: January 22, 2020

Wednesday January 22 2020
2 [Edition datE]
Tasty Bites
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
CONTINUING EDUCATION
PAGE 15
Cooking rice properly
is a no grainer
By Ian Knott
Rice has the ability to
transform a relatively
simple dinner into
a stunning feast. It’s
readily available,
inexpensive, filling,
and the perfect
blank slate for the
base of many classic
dishes
A rice cooker is great if
you cook rice regularly and
if you’ve got ample storage
space. The microwave
is an option, too – there
are many pre-packaged
options for those who are
short on time and can
afford the premium price of
convenience.
But you needn’t splash
out on any special gadgets
or ingredients to serve up
a pot of beautifully tender,
and fluffy rice. The stovetop
method is not as hard
as you might think – as
long as you remember a
couple of simple rules.
Not all rice is equal and
should be treated differently
if you want to get the best
out if your preferred grain.
Below, I’ll detail how
to cook the perfect pot of
white long-grain, brown,
and aromatic (basmati or
jasmine) rice.
All the methods use
one cup of uncooked rice,
which will make three cups
when cooked.
White long-grain rice
Step 1: Rinse, rinse, rinse.
Step one is always the
same. Unless you want a
pot of lumpy wallpaper
paste, you must rinse the
starch off your rice.
Put the uncooked rice in
a fine-mesh strainer and
run it under the cold tap
until the water runs clear.
Step 2: Bring 1½ cups of
water to the boil in a small
saucepan with a lid, over a
high heat.
Step 3: Add the rice and
some salt. If you’re feeling
indulgent, you can also add
a tablespoon of butter at
this point. It will add a layer
of richness, but is purely
optional.
Step 4: Cover and reduce
the heat to low. Cook for
18-20min until the water is
absorbed.
Important: Don’t lift the
lid to peek, and absolutely
don’t stir the rice during the
absorption stage. This will
STAPLE: Rice is easy to cook, but also easy to get
wrong. Make sure you rinse your rice well to
avoid it going gluggy.
break down the grains and
release more starch, leaving
you with a gluggy pot of
white couscous.
Step 5: Remove from
the heat and let it stand,
covered for 10min. The
steam will finish off the
cooking process.
Uncover and fluff your
perfect rice with a fork
before serving.
Brown rice
Step 1: Repeat after me:
rinse, rinse, rinse.
Step 2: In a covered
medium saucepan bring
eight cups of water to the
boil.
Step 3: Add the rice
and boil, uncovered, for
30-35min until the rice
is tender but just a little
chewy.
Step 4: Drain the rice in a
strainer and return it to the
saucepan. Cover and let it
steam (off the element) for
a further 10min.
Step 5: Add salt to taste
and butter (if you wish).
Fluff with a fork and serve.
Aromatic rice
Step 1: All together now .
. . rinse, rinse, rinse!
Step 2: Boil the kettle/
jug. You’ll need two cups of
boiling water for basmati rice
or 1½ cups for jasmine rice.
Step 3: In a small
saucepan, heat some butter
and/or oil until it’s just
starting to shimmer. Add the
uncooked, rinsed rice and
some salt to the pan and stir
until the water from rinsing
has evaporated and the rice is
coated in the butter/oil.
Continue to saute,
stirring constantly (you
don’t want it to stick and
burn), until a starchy film
forms on the bottom of the
pan – about 2min. Your rice
should have a slightly toasty
aroma at this point.
Step 4: Carefully add the
boiling water and reduce
the heat to low. Cover the
saucepan and cook until
the water is completely
absorbed – about 18min.
Step 5: Take the pan off
the heat and let it steam,
covered for a further 10min.
Fluff with a fork and serve.
Business degree
or diploma – you
choose.
Committing to degree-level study is
a big decision for many people. So Ara
Institute of Canterbury has come up with
a study option that makes that decision
much easier.
“We think of it as the ‘try before you buy’
option,” Nigel Young, head of Enterprise
and Digital Innovation at Ara, says. “You
can enrol for a New Zealand Diploma in
Business, do a year of study and then at the
end of that year you can decide if you want
to leave with your diploma, or continue on
to a full degree.”
Nigel explains that this option makes it
much easier to transition to degree-level
study. “Regardless of what you decide to
do at the end of your first year, you
still get a great qualification. And
of course, if you choose to leave
with the diploma, you can always
come back and carry on to a degree
qualification at a later date if you
want to.”
The ‘try before you buy’ option
isn’t the only flexible aspect of Ara’s
Bachelor of Applied Management
degrees. They can be studied
full-time or part-time, and many
classes are delivered in the evenings
and online. “It means you can
realistically fit study around work
and other commitments,” Nigel says.
The Bachelor of Applied Management
is available in 11 specialities including
project management, accounting,
marketing and sales, human resources
and event management. Each is taught by
highly qualified tutors with extensive realworld
experience. Students graduate workready
thanks to work placements and
work-based projects with local businesses.
Ara offers a wide range of scholarships,
and students can also apply for credit
recognition if they have prior workplace
experience.
To find out more about Ara’s business
diplomas and degrees, visit ara.ac.nz or
call 0800 24 24 76.