When I make rice pilaf, I expect two things: light, fluffy texture—the individual grains of rice should be firm and separate, not mushy and stuck together—and bold, full flavors. Fortunately, it’s easy to achieve both. The unique cooking process that gives pilaf its distinctive texture also provides several opportunities to incorporate flavor into the dish.

The pilaf method: toast, simmer, rest

The basic technique for making pilaf is pretty straightforward: The rice first toasts in fat, then simmers in liquid, and finally rests off the heat. I’ve found that at each step, there’s a trick or two that will help deliver the fluffy texture I want. And there’s also a chance to layer on flavor (see “Building layers of flavor” below).

用油，黄油或其他脂肪在中低温下短暂地烤米饭是干米的干米的关键。而且烘烤过程本身也使米饭具有微妙的坚果味。在烤面包过程中，谷物实际上不应变成金色或棕色。但是，他们将失去透明度，每种谷物外部的淀粉都会牢固。结果，谷物会缓慢吸收液体，从而在烹饪时保持其形状。用中低温烤米饭还有助于防止淀粉从谷物中逃脱，这可能会导致米饭。

使用比平常少的液体，然后轻轻慢火煮。Instead of using the standard 2:1 liquid to rice ratio, I use 1-3/4 cups liquid for every 1 cup of rice. This helps ensure a dry, separate texture. Once you add the liquid, stir the pot once and no more. Then let the rice simmer undisturbed for 18 minutes (rather than the typical 20 minutes). Again, the less the rice is agitated, the less chance there will be for starches to gum things up.

最后，让米饭不受欢迎，盖子打开5分钟。这使淀粉可以牢固，这意味着当您将米饭弄破并折叠终点时，谷物将更有可能分离而不是粘住。

水是A-OK

As much as I love broth for pilafs, there’s nothing wrong with cooking your rice in water. As long as you’ve added interesting ingredients during the sauté stage and a few flavorful finishing touches, a pilaf made with water will still be very tasty. In fact, water is my liquid of choice when I want the rice to retain its white color, as in the米饭配五香焦糖洋葱，橙色和樱桃。

Use the right rice

PILAF技术将带您获得良好的效果，但是为了确保完美的质地，使用正确的大米也很重要。最好的选择是长粒白米饭。单个谷物长而细长，其中包含一种淀粉，更容易让谷物在烹饪时保持分离和蓬松。

我通常使用Carolina品牌长粒白米饭；它的温和风味使其非常适合各种调味料。但是其他Longgrain品种也有效。例如，Basmati Rice是一种芳香品种，在印度和巴基斯坦很受欢迎。它煮得非常干燥，因此对Pilaf来说很棒。另一个长晶品种是泰国茉莉米饭，它比basmati芳香且含糊不清。我建议将Carolina大米与西南pilaf和Pilaf一起使用Sage，Parmigiano和Prosciutto。Basmati Rice将在洋葱，Orange＆Cherry的Pilaf中可口工作。您可以在藏红花Pilaf食谱中尝试茉莉花米饭。

Food Science: Why long grain?

有许多种类的大米,但只有长white rice is perfect for pilaf. Why? Because of its starch content. Different rice varieties contain different kinds and amounts of starch, and starch content is what ultimately determines whether rice grains become fluffy or sticky as they cook. Long-grain rice is rich in a type of starch (called amylose) that is quite stable and doesn’t get sticky during cooking, so the rice cooks up with firm, separate grains. Mediumand short-grain rice varieties, on the other hand, contain high amounts of a different type of starch (called amylopectin), which makes the rice grains become soft and sticky as they cook.

How to fluff pilaf

毫无疑问，叉是蓬松的米pilaf的最佳工具。汤匙鼓励结块，但是叉子的狭窄尖端在不破坏谷物的情况下轻轻分开谷物，这有助于保留您为实现的理想质地。用轻手，因为剧烈的搅拌可以打破谷物并鼓励它们紧贴在一起。

这是我的叉车技术：将尖齿滑入锅边缘的米饭中。轻轻抬起米饭朝锅中的中心扔。在周围围绕周围工作时，请继续此过程。然后，使用类似的轻柔绒毛动作，添加装饰触摸成分，然后将其用叉betway电子竞技俱乐部子轻轻折叠。