How to spice up rice to give it some taste

[georgevan]

my rice is dull tasting even wheni add onion powder and afew other thing. Any way to spice it up?

 

[Silversage]

Sometimes I use broth instead of water (like chicken broth) for added flavor.

Also, both rice and potatoes absorb salt. Often 'lack of flavor' just means not enough salt.

You could also try a more fragrant variety of rice, such as jasmine rice instead of plain white rice.

 

[dragnlaw]

I will use chicken broth for a meal involving chicken, fish, pork or seafood. I mostly use beef broth for beef. Not a hard and fast rule for sure.

Other than that I just use salt.

 

[Andy M.]

Sauté some diced onion in butter in a pan. Add some broken pieces of angel hair pasta or orzo and continue cooking until the pasta browns. Add washed and drained rice and cook for a couple of minutes them add chicken/beef broth (2c broth for 1 c rice) bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Rest in the pot for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sauté some diced onion in butter in a pan. Add some broken pieces of angel hair pasta or orzo and continue cooking until the pasta browns. Add washed and drained rice and cook for a couple of minutes them add chicken/beef broth (2c broth for 1 c rice) bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Rest in the pot for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Browning pasta in the butter adds a surprising amount of flavor to this dish. So easy and so good.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil or butter. Add rice and toast it for a few minutes. Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and stir until browned. Add liquid - water, broth or a combination - along with salt and pepper, cover and cook till done.

You can add all kinds of spice mixes to change it up, like garam masala, Italian seasoning, taco seasoning, Baharat (Lebanese Seven-Spice Seasoning), za'atar, etc.

 

[thymeless]

While you can make rice taste like most anything, it has a role sort of like the canvas of a painting. It's the backing against which the colors of meal play out. Without its neutrality and structure, the colors just get muddy and mixed up.

Try some biryani, or cook rice to generate tahdig, the crusty treasured rice of Persian cuisine, make congee...

 

[jennyema]

 

[blissful]

I regularly make 4 cups of dry brown basmati rice, in a large kettle, boiling it like pasta. It makes about 3 quarts. After draining it I add cooked diced onions, cooked diced red peppers, and thawed green peas. If I want to add flavor, I grind up some lemon grass with lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, and mix that in too. I call it 'veggie rice'. It freezes well. When serving, heat it up and salt to taste.

 

[larry_stewart]

When having Indian, I'll cook up some basmati and add a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and a few cardamom seeds tto the cooking water. When done, Ill toss in some diced carrots, onions and peas, a little butter , salt some toasted cumin seeds and shaved almonds.

 

[thymeless]

It also occurs to me you might have poor grade of rice. during the early days of the pandemic, I bought a bag of Louisiana long grain rice that was just flavorless even for rice. So grade of rice matters for flavor, at least to a degree. Basmati and Jasmine have good flavor for long grain rice.

 

[larry_stewart]

Basmati and Jasmine have good flavor for long grain rice.

Im a Basmati and Jasmine kinda guy myself. I also love wild rice blends. The have great texture to them.

 

[kleenex]

HOT SAUCE!!!

 

[cookiecrafter]

my rice is dull tasting even wheni add onion powder and afew other thing. Any way to spice it up?

Old rice can get like that. Be careful when shopping. Old and over looked rice stocked on bottom shelves or top very high shelves is usually too old to use.

 

[taxlady]

While you can make rice taste like most anything, it has a role sort of like the canvas of a painting. It's the backing against which the colors of meal play out. Without its neutrality and structure, the colors just get muddy and mixed up.

Try some biryani, or cook rice to generate tahdig, the crusty treasured rice of Persian cuisine, make congee...

Did you mean "basmati"? Biryani is a dish and you just wrote about leaving rice with its neutrality and structure.

 

[taxlady]

Consider using brown basmati or even plain brown rice. They have more flavour to start with. I always use brown rice. Sometimes I want my rice neutral, so that the sauce from what I'm serving with it doesn't have competition, then I just cook it in water. Sometimes I like to give the rice more oomph, so I cook it in stock. It can be hard to make pilaf with brown rice. I find it takes much longer to cook if it is first sautéed in any kind of oil or fat. I have tried the pasta method of cooking rice and I found that the rice lost flavour in that process, so I don't use it for rice on its own, as a side dish.

 

[thymeless]

Did you mean "basmati"? Biryani is a dish and you just wrote about leaving rice with its neutrality and structure.

I meant biryani, as a complete rice dish. It usually uses basmati too.

 

[Badjak]

To me, it's the side dishes that make rice shine

But look at nasi kunyit (rice cooked in coconut milk with turmeric), nasi goreng, egg fried rice, risotto, rice fried with shrimp paste, lemper, bubur etc
I can give you recipes and links, but a quick google for SE asian rice dishes should get you a long way

 

[Ksm]

This is my favorite way to cook rice.
Sometimes I use different broths. Especially if I have homemade broth from a beef roast or a turkey.

I just discovered baking brown rice!
I think i saw Alton Brown use this technique.
My brown rice never got as soft as I liked by cooking on stove top.

Here is my new method.
I sauté 1 medium onion, I orange pepper ( or yellow or red)
And 8 oz baby Bellas in olive oil with s&p and crushed red pepper.

You can omit all the veggies if you are just looking to do plain rice.

I add that to one cup brown rice in an over proof dish.(I like jasmine)
Bring 2 cups chicken stock to a boil.
Add to rice along with a tablespoon of butter.
Sometimes I add half a can of black beans
Stir
Cover tightly and cook at 375 for 1 hour. (No peaking ?)

When done I like to top with Parmesan cheese.

 

[georgevan]

Old rice can get like that. Be careful when shopping. Old and over looked rice stocked on bottom shelves or top very high shelves is usually too old to use.

What is old? I have uncooked rice thats been sitting there for a year or so