White rice

Allow about 60–75 g uncooked rice per adult as a side, or around 90 g for a main dish. It roughly triples in weight as it cooks.

Rinse it until the water runs mostly clear, then simmer with a measured amount of water in a covered pan; use about two parts water to one part rice by volume. Cook for 10–15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Rinsing removes loose surface starch, helping the grains stay separate, especially in pilafs and fried rice. Swish the rice in cold water and drain; for a creamy dish such as rice pudding, you may want to keep the starch.

Cool it quickly, ideally within an hour, and refrigerate it in a covered container. Use it within 24 hours, and reheat it only once until steaming hot throughout.

Use it as a side for curries, stir-fries and stews, or make rice pudding, pilaf or egg-fried rice. For fried rice, chilled rice works best because the grains are drier and less likely to clump.

Yes, but white rice cooks more quickly and has less fibre: it contains 1.2 g per 100 g, compared with 2.13 g in brown rice. Follow the white rice cooking time rather than the longer time often given for brown rice.

No. Parboiled rice is partly cooked in its husk before milling, which changes its texture and helps the grains stay firm; it usually needs a longer cooking time than ordinary white rice. Per 100 g, parboiled rice has 146 kcal, compared with 131 kcal in white rice.

Yes, if it was cooled promptly and kept refrigerated. Reheat it once until steaming hot throughout; don’t leave cooked rice sitting at room temperature for long, as bacteria can multiply and produce toxins that reheating may not destroy.