Rice – How to make the risotto less firm

One of my favorite recipes is Giada De Laurentis' Wild Mushroom with Peas. It's rather simple, but amazingly delicious.

The most common flubs when making a risotto are overcooking or dumping in all the liquid at once. I always use the wooden spoon test to determine when the risotto is finished.

First, stir often!

Periodically drag your spoon down the center of the pan as to part the risotto. If the path the spoon makes closes quickly then it isn't finished yet. If the part stays open, then you've overcooked it. Ideally it slowly oozes back together.

You're looking for two important things in a perfect risotto:

• Creamy
  • The finished risotto should be creamy, not runny, and not gummy. The spoon test takes care of this.
• Tender
  • The rice grains should be tender, not crunchy, and not mushy. You should taste frequently as you approach the end of the cooking time. You want the grains slightly al dente. You should know that you have rice in your mouth and not just a good tasting mystery-paste.

It's the starch that gives risotto its creamy texture. If you try to do it with regular rice with low starch there is no way you have that texture. Stirring is to prevent rice from sticking and it is not necessary (at least not constantly).

In the Do The Rice Thing episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown says:

I have to tell you, I've tinkered with risotto quite a bit, and I really don't think that that whole constant stirring thing is necessary.

Okay, here's what movement does in the pot. Now, as the kernels rub together in the hot liquid, they literally scrub off some of their starch, okay? Now hot liquid is added slowly because if it were cold, the starch wouldn't come off. And if too much gets added at once, the rice kernels would never make contact.

Now, I find that occasional stirring keeps the heat and moisture evenly distributed, but gentle pan shaking creates a better gravy.

I started not to stir (I mean constantly) the risotto after I watched that and it turns out great. However, slow addition of the liquid is still necessary.