I have bad experiences with packing rice for lunch, and having it dry out and get gross overnight (like, I'll steam twice as much rice as I want to eat for dinner and pack half of it away).
But it always ends up crusty and hard. When I pack it with a lid on, there's just a bunch of condensed water on the lid, and my rice are still hard and crusty.
What's the best way to keep it from losing its moisture?
I've tried to search for this, but all the results are just tips on food safety, nothing about quality.
Best Answer
For eating rice cold, I find it best to cool it by rinsing with cold water as soon as it's cooked. Then drain well, pack into a close fitting container, and refrigerate. It also works well if you plan to reheat the rice.
You may find that you want it a little softer than at dinner the previous night. In that case let it sit hot and wet while you eat dinner, then drain before the cold rinse.
This rapid cooling, apart from preventing the rice from steaming in the box, is also good from the point of view of food safety.