Rice – Why is the Spanish rice chewy

rice

I tried making some Spanish rice the other day and it's turned out really chewy. I can't figure out if I used too little chicken broth or not enough.

It came out really starchy I think – very clumpy, feels like it's sticking to my teeth when I eat it. Basically, not very pleasant!

Here's the recipe I used:
– medium grained rice from Albertson's – bag said 1 3/4 cups of water for each cup of rice. I used two cups of rice and so put in 3 1/2 cups of broth.
– 1 16oz can of diced tomatoes – I drained most of the juice out before I put them in
– 1 sm can of diced chilies – again, I drained out most of the liquid
– some salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder

I fried up some chopped onion and peppers in a small amount of olive oil before adding the rice and broth and other ingredients. Then let the whole thing simmer for about 20 minutes – or until there was no liquid left.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ross

Best Answer

I don't know that type of rice, but it sounds like it ran out of liquid before it was done. Some types of rice can be done in about 10m, some take over half an hour. My tricks for risotto like dishes are:

  • wash the rice to remove loose starch
  • taste regularly so you can intervene as needed,
  • avoid stirring as much as you can (you can stir a few times to avoid burning),
  • fry the rice with the onions before adding water,
  • add liquid in small batches until it's done.

Try it with a few small batches to get the hang of it. It could very well be the wrong type of rice, so you may want to try other brands.

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