European Style Rice Maker Rice

I love our new Ricemaker. I have made excellent sticky rice and sushi rice with it. However, I usually cook Western style food and my goddess of proper rice has always been Julia Child. I have always followed her recipe in The Way To Cook, which I feel is the single greatest general cook book ever written. Having said that, if you get distracted for a moment, her rice recipe goes to a sticky, goopy hell.

For my Wester style rice, I wanted to use long grain rice that was not sticky. I also wanted to include three ingredients not used in the preparation of Japanese rice: butter, salt and bay leaf. I had origianlly used Carolina Rice, but found it to be a bit sticky. I then located a brand called "Arroz Rico" at the Grocery Store on 86th Street and Broadway (I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know what it is). Arroz Rico is a Puerto Rican brand, and appears to be mostly sold there and in Florida. It has a very long grain and is not sticky at all when cooked.

The bay leaf presented an interesting issue for rice maker rice. The bay flavor and smell is greatly accentuated in a rice maker, probably because the system is sealed and the rice tends to cook longer than it does in a pot. So I ended up using 1/4 of the amount of bay leaf that I normally would, with a similar taste.

Fortunately, butter is butter, and I was able to use the same amount that I normally would for stove rice.

The recipe is simple. I made two cups which was plenty for two adults and two children as a side dish. You can adjust as needed.

INGREDIENTS

2 Japanese cups rice, washed as per the rice cooker's instructions
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 dried bay leaf

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Rice maker
Rice scraper or spatula (usually supplied with the rice maker)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash rice and add water to 2 cup level. Add salt and stir a bit in bowl using non-scratch spatula. Cut or mush butter into little pieces and stir in. Make sure no rice is stuck to sides. Add bay leaf. Cover and turn on. After it is done remove bay leaf and fluff rice with rice scraper. Eat.