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Plastic Bags Melting in order to Cook Rice? Please help me.
In the Levant, they use a towel for this and for lots of things too, but I hope they use a different one for the rice!!
rice wars
my mother in law is chinese and we're constantly having what i've dubbed as the rice wars. we each swear the other can't cook rice. whenever she comes over she brings some cooked rice with her and swears the kids only like her rice.
the chinese way of cooking rice is definitely different than the dominican way.it tastes different too. what i won't tell her because it's too much fun to argue is that chinese rice takes great with asian food and you need dominican rice for beans.
and the right way for dominican rice is banana leaf/lid/closest rock
my mother in law is chinese and we're constantly having what i've dubbed as the rice wars. we each swear the other can't cook rice. whenever she comes over she brings some cooked rice with her and swears the kids only like her rice.
the chinese way of cooking rice is definitely different than the dominican way.it tastes different too. what i won't tell her because it's too much fun to argue is that chinese rice takes great with asian food and you need dominican rice for beans.
and the right way for dominican rice is banana leaf/lid/closest rock
I would repent your sinful ways and enjoy the glory of Dominican rice. I'd sooner eat a plate of red hot chili peppers than tell a Dominican how to cook rice. You may as well tell them that their mother doesn't know how to cook, and if their mother can't cook rice, well, that isn't a very nice thing to say, is it?
And, as nasty as it seems, there should be no prob using plastic bags. In the US, they have all kinds of foods cooked in plastic bags in microwaves. Plastic bags are made from low density polyelthylene(LDPE) which is far less complex than say, cellulose or wood fiber. It's a very basic hydrocarbon like any fat, wax or oil, just with longer carbon chains.
People drink hot coffee out of polystyrene cups all the time without a second thought and that is some toxic stuff.
What about using a food grade LDPE like Saran Wrap?
And, as nasty as it seems, there should be no prob using plastic bags. In the US, they have all kinds of foods cooked in plastic bags in microwaves. Plastic bags are made from low density polyelthylene(LDPE) which is far less complex than say, cellulose or wood fiber. It's a very basic hydrocarbon like any fat, wax or oil, just with longer carbon chains.
People drink hot coffee out of polystyrene cups all the time without a second thought and that is some toxic stuff.
What about using a food grade LDPE like Saran Wrap?
I watched the Dr. Oz show this morning, and he specifically displayed a box of Saran Wrap as what NOT to use in a microwave. He said the heat melts the plastic particles into the food and it ends up in our body. [recommended either paper towels or parchment paper instead]. Now, if it's no good in a microwave, it has to be worse stretched over a hot pot of rice.
And we wonder why so many people are diagnosed with cancer these days.
I agree that you can't criticize how a Dominican cooks their rice, very touchy subject. I asked my husband about the plastic bags and he immediately said 'that's not good for you' and 'people in the campo use platano leaves instead'.
AE
I checked on the DR Oz thing and he claims plastic wrap from the butcher is made from PVC(news to me), but that home wrap does not. I'm not an advocate of cooking in plastic, but there is a HUGE difference between polyethylene and other plastics, esp PVC and polystyrene. He also claims you should not use plastic shower curtains and buy hemp ones instead and that you should avoid canned tomatoes.
Dr Oz: BPA, PFOA & PVC: Hidden Obesogens | Dr Oz | Doctor Oz Fans
Dr Oz: BPA, PFOA & PVC: Hidden Obesogens | Dr Oz | Doctor Oz Fans
Yes, wrap used by most butchers tends to be PVC. Saran Wrap used to be made from PVDC, but SC Johnson decided to stop using chlorine in its plastic wrap products and switched to polyethylene (PE). IF you look on a box of Saran Wrap (at least in the States), it specifically warns "Not for use in browning units, conventional ovens, stovetops or toaster ovens."
I prefer using a lid, but used a plastic bag when I didn't have one and the bag touched the sides of the pot and melted because I was doing it wrong.
I was then shown the correct way to do it. You cut the plastic so it's slightly smaller than the diameter of the pot, wash it and apply it over the rice carefully when the rice has cooked until most of the water is absorbed ...and it doesn't melt.
I prefer using a lid, but used a plastic bag when I didn't have one and the bag touched the sides of the pot and melted because I was doing it wrong.
I believe people tend to make things more complicated than they are. If you don't have a lid, just use a plate to close the pot, add a bit more water since some vapor will escape, that's it. It's not like rice has to be placed in a air-tight pressure cooker in order to cook.
Dominicans cook rice pretty much like I was taught. In France, I realized a lot of people did not wash rice. The first time, I saw a friend doing that I couldn't eat :cheeky:. Another funny thing is that I have seen is people cooking rice just like pasta: lots of water,boil it then drain it :cheeky:
You're right about the plate working, I've done it before and even used a large mixing bowl that fit over the pot.... LOL I've learned though that when cooking for a Dominican man, not to mess with his ideas of how rice should be cooked :ermm: I have been cooking rice for years by washing it first, then adding sufficient water to cover rice, and covering it with a lid when it comes to a boil... letting it steam until fluffy.. etc.. until I was told no no no, you wash the rice, salt the water bring it to a boil, then add the rice and don't cover it until it's nearly cooked... LOL and make sure you get some con con on the bottom or all hell will break loose :cheeky: I made him cook his own rice last time :cheeky:
LOL
That's how I was taught (since that's how Africans make it too). My question is how not to NOT get con con at the bottom. No one likes it in my house, so it goes to waste. :tired:
Yes, but is that because the stuff can't take heat and will melt or health concerns? In cooking schools, they teach people to wrap baked goods such as lasagna with plastic wrap and then alumunum foil before baking. The plastic protects the aluminum from the acid in the tomatoes which would dissolve the foil. The foil protects the plastic from melting all the way.
I'd still be far more concerned about plastic in coffee cups than in rice. Even the paper cups have a film of plastic on the inside. Polystyrene is made from aromatic compounds(such as benzene and phenols) so I stay clear of that stuff. Anything with PVC has chlorine in it and my Organic Chem professor said every known compound with chlorine in it will cause cancer including chlorinated water. Chlorinated water has something called tri-chloro-halo-methanes in it which I try to avoid.
Trihalomethane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you don't like the con-con, try cooking in a pressure cooker. Put the rice in a large uncovered bowl with the right amount of water into the cooker and set the bowl in about an inch of water inside the cooker. After it gets to pressure for about four minutes, take it off the heat and cool it to release the pressure. Not only does it make good rice, it will also kill any Bacillus Ceres, which is not killed by normal cooking methods. This also a great way to cook any beans from dry in less than an hour.
Yup - that's how the English cook rice - then you're supposed to pour boiling water through the drained rice to wash out the starch. Total sacrilege and heresy.
I don't like rice from pressure cooker, I swear I can taste the difference
. Also, I find the rice too sticky.I just came to the conclusion, that is probably impossible to cook without con- con in a regular pot
LOL
That's how I was taught (since that's how Africans make it too). My question is how not to NOT get con con at the bottom. No one likes it in my house, so it goes to waste. :tired:
I sometimes get con con and sometimes not depending on the pot I use and whether it's a gas stove or electric. I have a set of pots at home with an insulated bottom that works great for doing cream sauces etc because it's made not to burn... If you don't want con con, start out with the washed rice and add enough water to cover the rice about and inch or so above it, bring it to a boil and as soon as it starts, turn it down on 3 or even 2 (heat setting) and let it steam. You shouldn't get con con...or you could use a rice cooker which works good too.
Heh. I can relate to that. I still haven't really mastered rice making ? la Dominicana so I leave it to the experts. When I cook Indian food Mr C always asks me if the basmati rice "hizo conc?n" - just to wind me up.