apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I usually reheat it with other food, like a curry or something, so the liquid from that keeps the rice tasting fine.

Usually I throw it in the microwave with a wet paper towel on top which helps resteam the rice and bring it back from the crusty dead.

I use the microwave as well; take a lower setting, so not full power, just add a little bit of water, stop halfway through, mix it through and continue. Works every time..

A trick my mom taught me is to never put leftover rice in the fridge - leave it out. It doesn't get nearly as dried out that way.

(Maybe it's conventional wisdom, I dunno.)

Keeping the rice covered as you reheat it is extremely important. If the rice seems very dry, add a few drops of water. This will help re-steam the rice.

If I am only reheating rice and not repurposing it in another dish I do it on the stove with a little bit of water.

Where did my comment go?

Stove or oven with extra water or broth. Microwave=dead food.

Ideas for more grains (for breakfast) here: http://www.sustainablesuppers.com/?p=548

Adding a bit of water before microwaving always works for me--and I usually reheat on full power for about two minutes for two servings of rice (loosely covered).

If I'm reheating take out rice, I'll put it in the microwave, covered with just a little bit of water to re-steam it.

_____
As an Asian-American, I grew up eating rice and can only go so long before I start to crave some home food (Korean). However, I live on my own and there's no such thing as cooking rice for 1 (at least not with a rice cooker) so this is what I do and it works GREAT. Every. Single. Time. - I really hope I rock somebody's world with this tip: Make a lot of rice in your rice cooker or stove top. Let it cool completely. Portion into single servings (like a cup or so) and put them into zip lock bags (1 serving per bag). FREEZE. When you're ready to eat, just take the frozen already portioned rice, put it on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes. Tastes like you just made it.

The old Chinese (and Korean) wisdom is not to refrigerate rice, but to toss it in the freezer instead, to be made into congee at a later date.

The best method I've used to reheat rice is steamed, but I rarely take the time to do it.

I just put a little bit of water in it and reheat as is in the microwave

We leave it out most of the time--I am part Asian and that's what I was taught to do. If we aren't going to use it anytime soon we freeze it in some plastic wrap. Then we just re-heat in the microwave in the plastic.

We only intentionally refrigerate rice if we want to make fried rice--it works better that way.

I learned from my Japanese roommate back in grad school to portion out my leftover rice after it's been cooked, wrap each portion in Saran wrap, and freeze it.

Then you can just nuke it, and it won't be dried out or anything!

I have 100% success with a bit of water microwave for a minute or two, depending on how much rice there is. This works no matter how dried out and crumbly the rice is. In general, though, I refrigerate my rice in good airtight containers, so in theory there really shouldn't be that much moisture loss, but it looks pretty dry and dead when it comes out anyway.

In my quest to reduce the amount of paper towels we use, and eliminate cooking in plastic, I've developed the habit of using a plate to cover a bowl in the microwave. This produces a pretty good (but not 100%) seal, and the results with rice are always perfect.

I usually let the rice sit for a couple of minutes after heating, thinking that it'll continue to steam a bit more and re-moisten, but I don't know if it really makes a difference.

When reheating some kind of leftover saucy food, I'll do the rice first, and then put the food on top of the rice and nuke it all together.

I'm with 500 and joyosity - freeze your leftovers. It works great with small portions of rice. I tend to reheat in a glass bowl (so I can keep an eye on things) with a plate on top... so those nasty plastic toxins dont get into my food.

Try microwaving it in a microwaveable container with a vented lid (Tupperware makes some) and it stays pretty moist.

I add a splash of water, stir it or use my clean hands to break up cold clumps, and heat it at 80% power.

Being Indian, I end up eating rice almost every other day. The quickest, fastest and surefire way is a combination of what people have already suggested.

1) sprinkle the rice with a little water
2) Wet a paper towel, then take out most of the water by twisting the towel (make sure its just a little moist), cover the utensil with this and microwave away.

Works every time.

i don't own a microwave and i only eat brown rice, so i'm not sure if it's the same as reheating white? anyway, i do just fine adding a little bit of water and reheating my brown (usually basmati) rice in a saucepan on low.

place leftover rice in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of water over rice, douse a paper towel with water, cover bowl w/ wet p-towel, microwave, and enjoy!

I agree with the others: Microwave, with about 1 teaspoon of water added, and covered with a plate. Also, don't refrigerate your rice unless it's for fried rice.

'nother one that my family does: while the rice is still fresh and hot, get your hands wet, and salt them, then spoon some rice out and make little balls (called onigiri) out of it. You can put fillings, like shrimp, or a chunk of egg, in it, or add seaweed and other flavorings instead of rice. Wrap the balls individually in plastic, or put them in small containers, and serve them at room temperature with breakfast or lunch. My family always makes them with fried chicken for picnics. ^_^

I put the rice in a colander or strainer and pour boiling water over it. Seems to work well for me. Be sure to break up any chunks of rice stuck together, though, to avoid cold pockets.

I'm Japanese American, and my mother just left it out. If she made rice for dinner, it would be gone by lunchtime the next day. If not, what little was left was tossed.

Funny this should come up today -- I made a huge pot of rice last night. My Filipino family just leaves it in the "turned off" rice cooker (not like it lasts that long anyway).

Otherwise, I do what others have mentioned and freeze it in individual portions; I only refrigerate when using it for fried rice. Last night's leftover rice was split 50/50 between the freezer and the fridge.

I reheat my rice on the stovetop small pot depending on the amount I'm reheating. I add a small amount of water for moisture and use low heat. Also, adding aluminum foil to the top of the pot cover helps tremendously. Even when cooking rice.

If the rice is still hard I simply add another tablespoon of water and let heat. My rice comes out fluffy and hot evenly every time.

I have a rice cooker, so when I cook rice the first time, I just leave the leftovers in the insert that comes out. It's metal and sealed, so it's completely fine in the fridge.

When I go to reheat, I put a splash of MILK (yes, milk) into the bottom and give it a quick warmup back in the rice cooker simply by dropping the insert back in and hitting 'on'.

Not to be a debbie downer but..... Be careful, reheated rice is the major reservoir of a toxin from the bacteria B. cereus which heat stable and thus not deactivated by heating. If its old throw it out, rice is cheap.

So funny! I was just thinking about this.

What happens to me is when I have chinese delivery leftovers, I usually have way more than I can eat at once. Sometimes I do stovetop (but they get kinda sticky) or microwave (which I do with a little water sprinkled in). I've also made rice pudding with it. Which worked great.

But I've never tried the freezing. That sounds great. Thanks for that idea.

VW
http://www.margincomments.blogspot.com

Wet paper towel on top before going into the microwave.. works great.

Wet paper towel on top works every time.

I just put a little water in the bottom of the dish that I'm reheating the rice in.

I always reheat rice and rice dishes in the steamer. It's the only way to get anything like a decent texture and flavor.

I always portion out my leftover rice, wrap it in plastic and put it in the freezer. Then, when I need to use it, I just pop it in the microwave (with the plastic wrap) and it sorta re-steams itself. Read More: http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics/how-freezing-preportioned-rice

You can do a similar thing though, just by sprinkling the rice with a little water and covering it before nuking.

The fridge is really a bad place for cooked rice, because it dries it out so bad. That is, unless you want fried rice :)

a bit of water, saran wrap, microwave.

I like having leftover rice and intentionally make twice as much as I need in my rice cooker.
However, I only use the leftovers for things like fried rice, rice & eggs, or some such (stirred into reheated curries works well too).
If I really want just plain rice, I'd honestly just make fresh and save the leftovers for another use.

If the rice is fully cooked and cold, I boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over the rice and then strain it quickly so that it separates and heats without overcooking or getting damaged.

Another good trick is to spread leftover rice out on a tray so it cools without becoming a big massive blob. That makes all kinds of reheating easier.

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com

Haven't we had the discussion before about leaving your rice out? its a common cultural practice for some but SOOOO not okay via american food health safety practices?

Regardless, anything left out over night, except say - vinegar and olive oil which don't get refrigerated anyways - really skeeves me out. My old housemate used to used the day old unrefrigerated rice to make fried rice and it always made me want to puke. If I don't put it away it gets tossed. Makes me make sure to put everything away too!

(I use the papertowel trick, but I'm going to try freezing in the future!)

no microwave in this house so my method is very low-tech--basically a quick steam. Heat a little water in the bottom of a pan, place the rice in a medium strainer. When the water is boiling, place the strainer over the water and cover the pan for maybe 1 minute (too long and it gets mushy). Voila! hot rice that is not too dry.

As others mention, sprinkle a little water on it, cover it, and microwave.

In Japan they sell pre-cooked rice in plastic packets and the important part is to keep the rice covered in the packet when microwaving. If you do this, it's very good. If you remove it from the packet and put it in a bowl, it's very dry and nasty.

My parents used to leave rice out too, but it's so humid here and that rice starts to smell and grow pink stuff on it after a day. I heard that badly stored rice makes you sick really easily so mine always goes into the fridge.

I just add a little water to it before zapping in the microwave. Easy!

Put a damp paper towel over it and nuke it. I use this method with a lot of things actually.

I only eat brown rice and I always make more than we can eat in one meal. Sometimes, I'll freeze the leftovers, but more often than not they go in the fridge. Brown rice doesn't get hard and dry in the fridge like white rice does.

If I don't use the leftover rice to make something like fried rice or rice pudding, then I reheat it one of two ways. I don't have a microwave, so if I'm in a hurry I heat it in a covered sauce pan with a bit of water (watch carefully and stir every now and then--only takes a few minutes.) My preferred method is to reheat in the oven. I add a bit of water, cover, and bake for about 20 minutes while I'm making the rest of dinner.

If I'm going to be eating the rice by itself I put a dab of butter on the top and the microwave it, either that or a pour a little sweet and sour or indian food sauce on it then microwave, then stir it in. If I'm taking it to work I do both, put the rice, butter, and sauce in a redneck tupperware (yogurt/cottage cheese tub) dish, then microwave it when I get to work. Shake the container up when its hot, and its ready to eat.

For those who are anti-microwave at time, Definately fried rice! Sooo simple, heat up some oil and fish and or soy sause add an onion or whatever add rice, veggies (frozen work great and cook. I will scramble up and egg and add that in too! Serve hot and steamy. Yummy!