Soaking your rice is an old cooking secret for many rice dishes. Especially in Asia, soaking and rinsing the rice before cooking it is what gives it a chewy and flavorful experience.
You can soak rice for up to 2 hours and have it retain its flavor and texture. The recommended time to soak your rice is only 30 minutes. Soaking rice for large amounts of time can make you sick and ruin your rice dish. Rice that is soaked for the appropriate amount of time, between 30 minutes to 2 hours, can have a better texture and flavorful undertones.
Soaking only needs to be done to improve the flavor profile and texture experience. You do not need to soak it for any health reasons.
Soaking your rice also depends on the type of rice you are cooking. Everyone in the west is familiar with the plain short-grain white rice.
But there are many more varieties, so what happens when we soak them? What happens if you soak them longer than 2 hours?
What Happens if You Soak Rice for Too Long?
Soaking the rice is a personal preference for many cooks. Soaking rice sometimes gives it a softer or spongier consistency. It also tends to remove much of the excess starch.
If you choose to soak your rice in the fridge for a longer period it could potentially lead to bacteria developing. If you soak your rice at room temperature, do not keep it for longer than 2 hours. If you soak your rice in the refrigerator you should not keep it if it has soaked for longer than 24 hours. It’s not recommended that you soak it for this long in the fridge because it will not taste good or have a good texture.
When you do this it can make it much less sticky. As a general rule, for flavor and texture, you should not exceed 30 minutes to retain its firmness.
Rice that is soaked for 2 hours will likely be much softer. If you like your rice to be a smooth and creamy experience with less distinction between each grain then soaking for 2 hours will be your preference.
Also, if you soak your rice at room temperature you should not exceed 2 hours. If you leave rice, cooked or uncooked, at room temperature for longer than 2 hours can breed a lot of bacteria.
To prevent this, you can store your soaking rice in the refrigerator in case you exceed this time limit.
How Should You Store Your Pre Soaked Rice?
Pre-soaked rice should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You should avoid simply covering your rice with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
Aluminum foil and plastic wrap do not prevent the rice from absorbing the flavors permeating the refrigerator.
Almost every refrigerator has a scent that permeates it. This is especially true if you happen to have a lot of leftovers in your fridge or other vegetables or herbs with a strong odor.
The odor of the herbs or vegetables can make your rice taste similar to these scents.
If you choose to freeze your rice (cooked or soaked uncooked rice), you can freeze it in a sealed bag. But, make sure you use a freezer-grade storage bag with a zipper lock.
Do not use a bag that you simply press closed. The best way to store your rice in the freezer is with a vacuum seal bag.
A vacuum seal bag prevents freezer burn and keeps out any unwanted odors. It is not recommended for storing your rice in the fridge, simply because it is a waste of vacuum sealing.
You can only store rice for a few days in your refrigerator, so an airtight reusable container is more efficient.
Can You Put Soaked Rice in the Refrigerator?
You can put soaked, strained rice in the refrigerator. But, it should only be kept in the fridge (strained, not in the water) for around 48-72 hours before cooking it. Rice is a grain that commonly carries bacillus, which is a potentially harmful bacteria. If consumed this bacteria can lead to food poisoning. Make sure you do not store your rice soaking in the water in the fridge for longer than a day. If you exceed a day with the rice in the fridge it will lose most of its integrity and will likely smell somewhat rancid.
If you were soaking your rice for longer than 2 hours without cooking or refrigerating it, you really should not keep it. Rice that sits in tepid water at room temperature is a breeding ground for bacteria.
Once you feel the rice has been sitting for a considerable amount of time, make sure you toss it and start over.
If you soak your rice to bring out the chewiness, then you only need to soak it for 30 minutes or so. Also, make sure you rinse it thoroughly to remove the starch.
This is how you make chewy and less sticky rice. After you drain and rinse your soaked rice you can store it in the refrigerator for up to three days.
This rice is uncooked but soaked. The best way to prevent bacteria and germ development is to soak it for only 30 minutes to an hour outside of the fridge. Once you finish soaking it, refrigerate it right away after you strain it.
It is not recommended that you keep rice in water soaking in the refrigerator for more than 12-24 hours. This can create a smelly film on top of the water as the starch accumulates. Plus, it can lead to bacteria developing.
The water makes the rice break down and can make you sick if you eat it. It is not necessarily deadly or harmful long-term, but it will not taste good and probably won’t sit well in your stomach.
Do You Need to Soak Rice Before Cooking It?
The short answer to this question is no, you do not need to soak your rice prior to cooking it. There are several reasons why you may wish to soak your rice before you cook it. But, it is not necessary. Some dried foods such as dried kidney beans or garbanzo beans must be soaked and rinsed several times to remove toxins. Rice does not have this issue and you don’t need to worry about soaking your rice before you cook it for safety reasons.
Even though soaking your rice is not required before cooking your rice, it does offer some benefits. The first and most obvious benefit is it cuts down on cooking time!
That’s right, the fibers of the rice absorb the water as it soaks. When this happens it makes the rice softer and speeds up the time it takes to finish boiling it.
If you eat a lot of rice, you may want to soak a couple of cups of rice in water and then store it in the fridge. This way, you can have your rice prepared for the next 3 days and still have it taste nice and fresh.
Just make sure you plan on eating it, or else it can go to waste! Once you soak it, you cannot put it back in the bin with the dry rice.
Whether you soak your rice is also dependent upon the types of rice you choose to cook. People like to soak their rice to bring out more flavor.
The soaking process is thought to bring out the unique and more exotic flavors or certain types of rice.
We will delve a little deeper into which rice you should consider soaking before cooking!
What kinds of rice should I Soak?
Short grain brown and white rice are not super flavorful types of rice. They have a relatively bland flavor that most choose to enhance with simple seasonings such as salt or chicken broth.
But, there are other types of rice aside from short-grain that can improve with a little soaking.
Jasmine rice: Jasmine rice has a very distinctive flavor that is not overpowering. The flavor has been said to be nutty and similar to popcorn. The rice that is most similar to this type is Basmati. The major distinction is Jasmine rice is long-grain while basmati is a short grain. Soaking this rice can help highlight this flavor and make it even more vibrant.
Arborio rice: Arborio rice is short-grain rice with a firm, sticky texture. Soaking this rice (but do not rinse!) helps bring out the sweet and creamy taste of this rice. Some say it is very similar to short-grain white rice, but we do not find this to be true. Arborio is much creamier and has a nicer sweet undertone that regular rice lacks.
Black rice (wild rice): black rice or wild rice should always be soaked before cooking. Again, it is not absolutely necessary, but you will get much better results with this rice if you presoak it. This rice is very hard and even when you cook it for a while it retains some of its hardness if you do not soak it first.