After using these 6 liquid to cook rice, you will thank us.

Rice and water are the two basic ingredients that are usually required to cook rice. As the rice is cooked until all the water is absorbed, the basics are similarly straightforward. Many countries consider steamed white rice to be a basic cuisine and it is easy to prepare on the stovetop without the need for sophisticated kitchen equipment. Plain rice is an excellent choice when served as a side dish with meat or veg entrees. It makes sense to provide plain white rice with other strongly flavored or salty foods on your menu. Additionally, there are many delicious ways to flavor rice itself.

For example, you can change the taste, texture and color of rice by using the liquid used to cook it. Let’s look at some of the liquids you can use to enhance the flavor of your rice meal and provide additional protein and minerals to your diet.

These 6 liquid to cook rice

Chicken Broth

When cooking white rice, an easy alternative is to use chicken broth instead of regular water. Chicken broth gives this rice a rich nutty flavor, which is also high in nutrients. In fact, Singapore’s national cuisine, Hainanese chicken rice, consists of chicken broth and rice cooked with steamed chicken and a sauce made of ginger and chili garlic. My rice is cooked with broth (dietitian Lorraine Manaker) because it “adds fat, flavor and protein to the final product.”

All the nutrients will be absorbed from the rice as it absorbs the chicken broth. For chicken broth you can use the same liquid to rice ratio as you would for regular water because the broth is just a straightforward 1:1 switch. Alternatively, you can boil the rice in a mixture of half water and half broth if you prefer a softer finish. Other types of broth, including beef and vegetable broth, can be switched out in the same way.

Coconut Water

In nations like Southeast Asia and the Caribbean where coconut and rice are plentiful, coconut rice is a common dish. This Food Republic article suggests substituting coconut water for coconut milk when making coconut rice. Cooking rice with coconut water is essentially the same as cooking traditional rice because its viscosity is similar to that of plain water. Use coconut water and rice as suggested in online recipes.

You can experiment with different amounts of coconut water for a milder taste. Rice would make a wonderful side dish for a Thai curry as it would enhance a chicken and rice meal, or the sweet coconut flavor and aroma that the coconut water imparts to the rice. Additionally, coconut water is a wonderful way to add calcium, magnesium and potassium to your rice while reducing the calorie content.

Vinegar

If you can’t get your rice to be as fluffy as you like, try adding a little vinegar. Due to excess starch, cooked rice can stick together and grow sticky, but acidic foods like vinegar can stop this from happening. Rice is more puffy due to the acid’s ability to prevent carbohydrates from solidifying. Moreover, vinegar helps kill dangerous microorganisms and has many health benefits.

Apart from being a spice, vinegar gives rice a pleasant taste. Actually, one of the primary ingredients in sushi rice is rice vinegar. To break up the excess starch in the rice, you can stir in a little vinegar before cooking, although the rice is used as a seasoning after cooking for sushi. Many recipes call for a tablespoon of vinegar for every cup of rice, although much less is actually needed.

White Wine

There is a logical reason why white wine has been used to boil rice in Italy for so long. Since white wine is frequently used to make risotto—in fact, La Cucina Italiana says it’s a mistake to omit the alcohol—it seems that white wine would pair well with a rice bowl. Because of the wine’s acidity, cooking rice in white wine enhances its flavor and is as easy as cooking it in water. A nice acidity can be added by adding white wine to balance the flavors of the dish, especially if you are cooking the rice in a heavy chicken broth.

Rice cooked in chicken broth and white wine is the “…secret,” according to VinePair to mind-blowing rice.” Don’t worry about the alcohol content, though, as most of the alcohol will evaporate during the cooking process.

Coconut Milk

Because coconut milk is a more viscous liquid than coconut water, cooking rice with it is more challenging than coconut water, but the benefits are well worth it when you succeed. Coconut milk accomplishes more than imparting the flavor and sweetness of coconut; Coconut water does just that. The fat in coconut milk also enriches the texture of the rice. Because canned coconut milk keeps well, this is a handy tip.

Recipes to prepare rice with coconut milk usually require mixing it with water because coconut milk itself is very thick. For example, try replacing half the water with coconut milk. Another suggestion in this Instant Pot Coconut Rice recipe is to use Basmati rice instead of short grain rice to prevent the rice from sticking together because long grain rice like basmati has less starch.

Butterfly Pea Tea

Native to Southeast Asia, the vibrant blue butterfly pea blossom has gained popularity as a natural blue culinary dye. The butterfly pea is used to create the blue color in Empress 1901 Gin and many cocktail recipes. Adding butterfly pea tea after cooking the rice gives the rice a blue color. There is no need to worry about the butterfly pea tea affecting the taste of the rice as it has a mild flavor and a small amount adds a lot of color.

Butterfly pea flowers are widely used in cooking and tea making in South and Southeast Asia and are said to offer many health benefits. It is also frequently used to make nasi kerabu, a Malaysian rice dish that even the Malaysia-based airline Air Asia calls “the most beautiful rice dish in Southeast Asia.”

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