Since it was discovered, rice has been considered a versatile ingredient that works perfectly by itself or paired with others. Therefore, it has become the base of most cuisines worldwide.
Rice is not only the preferred staple food in most homes around the world, but the key ingredient of popular traditional dishes. Paella, risotto, pilaf, and even rice desserts are just some of the well-known international rice-based meals.
In China, the birthplace of rice, its use dates back to 8,200–13,500 years ago in the Pearl River valley, where the first rice crops were discovered. Not surprisingly why the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice is China. This explains why this grain is cooked in everyday meals in each Chinese home.
In some Chinese regions, rice is the basic food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A typical Chinese breakfast is Congee, which is flavored rice porridge. or rice dumplings: steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves.
For lunch, rice is usually eaten plain as an accompaniment to meat and vegetables, or as a full plate such as congees and fried rice. Some popular dishes at lunch are: chinese egg fried rice, Covered Rice (Gaifan), hot pots, to name a few.
Dinner time is considered the most important meal of the day, the typical dishes include some soup, meats, vegetables, and obviously rice. Dinner preparations are: egg rolls, hot and sour soup, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and many more.
Generally, rice is cooked by boiling or steaming. Both processes imply that rice grains absorb water until they are tender. In China, rice is mainly cooked with water, steamed, boiled, fried or in porridge.
They often use rice cookers, instant pots or the classic pot on the gas or electric stove.
The advantage of cooking rice is its ease and rapid preparation. The simpler the recipe, the faster the cooking time, but if you want a more elaborated dish, it surely will take longer.
However, there are techniques and ingredients that can make the process of cooking rice even quicker and easier, for example, using instant rice and a microwave oven.
Most people may think using shortcuts will not give the best taste in any rice dish. But this is not the case.
A microwave is a useful cooking appliance with multiple benefits which gives delicious dishes and saves time. All meals prepared in a microwave have taste and texture comparable to those cooked with traditional techniques.
As for Chinese rice preparations, the microwave can help you to cook rice meals in just a few minutes, maintaining all typical Chinese flavors.
For example, try these recipes of traditional egg fried rice and enjoy cooking Chinese rice in a matter ofminutes.
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