You're used, like many others, to cooking rice, grains, and pseudocereals just like you cook pasta: you let the water boil, add your ingredients, and then drain everything. But there's another method that comes from Eastern culture: absorption cooking. This is an ancient technique widely used in Middle and Far Eastern cuisine, as evidenced by pilaf rice, a particular type of rice cooked precisely by absorption, which involves immersing the food in a variable amount of liquid depending on the type of product being cooked.
All you have to do is wait for the food to absorb all the liquid until there's no more left and the product is completely cooked. It's a convenient method of cooking that doesn't require constant presence at the stove, and it also boasts several advantages.
The most popular rice variety used in absorption cooking is basmati rice, a long-grained, aromatic rice native to India that, thanks to its low starch content, is particularly suited to this technique. However, there are many varieties of rice, grains, and pseudocereals that can be used for absorption cooking.
What is Absorption Cooking and How Does It Work?
Absorption cooking is a very simple technique that involves immersing rice or grains in a heavy-bottomed pot with a variable amount of cold water depending on the type and quantity of the product being cooked. Here are some tips for the best results:
- Once the food has been immersed, it should be left to cook over a medium heat with the pan covered with a lid, without ever touching it or stirring it: you just have to wait for the food to absorb all the water.
- Remember that for perfect absorption cooking, you need to use a suitable pot, as not all are suitable. Choose a thick-bottomed steel pot or a terracotta pot, and make sure it has a lid, as this type of cooking requires the pot to be closed during the cooking process.
- It's important to keep the heat low and leave the grains alone while cooking, so they can absorb the water naturally. You'll notice the absorption working after a few minutes, as the grains will begin to swell as they absorb the liquid.
Which Foods Can Cook for Absorption (And Their Benefits)
The most common use of this technique is for cooking rice, but also for cereals and pseudo-cereals such as oats, spelt, kamut, quinoa, wheat, and many others. However, since it is a cooking method with many advantages, some also use it for cooking pasta and vegetables. As for rice, the best varieties for absorption cooking are long-grain ones, such as basmati, which is also ideal for its low starch content, and Thai jasmine, as well as Apollo and Selenio varieties. Absorption cooking can also be done with some types of short-grain rice, such as Originario, which has the ability to absorb a lot of liquid, sushi rice (koshihikari, etc.), or Bomba rice, which is used for paella.
Absorption cooking is convenient for several reasons. First of all, it requires very little effort, as you simply leave the pot on the stove and let the water and food do the work. Furthermore, this method causes far fewer nutrients to be lost. When released into the water during cooking, they are reabsorbed by the grain along with the water and thus return to the food. The final texture of the grain will also be different, more plump and compact. Furthermore, this method allows you to preserve rice and other grains for up to four days, as long as they are stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
How Much Water Should You Use? It Depends on The Grain
The key to mastering absorption cooking is knowing the right amount of water to add to the pot, a variable that depends on the quantity of grain, its type, and its cooking time. The most common ratio is 1:2, or one cup of grain to two cups of water: this amount applies to most grains or pseudocereals, including amaranth, pearled farro, buckwheat, pearled barley, quinoa, rice, and brown rice. Some grains, however, require a greater amount of water, so the ratio is 1:3, or one cup of grain to three cups of water. This category includes oats, hulled farro, wheat, kamut, millet, hulled barley, and rye.
Of course, these are indicative times, especially for foods that require variable soaking times.
- Amaranth: 1:2 ratio, no soaking, 30 minutes cooking;
- Oats: 1:3 ratio, 12 hours soaking, 50-60 minutes cooking;
- Hulled spelt: 1:3 ratio, 1 hour soaking, 45 minutes cooking;
- Pearled spelt: 1:2 ratio, no soaking, 20-30 minutes cooking;
- Buckwheat: 1:20 ratio, 20 minutes cooking;
- Kamut – Khorasan: 1:3 ratio, 8-10 hours soaking, 60 minutes cooking;
- Hulled millet: 1:3 ratio, no soaking, 25-30 minutes cooking;
- Hulled barley: 1:3 ratio, 8-12 hours soaking, 45-50 minutes cooking;
- Pearl barley: 1:2 ratio, no soaking, 30-40 minutes cooking;
- Quinoa: 1:2 ratio, no soaking, 15-20 minutes cooking;
- Basmati rice: 1:2 ratio, no soaking, 12-15 minutes cooking;
- Brown rice: 1:3 ratio, 12 hours soaking, 50 minutes cooking;
- Semi-brown rice: 1:2 ratio, 8-10 hours soaking, 25-30 minutes cooking;
- Sorghum: 1:3 ratio, 5-6 hours soaking, 40 minutes cooking;
- Teff: 1:2 ratio, no soaking time, 20 minutes cooking.
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