FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Microwave rice takes a little practice

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

First, let's just review: The column was about using small, inexpensive plastic cookers to prepare rice in the microwave.

However, as one reader rightly pointed out, I should have been more forceful in making the point that the timing varies based on what kind of rice you're using, how much rice you're cooking and the nature of your microwave.

The less rice you use, the shorter the cooking time. Very tender, highly polished, high-quality short-grain varieties (such as Tamanishiki from California or Akita Tomachi from Japan ) take less time. And higher-power microwave ovens take less time. So be prepared to waste a little rice to get the right amount of time for your rice and equipment.

Here's what works for me:

• 1 cup Tamanishiki rice, 1 cup water, 5 1/2 minutes high, 5 1/2 minutes 50 percent.
• 2 cups regular Hinode rice, 2 cups water, 7Êminutes high, 7 minutes 50 percent.

Risa Golding, who reads The Advertiser on the Web in New Jersey, said she uses her 1,450-watt microwave oven with a Pampered Chef cooker for cooking long-grain white basmati or jasmine rice. She places 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in the microwave cooker and lets it sit for a few minutes, then drains out the water through the perforated top in the rice cooker, repeating several times to remove excess starch. She adds 2 cups water, salt, 1 teaspoon or so of vegetable oil (makes the problem with the water coming out all over the microwave disappear) and cooks at 4 minutes on full power, 8 minutes on 50 percent power. This works for other long-grain rice.

Joyce Mandoy called from Moloka'i to ask about cooking brown rice in the microwave. I use my pressure cooker for this, but many people swear by the microwave. The formula is different, however: Use 2 1/4 cups water or broth to 1 cup rice and stir in 1/4 teaspoon oil to prevent spill-overs. Microwave at full power for 10 minutes, then half power for 20 minutes.

Again, remember that you'll have to experiment.