Here's how you should be doing it.
by Tara Lepore |
Published on
Hooray! It's finally lunchtime and you're tucking into that two-day-old rice you cooked at the weekend to feed you all week at work. Well done you for cooking a huge batch of carbs to save you money for the weekend (even if you give up on your packed lunches by Thursday). But today it was revealed that cooking your rice wrong could be exposing you to small traces of arsenic, a poisonous chemical that's been linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and development problems. Wrong? How can you cook rice wrong? There are three reasons, apparently. Firstly, you need to leave your rice to soak overnight. Andy Meharg, professor of biological sciences at Queens University Belfast who conducted the research for a BBC programme, found that rice will only contain significantly lower amounts of arsenic if you leave it to soak overnight BEFORE you cook it. And here's the real arsenic-buster: You must rinse your rice after you've soaked it. Recent experiments have shown that boiling your rice until all the water's been absorbed could be really dangerous if you didn't rinse the rice before you boiled it. Scientists also found that the amount of water you use to boil the rice is really important, recommending you use five parts water for one part rice. If you think you’re getting away with it by only eating microwave rice (where you’re never at risk of accidentally making enough portions for 16 people), you’re still at risk from eating traces of arsenic according to the Institute for Global Food Security. The food standards body found that around 58% of rice-based products in the UK contain high levels of arsenic.
Here’s how we should be cooking rice:
- Soak it in water overnight
- Wash and rinse in the morning until the water runs clear
- Drain well
- Bring to the boil in a saucepan with five parts water to one part rice
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low heat
- Fluff up your rice with a fork.
So, if you're already struggling to find a big-enough saucepan to boil a week's worth of rice, it might be worth investing in an industrial-sized cooking pot for a chemical-free lunch.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
From Bliss To Buddha, These Are The Best Food Bowls On Pinterest Right Now
Follow Tara on Twitter @taralepore
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us
