It's not the one on the box, and they always came out great.
Oh, and it's super easy, and it tastes like it was made from scratch. Curious yet?
I'll let you in on the secret: Follow Alton Brown's Pilaf procedure. I'd link to the video (Good Eats Season 1 Episode 12, Power to the Pilaf), but it's apparently not available for free, so I'll just describe it (don't worry, it's easy):
Fry the rice, before you add water.
Wat!?
Yeah. I know. Who'd'a thunk it?
So here's what you do, no matter what boxed rice mix you picked up. Trust me. I've tried close to a dozen.
- On the box, it'll always give you an optional butter-or-olive-oil addition. Go with the olive oil. Add it to a saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Give it a moment to heat, then add the rice and stir. If the spices are mixed in with the rice, don't worry, it's okay; if they're in a separate packet, save that for later.
- Measure out the water recommended by the box. Now dump out 1/2 cup. The box always recommends too much. The only time you should not dump out 1/2 cup is if the serving size is 2 instead of 4; in that case, dump out 1/4 cup. Like I said, it's always too much.
- After the rice has been frying for 1-2 minutes, you'll hear a nice sizzling sound, and should smell something nutty. Give it a stir.
- Wait ~1 more minute. Stir it again. Do this two more times. Or three, if you're feeling brash. Some of the rice should look pretty brown now, and a distinct nutty perfume will be pleasantly pervading around your kitchen.
- Carefully add the water you measured earlier to the hot rice. There will be lots of hot steam and some spatter. If there was a spice packet, add that too.
- Stir everything together until it looks good.
- Wait until it is clearly boiling again, then put on the lid and turn the heat down to medium-low (or a little higher if you like crunchy brown bits on the bottom). Set a timer for 25 minutes. This would be an ideal time to cook the rest of your meal, assuming the rice wasn't the whole thing.
- When the timer goes off, remove the lid and stir/fluff with a chopstick. Leave the heat on for 5 more minutes, then stir again and remove from the heat. It's time to eat!
