Old rice is rice that was harvested over a year ago. Old rice is not bad or inedible, but it can be less flavorful and contain less nutrition than new-crop rice.
The normal ratio of rice to water is 1:1 but if your old rice is very dry you may want to add a little bit more water based on your preference.
If you have kept your rice in storage for a while and it is old then we are going to cover 4 ways to add back lost nutrients, improve flavor, and remove any smells. You can choose which method you would like to use, do not do all methods at the same time because it is not necessary.
- When soaking rice, add 1/4 cup of milk to the water. If you need to add 1 cup of liquid in total, add 3/4 cup water + 1/4 cup milk to the rice to soak. This method adds calcium and vitamins back into your old rice.
- Make a chilled seaweed broth to soak your rice. Place 2 pieces of dried seaweed per cup of water when making the broth bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, remove the seaweed and then let it cool entirely before using it to soak your rice. This adds nutrients back to the rice and removes any old rice smell.
- Add a drop of vinegar into the water that you plan to use to wash your rice. After you add the vinegar to the water swish the rice around gently 3 times. Then strain the vinegar water from the rice and wash the rice with lukewarm water. This method removes any old rice smell.
- After washing, soaking, and draining your rice, add a spoon of salt and vegetable oil to the rice and the freshwater that you plan to use for cooking the rice right before cooking to improve the taste of the cooked rice.
