After Cooking: Resting, Reheating

Once cooked, rice benefits from a resting period to allow the grains to cool down somewhat and become firmer, so that they aren’t as easily broken when scooped from the pot and served. Leftover rice is often hard due to the retrogradation of the starch, which is cured by heating it up to the gelation temperature again. Rice is easily softened by reheating to 160°F/70°C or above, either with a little added water in a pot or in the microwave oven, or fried to make fried rice, rice cakes, or croquettes.