All about Rice and Noodles

Most people in tropical Southeast Asia are accustomed to rice that goes quite soft and slightly sticky when cooked. In England, I always keep a large bag or two of ‘Thai Fragrant’ or Thai Jasmine’ rice, which is similar to the rice we ate every day when I was a child. Long-grain basmati, or ultra-short-grain Italian varieties, are unrivalled for their various purposes but are not those I generally had in mind when writing this book.

Rice sold in supermarkets is pretty even in quality, but a lot of ‘instant’ or ‘convenience’ rice has been parboiled at the factory and this can affect the flavour. Rice milled in Europe, such as Tilda, is always of the highest quality, and generally speaking there is no market here for the low-grade products sold cheaply in Asia. If you buy imported jasmine rice in a Thai food shop, look for the AAA sign that indicates top-quality.