How easy is this?
Rice is one of the most popular staples all over the world, including the United States. A mouthful of piping hot and fluffy rice is a mood uplifter, isn't it? There are people who indulge in rice for all three meals, so it's only natural for leftover rice to find a spot in the refrigerator.
However, reheating rice sometimes does't have the desired effect in terms of fluffiness. The moisture evaporates and it ends up being dry. Have you ever experienced that?
As always, TikTok is here to help people who'd throw out leftover rice to make a fresh batch. Because, believe it or not, it is possible to actually get leftover rice back to its original form.
@caloriequeen14 ##stitch with @officialtiktoknurse This actually worked! Tik Tok is an education
♬ Spongebob - Dante9k
According to the video, all you need to do before heating up your rice is to toss a cube of ice into it. That's the secret ingredient - an ice cube. You might be wondering that the ice will melt and form a puddle in the middle, right? Well, no. When heated, the moisture from the ice will steam the leftover rice returning it to a tender, fluffy state.
Just to be absolutely sure, The Kitchn tried out the viral hack, and sure enough, it worked like a charm. Apparently, even after a minute in the microwave, the ice was intact.
Danielle Lapierre from America's Taste Kitchen, reached out to their science research editor, to ask why the ice cube stays intact. “Microwaves heat food up by causing particular types of molecules—mostly water molecules—inside the food to vibrate rapidly. In ice, the water molecules are rigidly locked to each other in a crystal structure, so they don’t vibrate,” Adams said.
So, how does the ice steam the rice? “In this hack, the rice gets hot (because its grains contain water), and the heat from the rice warms up the surface of the ice cubes, so they melt a little bit," Adams said. "Then that liquid water released from the melting ice can be boiled by the microwave, so it turns to steam, and steams the rice.”
Adams then said that rice, if stored correctly, will not even need any form of added water to steam properly, given how it contains water in itself. However, adding that tiny cube of ice gets your rice fluffy; just how you prefer.
Would you be trying this hack soon?
References:
https://www.tiktok.com/@caloriequeen14/video/6908431826302356742?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
https://www.thekitchn.com/rice-microwave-ice-cube-trick-23128601
Cover Image Source (Representative): Getty Images | subodhsathe
