Making soup with rice question

[ckay87]

I'm a self-taught soup chef. Have not yet used a recipe and I like it that way - it's fun to see what I can come up with. Everyone seems to like my creations; you really can't go wrong. Anyway, the one thing I do manage to screw up is rice. I've been making a great overall gumbo, but the rice always gets too mushy. How are you supposed to put rice in soup? I've been cooking it first, before adding it, so it doesn't absorb too much of the soup liquid. Is this wrong? Should you just increase the liquid in the soup to allow for the rice? Is there a special kind of rice that works better than regular long-grain rice?

Probably a stupid question, but I figure someone here would have tips.

[JerseyJanice]

When I make my own soup, I keep the rice and pasta separated until I'm ready to serve it.

I guess I'm no help, but I have never been able to keep the rice or pasta from completely soaking up the broth after I've combined them.

[1stluvispooh]

Gumbo is to be served OVER rice.

[tar heel]

I put the rice in uncooked and add water as needed. Rarely, I might use cooked rice b/c I have some leftover -- it would go in at the very end, but it wouldn't taste as good. The rice NEEDS to soak up the broth b/c that's where it's going to get a lot of its flavor.

[ckay87]

Originally Posted by 1stluvispooh

Gumbo is to be served OVER rice.

Yea, I'm from Pennsylvania (PA Dutch country, no less); you won't catch me claiming to be a gumbo expert. I should probably call it something else . It's darn spicy though, can I have 2 points for that???

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try your strategies next time.

[NotUrsula]

While some soups do include rice during the cooking process, Gumbo is not one of them; it uses other thickening agents. Never cook the rice in the Gumbo -- cook it seperately and put the rice in the bowl first when serving, otherwise your oil will not properly rise to be skimmed after the Gumbo cools, because adding a starch other than roux during cooking causes the oil to bind. (If you want to be artsy, mold the rice in a ramekin like restaurants in NOLA do, so that the Gumbo forms a ring around it when served.) Adding the rice at serving has another benefit; your Gumbo will fit better in your freezer. Gumbo is one of those soups that is improved by being frozen.

When you make a soup that does include raw rice, add it no more than 30 minutes before you expect the soup to be served. Rice cooks in boiling-point broth in 20 minutes -- go past 30 and you will have mushy rice.

PS: Just FYI, Gumbo never includes carrots, because they turn to mush, too.

[rie'smom]

Originally Posted by ckay87

Yea, I'm from Pennsylvania (PA Dutch country, no less); you won't catch me claiming to be a gumbo expert. I should probably call it something else . It's darn spicy though, can I have 2 points for that???

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try your strategies next time.

OK, but I'm a Cajun girl and our gumbos are never spicy unless someone adds Tabasco to their bowl at the table.

[ckay87]

Originally Posted by rie'smom

OK, but I'm a Cajun girl and our gumbos are never spicy unless someone adds Tabasco to their bowl at the table.

Ok, can we just forget I used the word "gumbo"? It was wrong of me.

[NotUrsula]

Originally Posted by rie'smom

OK, but I'm a Cajun girl and our gumbos are never spicy unless someone adds Tabasco to their bowl at the table.

Don't bet on that -- folks from outside Louisiana sometimes have a different definition of "spicy" than we do. I once made gumbo for the folks in my office up here and one of the ladies complained that I had lied to her when I said that the gumbo wasn't spicy. What was she complaining about? She objected to the presence of onions, garlic and a 1/2 tsp. of black pepper in the entire 2 gallon pot. (She was from Wisconsin.)

In S. Louisiana we usually define "spicy" as having a lot of heat from cayenne. Folks from elsewhere may define it as something as something else entirely. If onions and garlic make something spicy, then my gumbo definitely is, but it is not "hot" the way someone from Lafayette would define it.

[TriMom]

I put the uncooked rice in so it will soak up all the yummy soup broth. Broth always tastes better than water. I normally use jasmine rice, it has a stronger "rice" flavor, so you can season it with broth and still taste rice.

I cook the soup and then bring it to a boil. Dump the rice in, cover, turn heat to low, and let sit for about 40 minutes. Then it is ready to serve.

[java]

I add the rice into the soup base about 15 minutes before I plan on serving it. I add it in RAW not precooked. Works for me.
*and I'm thinking she means a gumbo soup not real gumbo-mmmmgumbo!

[tar heel]

I should add that I put the rice in fairly late. Ditto for potatoes, most vegetables (onion and celery might be part of the broth and go in at the beginning).