Food Question!!!

[snidegrrl]

OK, so I have been observing the fantastic bentolunch community lately. And then today tzel sent me this bento link. It is easy to chop up some things, or grab a few pita chips or carrots, or what have you to put in a bento box. But what I don't get is

Comments

[squeegibo]

As everyone else said, the starch in rice will crystallize when it cools, but as long as you heat it up again (with extra water if necessary) the crystals should melt and you should have regular rice. I think noodles are easier since their starch doesn't crystallize as easily.

Either way, rinsing after cooking will help your starches stay looser and less hard because it takes some of the surface starch off which would make everything stick together. And I think the starch inside the rice or noodles is less subject to crystallization than the exterior starch, but that's mostly conjecture.

[squeegibo]

Also, Angela knows better than I do. Take her advice before mine.

[snidegrrl]

Thanks :) I guess I just need to try it and get over my images of gross leftover rice from Hunan Hamlet.

[angela_la_la]

Cardboard takeout boxes aren't airtight, Ms. Kim :)

The weird hard leftover rice works fine in rice pudding, too, if you're curious.

[maroonmd]

How do you prepare noodles to pack up on a daily basis? Or rice? Surely these people do not cook these starchy items the same day they pack them? Don't noodles get kind of oogy and weird if you refrigerate them? And rice, doesn't it get hard?

I make them ahead of time for dinner, and then pack the leftovers in "airtight" tupperware. Noodles and Rice can both get dry if you refrigerate and then reheat, but noodles are usually covered in sauce which re-wets them, and you can cover rice with a wet paper towel to re-moisten. Noodles only get "oogy" if they're sitting in water for too long. :-)

[schpahky]

I just wanted to add a vote for a rice cooker. If you're making a batch to eat for a few days it simplifies everything. Also, I echo what the others said about adding a tiny bit of water when reheating rice. And old leftover rice makes really good fried rice, especially if you like pineapple in it :)

[snidegrrl]

We totally already have a rice cooker! Score!

[crafting_change]

also...traditional bento lunches (from all accounts) aren't refrigerated day of, so the rice and noodles will relax from their icy evening.

I too just joined that community and have been getting oodles of ideas.

[zenthia]

I learn so much from the comments on your journal! Rock out! I have a friend here who did a lot of bento boxes, if you want to browse some of her creations:

http://www.thekat.org/bento/