What brown rice do you use? I waited an hour for mine to soften in a jambalaya?!

[Mrstumbletap]

Hi all, I love jambalaya and usually make it with white rice. Cook all the chicken, chorizo, peppers onions etc, then add chopped tomatoes, spices etc and water then add the rice. Leave it for 20 mins and it's lovely.

I tried to be healthy and use brown rice (just normal brown rice from Tesco) which said 25 mins on the packet, but it took 65 minutes to go soft? Should I have cooked it in water first for 25 minutes then stirred it in?

Is there a certain brown rice that is better for things like a jambalaya?

[PickAChew]

Brown basmati cooks a lot faster, but the flavour is possibly all wrong.

The Sainsbury's organic brown rice is fairly reliable, but I still find that it needs a good 40 minutes, just in unsalted water (I always season brown rice at the end of cooking because salt can toughen the husks)

[PickAChew]

Just to add, you could try part cooking the rice while preparing and browning the meat. Just drain it before adding with the stock.

[ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets]

I started to cook brown rice in 2013 and it still isn't cooked.

[CSLewis]

As above - brown Basmati (Sainsbury's stocks it) cooks much more quickly - 20 mins? And if you soak it for an hour (or up to overnight) in warm water, this will further decrease the cooking time.

[Groovee]

Great tips x

[Mrstumbletap]

Icantuckmyboobsinmypocket you just made me spit my coffee out when I chuckled reading that!!

Ah ok, so it's not just me then you would all recommend cooking it separately and then stirring it in half way through or nearer the end?

It's a shame really as I always thought that you add the rice (when I use white) into the jambalaya and it soaks up the stock and the tomato and chorizo flavours. Where as cooking the brown rice first and stirring it in doesn't really do the same does it?

[CSLewis]

If you use soaked brown basmati, you should be able to cook your recipe in exactly the same way - maybe add an extra half-cup of water to be on the safe side. Rice is always a bit trial and error, as different brands/types all require slightly differing amounts of water/cooking time.