Abstract
We studied the cooking method for rice gruel made from vacuum-packed rice and water. An electric stove was used for heating the vacuum-packed sample in a pot filled with water. The time leading to boiling of the cooking water was set to short (5 min), medium (20 min) and long (30 min), these cooking conditions being respectively referred to as the S-, M-, and L-methods, the whole cooking time for each sample being 35 min. Three further cooking conditions were subsequently applied: the first was to continue cooking for 15 min. With the second and third conditions, the electric stove was switched off and the vacuum-packed rice gruel left in the hot cooking water for 15 min. This treatment is referred to as “murashi.” The hot holding the vacuum-packed rice for the second condition of murashi was left on the switched-off electric stove which maintained a high temperature by retained heat. The pot for the third condition of murashi was removed from the electric stove. The rice gruel cooked by the S-method with subsequent murashi under the first and second conditions was characterized by less separated liquid and free water from the rice, longer and larger area granules, lower hardness, and higher cohesiveness and adhesiveness. The rice gruel cooked by the L-method had the opposite characteristics to those resulting from cooking by the S-method. The rice gruel cooked by the S-method was evaluated as significantly more crushable and soft. The best method for cooking rice gruel from vacuum-packed rice was to use the short time leading to boiling, boiling for the long time, and conducting murashi at the continued high temperature.
