Stopped buying store brand rice after 10 years...

I used to swear by the 10 pound bag of generic rice from the grocery store because it was like $4.50 and lasted forever... then my neighbor brought over some jasmine rice from the Asian market that cost twice as much but smelled incredible while cooking and tasted way fluffier. That one meal made me realize I'd been missing out on flavor the whole time just to save a buck. Has anyone else swapped a super budget staple for a pricier version and actually stuck with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.amy14d ago

Did you ever find yourself smelling the cheap rice and thinking it just smelled like cardboard before you cooked it, or was that just me? I made the same switch a few years back and honestly the texture alone made it worth it, especially if you're eating rice with any kind of saucy dish. It's one of those things where you don't realize what you're missing until you try the good stuff, and now I can't go back either.

the_charles13d ago

black.amy brings up a good point about the smell, but the real giveaway for me was the cooking time. Cheap rice always takes noticeably longer to absorb water properly, and it never really fluffs up the same way. Once you've had jasmine or basmati that cooks in 15 minutes flat, you just can't go back to waiting 30 minutes for something that still turns out clumpy. The texture difference is why saucy dishes work so much better with quality rice too, it actually holds onto the sauce instead of just getting soggy. Took me a few ruined stir-fries to learn that lesson.