Minute Rice works through a process of pre-cooking and dehydration that allows for rapid rehydration with hot water. Manufacturers essentially pre-cook the rice, and then dehydrate it, leaving a porous structure. This pre-cooking and "puffing" makes it much faster to prepare than regular rice.
Here's a breakdown of the process:
- Parboiling: The rice is first parboiled, a process where it's partially boiled in its husk. This pushes nutrients from the husk into the grain, improving its nutritional value and reducing stickiness.
- Dehydration: After parboiling, the rice is dehydrated, removing most of the moisture.
- Puffing (Creating Porosity): The crucial step involves "puffing" the rice, creating tiny pockets within each grain. This increases the surface area and allows water to quickly penetrate when you prepare it. This is key to its fast cooking time.
- Rehydration: When you add Minute Rice to boiling water, the water quickly soaks into these pockets, rehydrating the rice and making it ready to eat in just a few minutes. Because it's already been cooked, it's essentially just rehydrating.
In essence, the parboiling and puffing processes allow Minute Rice to absorb water much faster than regular rice, eliminating the need for extended boiling times.
