Beans and rice that isn't mush

How to make beans and rice without it almost turning into congee while waiting for the rice to cook through? I’m starting to think every recipe on the web now is just some fake influencer crap not even attempted by the author. Using basmati.

I just cook beans in a pan and rice in a rice cooker. What are you doing differently?

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Both have widely variable cooking times depending on the variety, dryness, altitude etc. Easiest to cook separately and mix after, or if you only have one pot start with the one that takes longer. :man_shrugging:

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Cooking the rice from scratch in the pan, with coconut milk and spices. Pressure cooking kidney beans first. Caribbean recipe.

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Basmati rice is Indian, you’ll need to adjust cook time and liquid volume if you’re following a Caribbean recipe.

More on rice types and cooking.

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The beans and the rice have to be cooked separately.

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The logical thing to do is to cook them separately. If you’re following a specific recipe that tells you to cook them together, then make sure you’re using the right type of rice and beans.

I doubt a Caribbean recipe is calling for the use of basmati rice.

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I’ve found beans often need less time to cook than recipes suggest, and they definitely vary in cooking times. Or I could just like beans a bit firmer than the norm.

But basically if it winds up mush, next time, make the cooking times shorter.

One reason I’ve been a bit disappointed with an instant pot is tasting for doneness is trickier.

Use Thai rice. Make sure it is well dried.

Don’t forget to “stir fry” the rice and aromatics before adding water/coconut milk.

Maybe try day old rice?

Remember beans here are adzuki, which yes, turn to mush, hard lumpy mush. I’d use canned, imported at least.

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I’m probably too old-fashioned with this, but I mostly just use cookbooks, or the few sources I already trust online. I’ve never found the internet that good for finding useful recipes, and online search is just getting worse.

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Question: what part of the Caribbean?
Are you adding fish or pork?
Maybe you can get some pork fat for the beans.

Oh and the hotness of the pepper :hot_pepper: may affect your final product. Using a jalapeno will not result in the traditional flavor of the Caribbean.

Personally I usually follow YouTubers when it comes to new recipes. I need to see how they do it.

As others have said…just cook them separately.
I do this with multiple beans and grains …took a while to figure out what cooks with what but I’ve got it down to 3 groups done in a Tatung rice cooker. The longest cook time is for soy beans…other groups not as much.
I do a big batch then store them in the freezer in cups then thaw them out to finish as I like…often as chili beans but sometimes as soup.

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Thanks, Jamaican, from memory: 2 cups of rice, three cups of water, 1 can coconut milk, soaked kidney beans (mine were pre-cooked). Onion and spices, throw it all in and simmer on low heat covered for 30 minutes. I kept stirring and opening the pot, which I’m starting to think is what made it so mushy.

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Maybe this is the problem? If the kidney beans are already cooked, I’d imagine they won’t be able to last very long in the pot before they turn to mush.

Also, make sure you’re not using basmati rice. That takes 10 minutes longer to cook than jasmine rice. By then your beans are already mush.

Seems right. That’s how we do it too. Most dry beans are waaaaay slower than rice. I have eaten meals that the fish beans were wlcooked with dried rice and they turned our decent. But never dry beans.

:wall: :sob:

Stick to pasta carbonara you reckon @Icon ?

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No. Just practice and practice. And give rice its privacy. If you check in on a woman every five minutes while she’s getting ready, you’ll get slapped with a wet towel. Same difference.

Yesterday I was making a new meat dish. Even though I followed the instructions, I miscalculated the water required and it ended up a mush. It’s still edible but looks awful. It will be better next time.

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That’s it. All it is is know your seed and then leave it alone. It takes everyone a few tries to get that golden ratio of water:seed:temp:time. Once one gets the right match with their given tools, it’s easy as pie. Though, I have had a few times with stubborn batches of beans that would just not get soft until they burst. Looking at you chick peas!!!

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