Best rice for jambalaya

2 year old thread on this

I believe the consensus is to not use parboiled and to use long grain.

I never understood why someone would opt for parboiled. People say its harder to get regular long grain rice to cook right, but literally just follow the Jambalya calculator recipe and directions and it will come out perfect every time...

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Parboiled is idiot-proof

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That's what you use?

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SixthAndBarone

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rent free or something

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Parboiled

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Recipes that use this usually have Kitchen Bouquet and Rotel in them also.

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Interesting that Stadium Rat included it in the jambalaya calculator and doesn't make any mention of not using it since it's apparently so taboo

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My best results have been Zatarain's par boil.

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Yup, I may have won an award or 2 as well.

I will acknowledge that it is not traditional and taboo for those people, and thats fine. You wont find me cooking in those competitions, only eating.

Out of curiosity why not medium grain?

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Interesting that Stadium Rat included it in the jambalaya calculator and doesn't make any mention of not using it since it's apparently so taboo

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Don't use parboiled unless you just can't do regular long grain.


From the Jambalaya Calculator:

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Here are some drawbacks to using parboiled rice:

1) Texture. Most people like a little wetter jambalaya with the grains of rice sticking together. The parboiled stuff, which is more likely to be seen in restaurant jambalaya, cooks a little drier with separate, individual grains - that's OK for some dishes, but usually not desirable for jambalaya.

2) Flavor. Parboiled rice seems to end up as rice with flavor around it, as opposed to rice that has absorbed the flavor inside the grains. Also, some brands have a strong flavor, similar to brown rice, that can ruin an otherwise good jambalaya.

3) No "Pop" It's impossible to get parboiled rice to do a proper "pop". (See the next note for exactly what is meant by the term.)

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Restaurants tend to use parboiled and it's one reason restaurant jambalaya isn't as good as homemade.

Mahatma extra long grain. Nothing better.

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Out of curiosity why not medium grain?

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The shorter the grains the more starch content of the rice. Medium grain may work, but it'll be sticky and gummier.