The Clever Hack For Reheating Leftover Rice In Your Microwave
White rice is a filling, delicious side dish to many meals, but it's kind of a bummer when it comes to leftovers. Nobody likes wasting food, but reheated rice is so, well, unappealing — it's stale, dry, and just plain gross. You might be tempted to blame the microwave, but, while the best way to reheat pizza is using literally any other appliance, Chef Mike isn't to blame for your crusty rice. In fact, there is a stupid-easy hack that guarantees your microwaved rice comes out as fluffy and moist as when you scooped it from the pot.
A TikTok clip from lifestyle influencer Emily Mariko showing one way to reheat rice went viral in 2021. Its popularity wasn't just because her easy, nutritious salmon bowl was the perfect lunch but also because, when she reheated her day-old rice (which you should be careful about storing and reheating safely, by the way), she placed an ice cube in the middle. Her comments were flooded with queries demanding an explanation for the ice cube.
Turns out that plopping a single ice cube on your rice and covering it before nuking is a surprisingly science-y way to revitalize your leftover rice, thanks to the revitalizing qualities of steam and the fact that, amazingly, ice cubes take a lot longer to melt than you might expect.
The key to avoiding dry, crunchy rice is to give back a little moisture
Whether you are simply a whiz with a rice pot or are sneaking a secret ingredient like rice vinegar in to help with fluffiness, producing high-quality fresh rice usually isn't a problem for experienced home cooks. Reconstituting that rice after it's been in the fridge is the issue, and that's where the ice cube comes in. Basically, you portion out your rice into a microwave-safe bowl, add your ice cube, cover the bowl, and nuke for one minute. The ice cube will still be intact when you pull the bowl out — go ahead and toss it in the sink — but the rice will be hot and soft.
The ice cube produces steam when cooked in the microwave, which does wonders for imbuing the leftover rice grains with much-needed moisture that is lost during the cooling and storage processes. On the other hand, the dense molecules of frozen ice don't separate quickly, so the ice cube doesn't melt all over your food in only one minute. Turns out that, this whole time, flawless reheated rice was just one trip to your freezer away!