The Boozy Rice Upgrade That Adds Gourmet Flavor With No Extra Effort

Rice is the most popular staple food in the world. And if you're anything like me, it took a lot of practice, patience, and trial-and-error to get it just right. Rice is a fickle grain. Too much water and you've made mush. Boil it too hard for too long, and you've somehow made the worst possible combination of mouth feels: soggy and crunchy rice. But perhaps the single biggest critique we can make of white rice is that it's boring as hell. But I'll let you in on a little secret I learned from research and making risotto: throw some white wine in there!

Now we at The Takeout always have your back, so here's the thing: the best way to really get the most out of white wine in your rice is to also use onion, garlic, and stock. This will really knock your rice up a few flavor notches. Next, you'll actually want to fry your garlic and onion first, in butter if you can. Add in your rinsed rice and stir until the rice is coated in oil and the onion and garlic are cooked down. Now, hit it with the white wine. Once the alcohol is cooked off, then add stock and salt, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer for 18 to 20 minutes. You will have the best rice of your life. 

It would be tempting to throw whatever white wine you have on hand into the pan. Surely it doesn't matter, right? All wine is kind of the same? Those snooty somms don't know anything! I'm sorry to break it to you, but just a little bit of wine know-how will really help you out here. If you were to throw a sweet white wine into your rice, you'd be looking at a certifiable kitchen disaster. Maybe you were going for rice pudding ... ?

The rule you want to follow when cooking with wine is not just that it's something you'd like to drink. You have to pay attention to the kinds of flavors you want to bring out in your dish, too. For wine that's to be added to rice, you'll want to get something that's bone dry, as in not really sweet at all. You can go for a white wine like pinot grigio, but honestly, that would be a bit bland and could skew fruity. One of the best white wines you can use is called Muscadet. This is a wine often grown in the northwestern part of France — a crisp, refreshing, high-acid wine that's usually fairly mineral driven and zesty. It can have a honeyed quality to it, but that's not the same as being sweet. The briny, mineral quality is why it's is a standout to use in rice. Meanwhile, there are also 15 other ways we'd recommend to spice up your rice, and one of them is to add miso paste to it for a huge umami upgrade.