I bought a box of 5 minute rice from the supermarket to make on the trail. Iv tested it at home and the plain white rice is not bad at all. Not wanted to just eat the plain rice though i tried to spice it up. All of my trials have tasted awful using spice packets such as thai seasoning and a fried rice recipe.
Anyone have and good tasting easy recipes for instant rice?
Haven't done it for years, but I used to use one of those small cans of chicken and a pouch of instant gravy mix (chicken, probably; I really can't remember for sure.) Now, if I were to do it, I'd probably use a pouch of chicken instead of a can.
In fact, if I were to do it now, I'd probably get one of those Knorr (formerly Lipton) "side dish" rice packets and add the pouch of chicken after I brought it to a boil. It's just simpler than the separate rice and gravy mix process.
(I use freeze-dried meals now, and let them rehydrate in the pouch.)
3oz can of chicken, some pepperoni, 1/4 to 1/2 a cube of knorr tomato bouillion and optional dried onions and green peppers will make a decent jambalaya. or check out Trailcooking.com
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If I wouldn't eat it at home, why would I want to eat it on the trail?
Instant soup. I do it with indian curry soup, just enough water to get a creamy, not too liquid mix. Or minestrone, chinese, chorba, etc...mix. It hase to be a "strong" flavoured soup. Surprisingly, it was very tasty with creamy asparagus soup too.
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Without a doubt, the hardest thing of all in a survival situation is to cook without the benefit of seasonings and flavourings. - Ray Mears
Registered: 01/04/02
Posts: 1228
Loc: Eastern MA, USA
In college, I nearly lived on "instant rice" with bouillion cubes. Try adding a bit of ginger and garlic to brighten up the taste. Some dry parsley or sun-dried tomatoes are other store shelf staples can add bulk and nutrition. Some stores will also have dried mushrooms and peppers. (Be sure to read the labels to determine which need rinsing and cooking.) The instant soups can work well, too.
I've used a can of Bumble Bee Thai Chili tuna with couscous and a packet of spicy (Thai?) chicken soup and some parsley. It should work just as well with instant rice.
And if your rice is every soggy (say you use too much water) just add a bunch of shelf stable Parmesan cheese in. IMO, I happen to love white rice, butter powder, a drizzle of oil, Parmesan cheese, pepper and maybe some freeze-dried peas when I want comfort food. Add chicken for protein if desired
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Freezer Bag Cooking, Trail Cooking, Recipes, Gear and Beyond: www.trailcooking.com
One serving of Minute Rice (there are several that will work), one packet of Cream of Mushroom Cup-a-Soup, some freeze-dried peas (not the supermarket dried ones -- unless you want to soak them all day in your water bottle) and a 3-oz pouch of tuna (there's more nutrition in the oil packed ones). Sometimes I dust the top with crushed crackers and maybe a little of the shelf-stable powdered cheese (your choice of flavor). This works well with olive oil, protein powder and/or nuts for added nutrition. Also, a small handful of the oriental dried mushrooms weighs nothing, adds no nutrition, but tastes glorious.
Incidentally, like others here, I'm not really a big fan of instant rice, so if I have time and fuel, I'll take just plain ordinary white rice. If you will bring it to a boil in broth, and boil rapidly for just one minute, you can put the pot aside and the rice will be fully cooked in just a few minutes (never actually timed it, just checked to see when all the broth is absorbed). I don't have any explanation for why this works, but I sometimes use this method at home as well.
Another recipe I like is Spanish rice. Half a cup of Minute rice, two tbls of freeze-dried pepper flakes, a pkg of tomato Cup-a-Soup, one tbls of bacon bits, one Slim Jim sliced thin, one tbls of freeze-dried onion flakes, salt and pepper (go easy) one tbls of chilli powder, and one of protien powder. This is good with added cashews and/or olive oil for even more nutrition, and for more bulk, just increase the rice.
My favorite rice is to fully cook brown rice at home and then dry it. I actually over cook is a little bit at home before putting it in the dehydrator. This helps with the rehydration. I mostly use it with small flakes of home dried chicken and extra home dried vegetables added to a soup mix. I dry enough for several dinners and use a scale to divide all the ingredients into one bag for each meal.
At camp bring it to a full boil for a couple of minutes and then put the pot in a cozy for 20-25 minutes until everything has soaked up the water. When it is ready it is quite tasty.
We gave up on prepackaged freeze dried meals about 10 years ago. We either dry our own dinners or go stoveless and just snack on cold stuff as we hike down the trail.
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