Have You Heard of ‘The Ice Cube Trick’ For Reheating Cold Rice? [Video]
We've all got our own methods for reheating rice for gumbo, rice and gravy and such but...have you ever heard of or used "The Ice Cube Trick"? Apparently, the ice doesn't even melt?!?
I had never heard of the "The Ice Cube Trick" before last night. Normally, my method for reheating cold rice for my gumbo is to take a little bit of roux and put it into my bowl of rice, stir it a little bit, then microwave for 23 seconds (I'm a weirdo and can't use use normal times like 20 or 25 seconds). The moisture from the roux infuses into the rice and makes it nice nice.
I thought I had this cold rice reheating game on lock until I stumbled across something last night called "The Ice Cube Trick".
Ashley Abramson from thekitchn.com has gone so far as to call this method of reheating cold rice “life-changing”. She says traditionally she's always used the "moist paper towel method or the pour-some-water-on-it method" but apparently "The Ice Cube Trick" is the pinnacle of culinary science.
Abramson via thekitchn.com -
"You see, before today I used to think the best way to reheat day-old rice in the microwave was by using the moist paper towel method or the pour-some-water-on-it method. But on my recent nightly TikTok scroll, I discovered a new solution I would have never thought of: Put an ice cube on top of the rice before you reheat it in the microwave."
@caloriequeen14#stitch with @officialtiktoknurse This actually worked! Tik Tok is an education♬ Spongebob - Dante9k
What kind of sorcery is going on here? If you're putting ice cubes in the dang microwave, then why in the name of Wayne Toups don't they melt?
The reason why, as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad would say is "Yeah, science!"
Abramson says she gave it a quick Google search and found out that "because of the hydrogen bonds in the frozen water, which prevent the water molecules from rotating and, in turn, from absorbing microwave energy.)"
You see apparently what happens is, because of all that science stuff the ice cubes don't melt but instead, the moisture from the ice cubes steams the rice.
Reading comments online it seems that people swear by "The Ice Cube Trick" and say it reheats the rice perfectly.
What say you? Have you ever tried this? If so, let me know your thoughts!