Rice will taste so much better if you add one simple ingredient to pan

A culinary expert says adding just one simple ingredient to your rice can improve its flavour. Mimi Morley swears by a "really easy" way to make the popular food tasty, having tried several ways of doing so.

The best way to cook rice depends on the type you are cooking and the way you prefer it whether that's fluffy, sticky, or aromatic.

Collectively however, Mimi, who is HelloFresh's Senior Recipe Development Manager, says adding garlic can enhance the taste.

She said: "At HelloFresh we've done many, many, experiments on cooking rice and our customers find that our method results in perfect rice (and it's really easy!)."

Breaking down the process, she shared: "For two people, use 150g basmati rice. Pour 300ml water into a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

"Stir in the rice, 0.25 teaspoon salt and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium and cover with the lid.

"Leave to cook for 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat (still covered) and leave to the side for another 10 minutes, or until ready to serve (the rice will continue to cook in its own steam)."

Sharing her top tip on enhancing the taste, Mimi continued: "Top tips for improving the flavour is frying off some garlic (and cumin seeds if you're making an Indian dish) in a knob of butter in your pan before pouring in the water."

Additionally, the recipe developer advises adding a stock of your choice to the water for some extra flavour, instead of salt.

Mimi not only incorporates garlic into her rice, but other meals too.

She continued: "I also have recently been adding garlic to dishes at the end (stirring it into sauce as a finishing touch, or tossing through potatoes once they've finished roasting for example) - it really lifts the dish."

Quizzed on her go-to ingredient that can be versatile, Mimi said a slow cooked onion can "really elevate a sauce like nothing else can".

"But make sure you're cooking it until it's really lovely and caramelised, it adds so much depth," she advised.

"HelloFresh recently hosted a miso workshop for the culinary team, and we have found many creative ways to use this wonderful ingredient.

"I would recommend doing a combination of all three of these things for ultimate deliciousness," the culinary expert continued.