Internet Clickbait Quinoa

I tried a method for ‘the ~best~ quinoa you’ve ~ever~ going to try’ from the Internet. Here’s the summary:

1. Soak and rinse on a sieve while rubbing it with friction.

2. Toast on medium-heat skillet until it’s fully dry and you start smelling toasty aromas. Use a wooden spoon.

3. Add double the volume in salt water/vegetable broth. A dash of mirin/white wine goes well. Salt: 1/4 teaspoon per 200g quinoa.

4. Bring to boil, lower to simmer, cover, don’t uncover before 15min. (Might take up to 20min; if there’s still liquid, cover again quick.)

5. When done uncover, fluff, let it steam open for 5min.

What went right

The pre-toasting and the vegetable broth make for, indeed, the best quinoa I’ve ever tasted.

What didn't work:

• On my stove, it ended up way too mushy.
• Broth made it a tad too salty.

At 15min there was still a lot of water, so I increased the simmer to medium heat. At 20min there was still quite a bit of water, and I could tell it was overcooking, so I opened the lid, increased temp to max, and let it dry. It ended up mushy, halfway into porridge. Plus, increasing the fire to accelerate drying made a bunch of it stick to the bottom.

I used the amount of broth powder recommended for the water volume, but the end result was, while not inedible, more salty than it should be. You can’t salt after cooking 100% because salt affects the cooking process, but for next time I plan to:

• Use 1.5× the volume of water rather than 2×.

• Use half-concentration of broth.

• Simmer on medium-low or medium rather than low.

The hard part of these adjustments is that they will all depend on your stove and pot.