1 cup of rice - daft question

I know this is likely to be a daft question, but its something that always confuses me.

It seems rice is measures in cups. Recipes call for n cups of rice, calorie data talks of calories per cup etc.

Is a cup of rice a cup of raw, dehydrated rice straight from the bag, or is it a cup of rice as it is once its been cooked?

 

I've always took it to be raw if you are going to cook it and cooked if you are going to use it in say a rice salad - no expert but usually works !

 

I have a mate who for a lot of years was head chef in a Taiwanese restaurant (not your average takeaway chef, but an actually culinary genius). I asked him once, and he said it is always referring to raw rice as it comes out of the bag. Fair enough, that's nice and clear, but then you get articles talking about 1 cup being a serving. Well one cup of dry rice cooks up to feed my family, usually with some left over, so more confusion.

 

1/3 up of dry rice will usually cook up to about a cup of cooked rice. Subject to how hungry you are a portion is between 1/2 to a whole cup of cooked rice ........ Now the real question is how big is the cup lol

 

My rice cooker came with a measuring cup and lines on the inside of the cooker showing where each cupful would match. Not explained that very well have I.
2 measures on the cooker's pot is enough rice for us two,
Jenny

 

One cup of dry rice, once cooked, is more than enough for the four of us (at least while 2 of the portions are a child portion and a baby portion). I have no problem measuring out the right amount. Its just confusing trying to work out things like nutritional content when info on the web seems to chop and change between dry and cooked as though the two are the same.

 

More importantly.

How many cups are in a mug?

I'm uncoof. I don't own any cups whatsoever.

 

We would be the same, except that somehow we seem to have acquired some that we never bought. Somebody must have given them to us at some point. Probably tidying their cupboards out and they decided they didn't need any cups, so gave them to us

 

Hey peeps we are global citizens now cups, jugs or handfuls (!) tis all the same in the eat! The real advice is to make sure rice is well washed - as the illusion of rice from nurtured padi field to plate, often includes a drying and selling period, in less desirible conditions. This was roadside in Bali! Exposed on ground mats by major road, covered in pollution and cross contamination from passers by! When in Rome - but left with a mindful reminder!

 

One hand = one portion here.
I hope that makes things clear for you

 

Except ... UK "cup" size is different to US "cup" size and both of those are different from Oz "cup" size. So, if reading a recipe on the 'net ... you need to consider the origin of the recipe before you even consider if they are speaking of dry/cooked rice.

Plus, original recipes tend to express which is which: internet recipes may omit this so that the author doesn't get caught out/sued for plagiarism and by the time one (original) recipe is replicated with slight changes (to avoid plagiarism issues) on the 'net ... you may barely be getting a reliable recipe at all!!

Love many of the freedoms of the 'net - but, in a good number of instances, buy a good book and take it from there!