[pct-l] cold water food

[rellinwood at worldnet.att.net (Robert Ellinwood)]

To Geezer and L-Rod:

Geezer,

>What brand noodles?  My experience with Maruchan brand was that by the time
the noodles were downable, they had an unappealing, pasty texture.  Never
found a time for al dente texture.

I used Top Ramen Oodles of Noodles.  As with Fine Art, "Chacun a son gout."
Each to his own taste.  I actually prefer them slighter softer than you seem
to indicate.  My wife and I thought the Ramen "al dente" phase was probably
between 12-15 minutes with our experiment.

>My experience with minute rice done with cold water was that texture was
indistinguishable from doing it with hot water, using the package recipe
ratio of rice to water.  Good in about 4~5 minutes with room temperature
water.

Interesting.  What rice did you use? [Off-list, if all this sounds tedious.]
I used Kraft minute, pre-cooked, Boil-in-the-bag white rice (what we had on
hand).  Maybe the difference is with "room temperature" water as opposed to
the cold water we used.  I'll re-try it with room temperature water.
Nothing about our experiment with rice in cold water ended up being
appealing.

L-Rod,

>a family of raw food vegetarians ... told us that anything that can be
cooked to become soft can also be soaked for the same effect.  Rice,
noodles, grains, etc.  

I believe them... but I think it's the time required that's important here.
I'm not willing nor interested in carrying an extra container just for
soaking food for extended periods as I hike.  I'm looking for the
exceptional cold food variation, with easy, quick, adequate results, rather
than making that my regular approach. 

Thanks to both of you for your ideas!

Dr Bob