Like most things in the cooking world, there are differing opinions on whether soaking grains is good or unnecessary. One thing you must always do is wash the grains. In my opinion, some grains do need to be soaked for better digestion and taste. Three to six hours is fine, or overnight. Short- and medium-grain brown rice, barley, and whole oats do best with soaking.
With most grains, I use a pinch of salt. Everyone’s pinch is different, so grab a few grains of salt between your thumb and your forefinger. Don’t go crazy with the salt. It’s one pinch per cup of grain. If I’m pressure-cooking brown rice, instead of salt I like to use kombu (a sea vegetable explained on page 166).
For added variety and flavor, try experimenting with different grain combinations in the same pot. If they have a fairly similar cooking time, they can be combined. I usually stick with two grains at the most, and you can do 80/20, 60/40, or 50/50. It’s delicious to add other things to your grains, like chestnuts or other nuts, beans, or root veggies, so get creative with those grain dishes!
Some grains, particularly millet, taste magnificent when dry-roasted in a skillet before cooking. To see how this is done, see the asian quinoa and millet pilaf recipe, on page 149.