Yes, even my dog could taste the difference! Our girl dachshund (who sadly we lost last year) would get tummy upsets on occasion, and the vet recommended feeding her plain rice until her digestion was normal again. When we gave her jasmine rice she would literally gobble it…like it was steak or something. Plain white rice? She turned up her nose.
Japanese perspective: If you want rice that tastes better:
[ul]
[li]Use good quality rice.[/li][li]Measure rice accurately. Make sure you are using the correct unis. Rice cookers usually have water levels that correspond with “cups” of rice, but there are different definitions of “cup”. Japanese rice cookers are marked for Japanese standard cup which is 200ml (US cup is 236ml), in which case the cooker should have come with a 200ml measuring cup. [/li][li]Wash the rice.[/li][li]Measure water accurately.[/li][li]Let the rice soak for at least a few hours before cooking[/li][li]Soon after it’s cooked, fluff up the rice, then close the lid and let it steam for at least a few more minutes. [/li][/ul]
On the other hand, if you want to flavor the rice, well, put whatever flavor you want in it. I recently did a faux “fried rice” by cooking the rice with chicken broth, sliced Chinese sausages, chopped onion, soy sauce and sesame oil. Then as soon as it’s cooked, pour a couple of beaten eggs into it, stir and let the “keep warm” heat cook the egg.
I mostly already use basmati and occasionally jasmine.
I wouldn’t have assumed asking for minor spice info would get under so many people’s skin.
Heres another fun hack. Add a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter to ramen after you cook it. It tastes much better.
Pureed ginger and soy sauce are my go to additives.
+1 to using premium rice. Good rice shouldn’t be starchy and is slightly sweet. A while back I bought a back of some generic calrose rice and it was hard and woody. I now stick with Nishiki.
The most I do is put some konbu in if I’m eating it with simple Japanese food, e.g. sashimi, tempura.