Yes, this is the most important thing. What jumped out at me from the OP was his description of stirring, checking, stirring again, etc. Do not stir your rice. Maybe give it a swish when you first add it to the pan, but after that, the lid goes on, the timer gets set, and you do not mess with it until the timer goes off. Don’t take the lid off to check it. Don’t stir it. Just leave it alone. This is key.
Like others have said:
- “Simmer” does not mean “extended boil.” The water’s surface should not be disrupted very much at all, and only tiny bubbles should be going on.
- Don’t lift the lid during cooking. You need all of that heat and moisture in there.
- Use a pot with a well-fitting lid, and, preferably, a pretty thick bottom.
The comment about risotto is apt - stirring rice will disrupt the outer coating and make it sticky.
I just want to come in and ask - what kind of stove top are you using?
Gas - for me the best, it gives you complete control over heating. On is on, off is off.
Electric - always a problem, takes too long to heat up, inevitably gets set at too high a temp, when you turn the heat down it takes a long time for the residual heat to dissipate so you may have turned it to “simmer” but it’s really still cooking at “high” for another 5 minutes.
Just to clarify what I meant in the OP, I’m looking for pan techniques, rather than technological solutions.
I know where you’re coming from on this, and I hope one of the methods in this thread works for you.
But the way I look at it is, for most any dish that’s to be served over rice, the rice is not the main part of the dish and really shouldn’t require more work or stress than the actual main part. It’s like baking a loaf of bread for sandwiches. There’s nothing wrong with doing it yourself, but if the bread is not the end goal, why put in all that effort? And if you have trouble actually making the rice/bread come out right despite lots of practice (and I’m in that boat too), your meal is, if not ruined, then mightily inconvenienced, especially if you planned for the rice to be finished at the same time as the other parts of the meal.
Rice cookers just ensure that at least one part of the meal will come out perfect without too much work or stress. As soon as I bought mine, I went from nightly frustrations followed by peanut butter sandwiches to churning out decent rice bowls on command. I can cook up meat and veggies easily, but I can’t do rice for the life of me.
I suppose it just comes down to whether you want to get food on the table while minimizing the potential for things to go wrong or you want to learn about the art of cooking. Again, good luck.
I don’t have a rice cooker mainly because I don’t need another small appliance taking up space in the kitchen, and the stovetop method works just fine for me.
One cup rice, rinse (in the same pot used to cook) three times or until water runs almost clear. Add enough water to cover rice - I use the last joint on my little finger as a depth gauge. The water should cover the rice by that much.
Set the pot (covered) on medium-high heat until boiling. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Stir the rice a few times, then cover and set aside for 10-15 minutes or so until rice is fully cooked and all remaining water is absorbed.
Rice is one of the easiest things to cook, IMO.
This, and…
…this, is how I do it. The hardest part for me was not removing the lid to stir it or check it. You let the steam out when you do that and letting the steam out is apparently bad.
If you’re not sure what temp to use for a low simmer (since you can’t lift the lid and check it) just listen to the pot. You should barely be able to hear it slowly bubbling now and then. If it’s at all loud or rapid turn it down a bit.
You might think so. But nothing is proof against my idiocy :smack:
A couple weeks ago I managed to screw it up. How did he screw it up you might ask?
I started some rice for my stir fry. However it started beeping as though it was done about 2 minutes later, rather than 35 or so. Checking on it, my keen senses deduced the issue. I forgot the water. :smack:
And for what it’s worth, if you start it without rice, let it get to temp, then add the water and start it again doesn’t work right. At least my Zojirushi didn’t. Not quite sure why, either the little microchip brain freaks out, or the rice got ruined it just wouldn’t cook the rice after that. I had to let it cool down for an hour and start over with new rice.
I’m fourthing the above. Don’t overthink it, don’t overwork it.
Yep, one cup white basmati rice, two cups cold water, don’t stir (just make sure all the rice is submerged), cover, bring to boil, gentlest possible simmer and leave it the fuck alone. If you have a saucepan with a clear lid you can see when all the water is gone, with a few little holes where the bubbles were. Turn heat off and leave alone for a few more minutes.
Alternatively, put in a two-pint polythene basin, cling-film, pierce lid, give it two minutes on high and fifteen on defrost in the microwave.
I was only ever told one thing about cooking rice, and I’ve never had a bad batch of rice since I started cooking at 15:
NO PEEKING
I’ve never understood the fuss over lifting the lid. Taking a peek doesn’t cause the rice to explode like popcorn or anything. Go ahead and take a peek, no one’s gonna die.
What most folks have said is spot on, but I have one addition, because of my more-liberal peeking policy. Basically, a ratio of about 1.5:1 of water to rice, so three cups of water for two cups of rice and so on. Rinse the rice if you can, then put the water and rice in a pan set to high. Once you see a boil, reduce the heat, cover it, and wait. After about 10 minutes, go ahead and take a peek. What you’re looking for are dark “holes” in the surface of the rice, spaces left by bubbles now that the water’s mostly gone. If you see those holes, cover the pan, take it off the heat, and let it sit for 5 minutes. If you don’t see them, put the lid back on and give it a few more minutes, then peek again. When the five minute rest is up, fluff and serve. That’s about it.
The OP didn’t say anything about a lid. Really, the lid is crucial to prevent burning; it’ll trap water in there, and as long as there’s water, the rice won’t burn. Don’t take that as a license to have the rice swimming around like pasta, though.
I did get a rice cooker as a gift two Christmases ago, and I must say that it makes absolutely superb rice, better than any I’ve ever had from a cooktop. I surrender to the power of the rice cooker.
It’s a glass infrared heating stove top.
And I think I may have worked out the problem with last night’s rice - I just remembered that one of the thermostats is malfunctioning. And it’s on the only ring I can use when the wok is on… which is therefore the one I use when I’m making curry.
That said, I’m still crap at rice, but last night’s disaster may not have been entirely my fault.
No Stirring! No Peeking! Do that in my kitchen and you’ll have a Catholic School flashback!
Because there can never be too many ways home cooks swear by to prepare perfect rice, let me tell you mine. I have an electric stove in decent condition. Usually for rice I use my crappy thin aluminum pans, as the good pans will be engaged in preparing the curry or soup.
measure rice into large bowl.
rinse and drain several times, until water is mostly clear.
place rice in pan with equal volume amount to how much rice you are cooking.
let sit 10 minutes to soak.
bring to a simmer, and cook uncovered til water level seems slightly below level of rice.
immediately cover and turn to lowest setting. cook 10 min.
take pan off heat. let sit 10 min.
ready.
I use the microwave. Pour as much rice as you think you’ll need into a Tupperware container. Rinse the rice thoroughly, cover with water to one inch above the level of the rice (I measure from fingertip to first knuckle) and micro on high for 10 minutes. If it’s still crunchy, put it on for another 4 or 5 min. I don’t know how much rice I usually make - I end up with three or four generous servings. Easy, and no burning.
I cook rice with and without a rice cooker. Perfect rice every time. The only key is to make sure you have enough, but not too much, water with the rice. About a quarter inch above the rice level should work. If it turns out too mushy, use less water next time. If it’s not soft enough, use more. Cooking rice is even easier than boiling an egg.
Have you tried Delia’s method? I can’t cook rice either but this mostly works for me:
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan.
- Add the rice - Delia recommends 2 fl oz per person, stir it round in the oil for a couple of minutes
- Add precisely twice the amount of boiling water to rice (so, if you’re cooking four fl oz of rice, add 8 fl oz of water)
- Stir ONCE
- Turn down the heat, put the lid on, and LEAVE IT ALONE.
How long it takes depends on what kind of rice you’re using - we use white basmati rice and it cooks this way in about five minutes, but brown rice takes longer.
I’ve always done 20 minutes. 15 minutes for me is still slightly undercooked. I don’t know why rice gives people so many problems, it’s this easy. As emphasized in some posts above, don’t peek. And make sure you have a tight-fitting lid. The only thing that varies sometimes is the amount of water. I do a scant 2 cups of water (probably more like 1 3/4) for 1 cup of rice. Older rice is drier and will need the full two cups. Fresher rice can need as little as a cup and a half.
I don’t rinse, I don’t fry, I don’t do anything fancy, just the above. Frying and rinsing is okay, but yield a different type of rice. I like this one for most applications.
The rice cooker option is better because you can cook the rice and keep it fresh in the cooker for at least a day.
If I know we’ll be having rice for dinner I can set the machine up in the morning before work and then come home to nicely cooked rice.
We always make rice in the oven. This provides even heating and in general is just easier for us to deal with.
1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
cover pan with a layer of saran wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil.
Place in 350F oven for ?? 30-45 minutes or until done. Be very careful when removing wrappings because of escaping steam!