My stupid rice thread

Ok...i admit it....i cannot cook rice; i can do everything else like stir frys, stews, cakes, pasta, pizza, soups, roasts- everything, apart from rice.
I get as far as putting the rice in a saucepan, putting boiling water in and cooking the rice but then disaster- i take it out and its all sticky, somtimes its so sticky it just comes out as a big lump.
I think i am one of the only people here who can make sand castles out of rice.
So i realy envy all those who can some how create perfect white fluffy tasty rice with so little effort;
Can anyone offer me any tips to creating the perfect bowl of rice apart from buying a rice cooker ? Any help is much appreiciated *nods vigorously* .

Oh darling, I am in exactly the same boat!!!! Have no fear, rescue (maybe if I can remember) is here!

After spending years of cooking terrible rice, which was probably more suitable for making rice cakes out of, I paid careful attention to my Japanese friends (bless them for their patience!) and started to make not so bad rice!

What you need to do is make sure you wash the rice!!!! Pay attention to how much rice you have put into your pot, then fill the pot with water, swishing the rice around at the same time until the water runs clear. Drain this yucky water, and add exact amount of water that you have as rice, e.g: 1 cup of rice, one cup of water.
Ok turn your pot onto high heat wait for it to start boiling, turn the heat down a bit, and cook for 10 minutes, then when its cooked, leave the lid on the pot (which should be on the whole time), and leave to steam/stand for 10 minutes.
Basically if there is no water left, then your rice is cooked and ready to stand. I would puff it up a bit, buy giving it a gentle stir, before letting it to stand.
This will enable any extra moisture to absorb into the rice.

However, maybe try to invest in a cheap rice cooker, I had a basic one which cost less then 10 pounds, I could use it to make lots of things, not just rice!

Awesome! I will try that technique, the art of rice making next time i do rice :gohan: thankyou so much ! If anyone else has got any more tips feel free to say them

Yeah, I wouldnt rely 100% on my help, but I did learn that exact ratio of water to rice is very important, as is washing the rice.
Good luck, let me know how it goes!!!

Your wish is granted !

for I have cooked my own rice without a rice cooker, the best way is by direct firing in a pot.

Directions: for 2-4 servings

Get a small to midium sized pot. A biggie won't do because then adjusting water becomes a problem.

Add rice measured at 1-2 bowls dry, throw into the pot, and rinse out vigourously 2-3 times, each time scrubbing it with bare hands for about 30 seconds. Drain, and rinse, drain, and rinse.

Add water upto a level about 1 inch above rice level. Rule of palm: place your palm lightly on top of rice. If the water surface reaches your nuckles or slightly above, then the water amount is about right.

Place your pot of rice and water on the stove. The lid should be on, but tilted to prevent overflowing. Turn on stove. Let boil for 10-15 minutes at which point all the water have either been absorbed by the rice or evaporated.

Immediately lower flame to minimum, let it cook for another 5 minutes ONLY. (Don't overdo it; otherwise you will end up with soot.)

You rice is done, perfect ! Enjoy your meal with any side dishes, broth, or soup; if you have no side dish, some soysauce will help the rice go down, hehe.

edit: Kara Nari's right in saying that the time to lower the flame is when the boiling reaches its high point. I haven't cooked in ages, getting a bit rusty, here.
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I'll thow in another recepi in case you don't want your rice with soy sauce only.

Vegetable Sautee

Get some veggies, rinse in flowing water, cut up to edible size, and heat your frying pan or wok with just a dash of vegetable oil. If you have a wok, please get a large lid to cover it. Once the wok is hot enough (but not too hot so that the oil burns), throw in your hard-textured veggies first: carrots and potatoes should go in first. Stir by shaking the whole wok sideways or in circular motion. (Next throw in any seafood or meat stuff now if you are not a vegetarian.) After 2-3 min, add your softer veggies: broccoli, cabbage, bokchoi, or onions, and lettuce. This is a good time to throw in the spices (garlic), salt/sugar/soy sauce/oyster sauce, curry powder, what have you.

Don't overdo it, and finish the cooking quick so the veggies don't burn !

How to cook of rice
http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/dailyjc/hints/gohan/gohan.html

When I do not use a rice cooker, I use a pressure cooker

Awesome tips every one .
I prefer the short grain varietys of rice the most, but you should cook any different varietys differenly at all or even just long grain and short grain rice? Does it matter at all what type of rice you cook and how you go about it?

The long grain rice is Oryza sativa indica whereas the short grain rice is Oryza sativa japonica. I believe all the recepis here are for cooking the short grain rice. Although the presoaking of rice before cooking is recommended by many, I personally have had no notable difference in taste or texture when I cooked dry rice without presoaking. The wiki link on rice is interesting, but a bit too much info for just having a meal. Try reading it for the enjoyment of the world of rice.

Try this for more, Wiki Cookbook: Rice recipes

I've got a steamer just for doing rice in the microwave. One of the best pieces of kitchenware I have got.

Kara_Nari said:

However, maybe try to invest in a cheap rice cooker, I had a basic one which cost less then 10 pounds, I could use it to make lots of things, not just rice!

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What kinds of other food can it cook?

My family used to cook brown rice on the stove all the time, without any issues... I got my rice cooker for less than 20 bucks, the only way I can screw it up now is if I forget to wash the rice first, or if I put in the wrong amount of water. Not so sure what else it can make, I've never had any desire to make anything other than rice with it...

Tokis-Phoenix said:

What kinds of other food can it cook?

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There are great suggestions from nekomusume, pippokun and other posters on this thread!
Budget Gourmet Recipe *B級グルメレシピ*

You'll find other rice cooker recipes on the Web like this:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1942,147169-247201,00.html

I cook dumplings, special rice dishes, you can steam things in them, boil veges!
I cant think off the top of my head, but I have been known to do interesting creations with odd electronic appliances...

Japanese Electric Rice Cookers Are Not Just for Cooking Rice; You can Bake Bread or Make Stews, Too

Rice Cookers Are Now Multi-purpose Cooking Appliances
http://business.nippon-jin.com/thin/

I Hﾂ rice cooker
http://www.asiachi.com/zo10curicowa.html

I use an IH rice cooker.
An IH rice cooker can cook rice more very than a conventional rice cooker deliciously.

However, I am worried about influence to the human body by an electromagnetic wave :?

Thanks for the links, i am feeling realy hungry now- im going to fetch me a rice cooker :gohan: :gulp: :56:

All of you have missed the point..

Tokis-Phoenix said:

Ok...i admit it....i cannot cook rice; i can do everything else like stir frys, stews, cakes, pasta, pizza, soups, roasts- everything, apart from rice.
I get as far as putting the rice in a saucepan, putting boiling water in and cooking the rice but then disaster- i take it out and its all sticky, somtimes its so sticky it just comes out as a big lump.
I think i am one of the only people here who can make sand castles out of rice.
So i realy envy all those who can some how create perfect white fluffy tasty rice with so little effort;
Can anyone offer me any tips to creating the perfect bowl of rice apart from buying a rice cooker ? Any help is much appreiciated *nods vigorously* .

Click to expand...

Did you know that there are nine different kinds of rice in Japan ?

Anyway, let me teach you how to make the perfect rice !

1) Wash the rice three times. Pour the rice in a bowl then add a little water and knead the rice with your knuckles, trust me. Take your time when doing this.

2) Make sure you thoroughly drain the rice then pour it into the rice cooker.
Next you add mineral water, not tap water because tap water has too much chlorine in it, bad for rice actually.

3) Add a a piece of SUMI(petrified wood) to the mix. Simply put a small sumi into the rice cooker. Try to center the sumi in the middle of the rice...

4) cook

5) When done allow the rice to cool naturally.

6) Enjoy !

You missed the point entirely...

Originally the op wanted to cook rice 'without' a rice cooker, hence the reason none of us mentioned it for the first few posts.

re: All of you have missed the point..

Good of you to point out, Kara Nari; but the malice does not end there, which I shall expose shortly.

McTojo said:

Did you know that there are nine different kinds of rice in Japan ?

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That depends on how discerning one wishes to be; there could be two, could be thirty-two.

Anyway, let me teach you how to make the perfect rice !

1) Wash the rice three times. Pour the rice in a bowl then add a little water and knead the rice with your knuckles, trust me. Take your time when doing this.

Click to expand...

Depending on how the rice was grown and processed, any number can be right for the particular rice at hand. Eg. with rice grown organically without the use of petsicides or herbicides, you could even cook without any washing. Just add water and start cooking; in which case you might find the exqusite taste beyond comparison ! That also explains why organically grown rice brands are anywhere from twice to four times as expensive as ordinary rice.

2) Make sure you thoroughly drain the rice then pour it into the rice cooker.
Next you add mineral water, not tap water because tap water has too much chlorine in it, bad for rice actually.

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Doesn't matter. Chlorinated water is immaterial when cooking as the cholrine compound is unstable under heat. The point is, you are not growing rice. A simple boiling can do wonders in detoxifying many instances of contaminated water, but tap water is hardly contaminated.

3) Add a a piece of SUMI(petrified wood) to the mix. Simply put a small sumi into the rice cooker. Try to center the sumi in the middle of the rice...

Click to expand...

SUMI is a block of black ink ! I knew you were upto no good here, Son of a Tojo !

wiki: Sumi said:

Sumi (窶渡), is the Japanese name for the ink used for writing with a writing brush, particularly in calligraphy.

Sumi is made from lampblack (soot) and binders, and comes in sticks which must be rubbed with water on an inkstone until the right consistency is achieved. Much cheaper, pre-mixed bottled inks are now available, but these are used primarily for practice as stick inks are considered higher quality and chemical inks are more prone to bleeding over time, making them less suitable for use in hanging scrolls.

Learning to rub the ink is an essential part of calligraphy study. Traditionally, Japanese calligraphy is written only in black ink, but modern calligraphers sometimes use other colours. Calligraphy teachers use a bright orange ink with which they write practice characters for students and correct students' work.

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Bad joke; there is mischief in this man !

5) When done allow the rice to cool naturally.

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Now this is the worst piece of advice I have ever seen on cooking rice.

For Tokis-Phoenix: You complained that

Tokis-Phoenix said:

putting boiling water in and cooking the rice but then disaster- i take it out and its all sticky, somtimes its so sticky it just comes out as a big lump.

Click to expand...

What you are talking about sounds like the instant, precooked rice you get at the combinis. Although instant rice is one way of having rice in the field where shrapnel fly everywhere, combatants really don't mind as long as it fills the belly while trying to stay alive. With plain ole' rice grains, adding boiling water is your sure way of ruining rice, although I admit there may be another way of reducing cooking time by preheating the water, however unconventional that might be.

Tokis-Phoenix said:

perfect white fluffy tasty rice

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The sure way to get a sticky lump of cooked rice is to leave it to cool after cooking is done. You have to stir it around, overturn it while the rice is still hot to get fluffy rice, not after everything has congealed into a cold, white lump of rice cake. My last advice to you; Beware the Son of Tojo; for he can be as evil as the Tojo himself.

lexico said:

SUMI is a block of black ink ! I knew you were upto no good here, Son of a Tojo ! Bad joke !Now this is the worst piece of advice I have ever seen on cooking rice.

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Hi lexico!

Though I don't fully agree with McTojo's advice on rice cooking (regarding how rice is washed, that is), the use of "sumi" is actually done here in Japan. It's not 窶渡 (sumi) but 窶兀 (sumi) or charcoal.



It is currently fashionable to add "sumi" when cooking rice. It is believed to reduce the chlorine level in tap water and make it closer in quality to natural spring water, which is regarded the best to be used when cooking rice. I myself use Brita-filtered water for cooking and drinking--not sumi, though, because it's expensive and it's a hassle. Top chefs in Japan actually do recommend use of sumi. Of course it is removed when the rice is done...

Additional info: The charcoal used for cooking is premium-quality charcoal called 窶敕ｵ窶卍ｷ窶兀 (binchoutan).

This thread is fascinating and thank you to everyone who posted the tips! I really suck at cooking rice, so hopefully I can improve now!

The organic rice is indeed nicer.

The best thing for sucky rice cooks, is indeed a rice cooker, either a microwave plastic bowl version, a cheap as chips electric one, or a fancy pantsy pressure cooker/rice cooker. Depends on your budget.
The advantages of the big fancy pants ones are that you can actually keep your rice hot for a long time, without having to worry about catching any horrible buggies, you can put it on, and steam veges at the same time... and there's other stuff, but the beer I drank has gotten to my head a tad...
Did you know that the bacteria in rice multiply faster than on any other food??? Dangerous stuff!

A few things...

Firstly a lot of the rice sold in British supermarkets (where the OP comes from) is of the pre-washed variety. Rice sold in Japan (other than "musenmai") needs to be washed to remove the bran and other residues. If you're using a western brand you won't always gain so much of a benefit from washing, because most of this has already been removed for you. However washing will probably clean away a little of the residues that weren't cleaned off by the polishing machines in the factory, so it can't hurt.

Secondly, western values in terms of rice quality often differ from those in Asia. For example in Britain, American long grain rice varieties (e.g. Uncle Ben's) are the most popular and the quality of rice is often judged by how non-stick it is. If every grain falls away individually when you scoop up a fork, Brits often think this is pretty good rice. However this would be useless in many Asian countries, as you could never pick up the rice with chopsticks. Japanese rice needs to have enough stickiness to make it clump just a little in order to be able to eat it with two thin bits of wood.

Thirdly, many Japanese today (especially the younger generation) often can't cook rice well in a pan either, such is the dominance of the rice cooker which is in practically every home in Japan. So don't worry if you're not getting great results. Although it rather states the bleedin' obvious, the ratio of water to rice is pretty critical here. The more water the rice soaks up, the softer it becomes. The only way you're going to get it right with a pan is to carefully measure the rice every time and vary the water until you get the results you're looking for.

It has been suggested to me that rice can change with age. If you buy a big 10 kilo sack, you'll find that as it gets older, its ability to soak up water diminishes a little. I don't know for a fact if this is true, but my own experience would suggest it could well be. Certainly when I buy new rice, it seems to become a lot softer with the same amount of water. and as it ages, I tend to add just a little more water to the cooker.

I'm no expert chef, but in our house, the rice is my responsibility. While my wife generally cooks dinner most days, one of my first tasks when I get home from work is to wash the rice and fill the rice cooker on a daily basis and have done for several years, so I've come to have a fairly close relationship with the stuff.

As for adding a lump of charcoal, I've never bothered, but if you really believe you have the kind of refined palate that can detect the change in taste then do whatever takes your fancy.

Kara_Nari said:

The advantages of the big fancy pants ones are that you can actually keep your rice hot for a long time, without having to worry about catching any horrible buggies,..

Did you know that the bacteria in rice multiply faster than on any other food??? Dangerous stuff!

Click to expand...

Actually, I don't trust the rice cooker AFTER the rice is done--even with "fancy" one that I use. Keeping rice warm in the cooker under the "warm" setting isn't recommended, it erodes freshness and flavor. If you can't eat freshly cooked rice right away, wrap rice in plastic and freeze. To reheat it, use the microwave. You'll get good, fresh rice ready anytime.

About rice sold outside Japan, I don't know about the UK, but I know that rice sold in the US is actually dusted with cornstarch and doesn't need as thorough washing as in Japan. In fact, I've heard culinary experts in Japan say that rice polishing technology has advanced tremendously that even in Japan you don't have to wash regular rice as clean as it was done traditionally. But, be sure that the water become clear...

I also support presoaking (30 minutes in summer and at least an hour in winter) and notice a marked difference--but must admit I skip this when I'm in a hurry.

I've also noticed that the OP mentioned "boiling water" in his first post. Though I'm sure he must have noticed this by now, I'm posting this just to give caution to others reading this thread. DO NOT USE BOILING WATER for the Japanese short-grained variety of rice. I've seen water boiled first and rice put in later for certain "indica" variety of rice, but that's not done with "japonica." Start cooking with COLD water.

Thank you for bringing clarity to my post and enlightening Lexicon !

epigene said:

Hi lexico!

Though I don't fully agree with McTojo's advice on rice cooking (regarding how rice is washed, that is), the use of "sumi" is actually done here in Japan. It's not 窶渡 (sumi) but 窶兀 (sumi) or charcoal.

It is currently fashionable to add "sumi" when cooking rice. It is believed to reduce the chlorine level in tap water and make it closer in quality to natural spring water, which is regarded the best to be used when cooking rice. I myself use Brita-filtered water for cooking and drinking--not sumi, though, because it's expensive and it's a hassle. Top chefs in Japan actually do recommend use of sumi. Of course it is removed when the rice is done...

Additional info: The charcoal used for cooking is premium-quality charcoal called 窶敕ｵ窶卍ｷ窶兀 (binchoutan).

Click to expand...

Charcoal is what it's called but it looks like wood. Every time I make rice using sumi my rice comes out perfect !

Placebo effect

Your sumi appears to be active carbon in a pressurised cake form. Active carbon works by adsorption, which quickly looses effect once the micropores on the carbon surface are saturated with free radicals. In addition, do you realise how much glutinous organic compounds get released in one cooking of rice for 3 meals ? My safe bet is after one usage, the active carbon surface is effectively depleted and covered with glutinous slime; hence any effect you may get after that is purely placebo. Hows that for enlightenment on another fake, unuseless product marketed with pseudo-science ? O, one more thing; with heat reapplied on the second use, the chlorine or whatever matter got stuck in the micropores get loose due to the heat. So much for decontamination. And what about the micro-quantities of carbon particles that get loose and end up in the delicious rice ? Are they safe to eat ? Don't use sumi, I tell ya.