Cooking rice always seems deceptively simple. But anyone who’s made it before knows there’s a surprising amount of technique involved. Here are five helpful tips for making the best possible pot of rice.
Rinse Your Rice
There’s a lot of contention around whether you should wash certain things before you cook them (looking at you, raw chicken). Still, rice is undoubtedly one you want to rinse thoroughly.
Rinsing will remove the excess starch from your rice, preventing it from being overly gummy. Place your rice in a fine mesh strainer and run it under cold water until crystal clear.
Use the Right Ratio of Water to Rice
The perfect pot of rice starts with the right amount of water; put in too much or too little, and you’re bound to run into some textural issues. The standard is generally one cup of rice to two cups of water. However, this isn’t a hard and fast rule because the ratio could be slightly different based on personal preferences or the type of rice you’re cooking.
For example, brown rice often needs more water for a good texture. Since this isn’t always an exact science, your best bet is to measure everything accurately and record what works for you so you can replicate it in the future.
Use the Right Cooking Method
There’s way more than one way to cook a pot of rice, but they aren’t all going to give you the same results. Most people will cook with the absorption method, which is likely what you’re used to: putting the rice in water and simmering it until you achieve the proper doneness.
However, a rice cooker is a phenomenal way to ensure you get perfectly fluffy rice every time. If you plan to cook lots of rice, investing in a rice cooker is often the most effective and hands-off way to get rice with a consistently good texture.
Don’t Stir!
It will be extremely tempting to stir your rice, but trust us: that’s the fast track to having a pot of gummy gloop! Stirring can encourage the rice to release even more starches, leading to that unpleasant texture you’re trying to avoid. Trust the process, keep the lid on, and rely on a timer rather than fussing over it.
Rest and Fluff
Letting your rice rest in a tiny bit of leftover water can allow the grains to casually absorb the rest of it, preventing you from overcooking it or scorching the bottom. It also gives you a more uniform texture because it allows the heat to distribute more evenly. Leave the lid on for 5-10 minutes and turn the heat off. Once that time’s up, fluff your rice with a fork for those nicely separated grains.
Gently run the fork through the rice to aerate it and break up the clumps. This will not only make your rice look more appealing, but it’ll improve the texture, too. Whatever you do, don’t use a spoon; you’ll likely mash up your rice by accident and undo all your hard work!
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