Rice is a fundamental element of many world cuisines, so knowing how to cook it well is essential. With these simple recipes for basic white and brown rice, you can make a perfect pot of rice without using a rice cooker or other special equipment.
Eaten extensively in East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, rice is a daily staple food for billions of people. It’s affordable, filling, adaptable, and it really is delicious. Some of the myriad ways I enjoy eating it are with homemade kimchi, spicy rasam soup, sprinkled with nori and sesame furikake, sambar, Egyptian tomato and okra stew, Thai curries, and so on…
Clearly, rice is an indispensable food!
Every variety of rice (and there are many!) has it’s own texture and aroma. As an all-purpose rice, I prefer a medium grain white rice. I love Egyptian medium grain rice because that is the rice I grew up eating, but I haven’t met a rice I don’t like (with the exception of parboiled rice, which I don’t care for). I also love to cook brown rices, jasmine, basmati, and Japanese short grain rice.
This recipe makes 6 cups of cooked rice. If you feel like that is too much for you, half the recipe. I recommend making the full amount or more, however, as leftover rice stores well if covered and put in the refrigerator. Whenever you have leftover rice, use it as an excuse to make a quick 15-minute stir-fried rice with veggies and tofu.
- 2 cups (420g) white rice
- 3 cups boiling water
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon oil
- Using your hand to swish through it, rinse the rice in water three times in a bowl. Then fill up the bowl of rice with lukewarm water and soak for ten minutes. In the meantime, boil some water in a kettle on the stove.
- After ten minutes, drain the water from the rice and dump the grains into a small pot. Pour in the measured amount of boiling water and turn the stove underneath to medium high heat. Add the salt and oil to the rice and stir just to incorporate.
- Bring the pot of rice to a boil and allow to boil with the lid halfway on the pot until the water reduces to just under the level of the rice. This will take about 5 minutes. Only stir it once or twice while boiling. When it's ready to be covered, you'll start to see little bubbles popping through the surface of rice.
- Turn the stove on the lowest possible setting, cover the pot tightly, and cook undisturbed for 22 minutes. Don't uncover or stir the rice during this time or it will fail.
- After 22 minutes, take the lid off the rice and gently fold it over a few times with a rice paddle or a spatula. It should be fluffy and tender. It is now ready to eat!
-I prefer using a taller rather than wider pot to make a more consistent rice.
-If you are making a short or medium grain rice for East Asian recipes and want a stickier texture, omit the oil entirely.
-For a Middle Eastern twist, brown ¼ cup of small vermicelli noodles in the oil before the rice goes into the pot. After they are toasted and browned, add the rice, water, and salt and proceed with the recipe.
- 2 cups (360g) brown rice
- 6 cups boiling water
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon oil
- Using your hand to swish through it, rinse the rice in water three times in a bowl. Then fill up the bowl of rice with lukewarm water and soak for ten minutes. In the meantime, boil some water in a kettle on the stove.
- After ten minutes, drain the water from the rice and dump the grains into a small pot. Pour in the measured amount of boiling water and turn the stove underneath to medium high heat. Add the salt and oil to the rice and stir just to incorporate.
- Bring the pot of rice to a boil and allow to boil with the lid halfway on the pot until the water reduces to just under the the level of the rice. This will take about 15 minutes. Only stir it once or twice while boiling. When it's ready to be covered, you'll start to see little bubbles popping through the surface of the rice.
- Turn the stove on the lowest possible setting, cover the pot tightly, and cook undisturbed for 22 minutes. Don't uncover or stir the rice during this time or it will fail.
- After 22 minutes, take the lid off the rice and gently fold it over a few times with a rice paddle or spatula. It should be fluffy and tender. It is now ready to eat!
-I prefer using a taller rather than wider pot to make a more consistent rice.
-If you are making a short or medium grain rice for East Asian recipes and want a stickier texture, omit the oil entirely.
-For a Middle Eastern twist, brown ¼ cup of small vermicelli noodles in the oil before the rice goes into the pot. After they are toasted and browned, add the rice, water, and salt and proceed with the recipe.
