Occasionally, people ask me about cooking rice. I always say:
“First you get out your rice cooker.”
At this point, they might ask, “Well, what if I don’t have a rice cooker?”
In that case, my answer starts:
“Well, first you go buy a rice cooker.”
I will state without proof that if you ask most people of East Asian heritage how to cook rice, the first thing they’ll tell you is to get a rice cooker. This is because they don’t know how to make rice because their parents had a rice cooker, and their grandparents had a rice cooker, and their relatives all had rice cookers, and all their friends families had rice cookers. Here is why. This is how you cook perfect rice with a rice cooker:
- Put rice in the cooker.
- Maybe rinse it if you are supposed to.
- Fill with water up to the appropriate line.
- Turn on the cooker.
- Go play Halo 2 until the cooker pops.
This is all I know about cooking rice. In fact, many of my most disastrous kitchen debacles involve trying to cook rice on the stove. I just don’t do it anymore.
One final note: please none of that crappy pre-cooked rice. Get nice California rice. Minute Rice is a crime against humanity and Uncle Ben’s should be grounds for criminal prosecution. I’ll hurt you if I catch you.
One more final note: perfect rice is sticky, but with a light fluffy texture. The rice should stick together though, since this facilitates consumption with chopsticks. The main reason Uncle Ben’s is a crime is the fact that the rice does not stick to itself. Why anyone would do this on purpose is a mystery to me, but the rice I get in most non-Asian restaurants is like this. The Italians have it right though, with their risotto.
Where to buy a rice cooker
Here is a nice cheap one from Amazon.
Here is an expensive one from Amazon. Use this for Sushi Rice.