Making white rice is easy! Avoid crunchy, mushy, or burned rice with these simple steps for cooking on the stovetop. Ready in under 30 minutes.
When it comes to rice, there are two kinds of households: one in which there’s always a pot of hot rice around, and one where rice is around, well, sometimes.
If you are reading this, I’m guessing your household is the latter. And were here to help! There is no magic when it comes to cooking white rice. Just a few helpful hints.
This recipe gives you the total scoop on how to cook long-grain white rice, that lovely pantry staple. Seriously, all you’d ever want to know is contained in this post, like a rice-making kit wherein you provide the rice and water.
Cooking Instructions Wash and soak the rice as usual and then add it to a frying pan. Pour about 5mm-1cm of water over the rice. Cover with a lid and turn the heat to high. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
What’s the Right Temp for Cooking Rice?
Start the rice at a hard boil over medium-high heat with the lid on. When you hear your pot hissing or the lid jittering, immediately turn the heat down to medium-low, or as low as you can get it yet still have the liquid simmering. Why? Rice likes it nice and easy.
Lower heat ensures tender, evenly cooked grains. And it discourages the liquid from boiling over and making a mess.
Every stove is different, and it might take a little fiddling to get to the ideal nice-and-gentle burner heat on yours.
I think this method is preferable to cooking rice in the oven. Its just as foolproof, much faster (you can have the rice all cooked in the time it takes to heat up a big oven) and far more energy efficient. And I like it better than microwave-cooking rice too, because I find having open take the bowl out of the microwave and stirring, etc. to be too cumbersome. To avoid all that taking out and stirring you need a special microwave-rice-cooking bowl, and this is all about not having to get special equipment to cook rice.
I did have to make some small adjustments to the basic method to accommodate the quirks of an electric stovetop (as I explained in my my fried rice in a frying pain article, electric ranges are common in Europe, not so in Japan or the U.S., and Im constantly adjusting my methods accordingly). Otherwise though, its such a quick and easy method of making rice that I have been doing it this way quite often.
Let the pan rest with the lid on for a minimum of 10 minutes. This is very important, otherwise you may end up with a little hard center in your rice grains. Al dente is good for pasta, not for rice! (At least, its not good for Japanese style rice. Other rices, I dont think so either.)
And you know what…its so easy, and the results are really fantastic! I had perfectly cooked rice in less than 30 minute from measuring out to serving. Amazing!
My rice cooker is still my everyday rice cooking device, since you cant beat its hands-off reliability and delayed-cooking-with-timer capability, not to mention the keep-warm feature. But if you dont have a rice cooker, and dont want to get one for whatever reason, or youre in a hurry to get some rice cooked in the shortest amount of time, I hope youll give this a try!
How to Cook Rice for a Crowd
FAQ
How do you cook rice using the shallow pan method?
What is the shallow pan cooling method?
How do you cook rice in a tilt skillet?
How do you cook rice at a low heat?
Start the rice at a hard boil over medium-high heat with the lid on. When you hear your pot hissing or the lid jittering, immediately turn the heat down to medium-low, or as low as you can get it yet still have the liquid simmering. Why? Rice likes it nice and easy. Lower heat ensures tender, evenly cooked grains.
How do you cook basmati rice?
The recommended ratio of rice and water to cook basmati rice is 1 to 2. The rice must be washed very well and it is boiled for approximately 12 minutes.
How long do you cook rice in a frying pan?
Cook for 20 minutes. This allows the rice to cook evenly, without burning the bottom. Don’t stir or open the lid. You can check once after 15 minutes if you really feel the need, but if you keep opening the pan, the rice won’t cook (remember you’re only using a very low heat). The rice should be done after 20 minutes.
How do you cook rice without a lid?
Combine rice, ½ tsp. kosher salt, and 1¼ cups water in a medium saucepan. Give everything a gentle stir. Bring to a boil, then cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low, aiming for the lowest possible flame. Cook rice, undisturbed—that means NOT opening the lid!—for 18 minutes. Remove pan from heat.