Steamed rice
is a tasty addition to almost any meal.
While steaming rice seems like an essential skill for anyone regularly preparing meals in the kitchen, it's amazing how often rice is too sticky, too dry, or burnt on the bottom and undercooked on the top. A rice cooker can solve many of these problems, but it's not necessary. You simply need to learn patience when rinsing and soaking the rice prior to cooking, and leaving a tight fitting lid on a heavy-based pot for the proper amount of time. Figure these easy skills out and you'll be serving perfectly steamed rice in no time.
Instructions
1. Put 1 cup of rice in a bowl and fill the bowl with cold tap water.
2. Work your fingers into the rice and move the water around until it becomes murky, then drain as much water out of the bowl as possible without losing any of the rice. Repeat this step at least 2 and as many as 5 times, depending on your patience.
3. Fill the bowl with cold water once more and let the rice soak for 20 to 30 minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step, but rice is quicker to cook when it is soaked.
4. Drain the water from the bowl one last time and put the rice into a flat-bottomed, heavy-gauge pan.
5. Add the water to the pan and cook on medium-high heat until the water starts to boil.
6. Turn the heat down to low, put the lid on the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes without opening the lid.
7. Take the pan off the heat and let it sit undisturbed, with the lid on, for 5 to 30 minutes.
8. Fluff the rice with your fork and enjoy your wonderfully cooked steamed rice whenever you want.
Tags: bowl with, bowl with cold, cold water, steamed rice, this step, with cold, with cold water
