Rice is the most-cooked food on earth and one of the most badly cooked in home kitchens outside its heartlands. The problem is not skill; it is that the same word covers ten wildly different ingredients that each need their own method. Once you know which rice you are actually cooking and what it wants, the whole category becomes reliable.
The four rice families you will actually meet
Almost every rice you can buy at a normal supermarket falls into one of four families. Long-grain aromatic rice — basmati and jasmine — cooks into separate, fluffy grains. Short-grain rice — sushi rice, Japanese short-grain — cooks into a slightly sticky, glossy grain that holds together. Medium-grain risotto rice — arborio, carnaroli — releases starch as it cooks to make a creamy sauce. Whole-grain rice — brown, red, black, wild — keeps its bran on and needs longer cooking with more water.
Once you can tell which of those four you are dealing with, you are already halfway to cooking it well. The methods below are the ones a home cook actually needs.
Basmati: rinse, soak, cook by volume
Basmati is the long, slim, aromatic rice of the Indian subcontinent. Its texture depends almost entirely on two steps most people skip: rinsing and soaking. Rinse the rice in cold water three or four times until the water runs almost clear — this removes surface starch and stops the grains gluing together. Then soak it in fresh cold water for twenty to thirty minutes. This is what lets the grains extend to their famous long, separate shape.
To cook, use one and a half cups of water for every cup of soaked and drained rice. Bring to a boil, add a good pinch of salt, cover, drop to the lowest possible heat and leave for ten to twelve minutes without lifting the lid. Rest, covered, for another five minutes off the heat, then fluff with a fork. Fluffy, fragrant, separate.
Jasmine: rinse once, cook with a tight lid
Jasmine rice is softer and a little stickier than basmati. Rinse once or twice, no soak needed. Use one cup of rice to one and a quarter cups of water. Boil, reduce, cover tightly, twelve minutes, rest five. If the rice sticks to the bottom of the pan, your heat was too high; if it is soupy, you used too much water. Adjust once and remember for next time — the recipe is your pan, not the packet.
Short-grain: for anything that needs to hold together
Sushi rice, Japanese short-grain and Korean short-grain are all similar and behave the same way. Rinse aggressively until the water is nearly clear — this rice is dusty. Use one cup of rice to one and a fifth cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to the lowest heat, twelve minutes, rest ten minutes. The rest is not optional; it is what makes the grains glossy and even.
For sushi rice specifically, mix the hot rice with two tablespoons of rice vinegar, one tablespoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt per cup of raw rice, folded through with a wooden spoon while fanning it to cool.
Risotto rice: cook it standing up
Arborio and carnaroli are the opposite kind of rice. You want the starch to come out, not stay in, so you never rinse them. Toast the raw rice in butter and onion for a minute, add a splash of wine, then add warm stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly, waiting for each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Total time is about eighteen minutes. The finished dish should ripple slightly on the plate — "all’onda", as the Italians call it — not sit up in a mound. Finish off the heat with cold butter and grated cheese for the classic silky texture.
Brown, red, black and wild: patience and water
Whole-grain rices still have their bran on, which is what makes them nutty and chewy but also what makes them slow. Rinse once, then cook one cup of rice in two and a quarter cups of water for forty to forty-five minutes at a gentle simmer with a tight lid. Rest ten minutes before opening. Alternatively, cook them like pasta — plenty of salted boiling water, drain when tender, thirty minutes or so. This is the least stressful method for beginners and works surprisingly well.
Common mistakes and how to spot them
If your rice is gummy, you almost certainly used too much water or did not rinse enough. If it is crunchy in the middle, you cooked it too fast — the outside was done before the water reached the core. If the bottom burnt, your heat was too high or your pan too thin. If the rice tastes bland, you forgot the salt. All of these are one-lesson mistakes; make each of them once and you are set for life.
Storage and reheating
Cool cooked rice quickly — within an hour — and refrigerate in a shallow container. Reheat until piping hot and only reheat once, because rice is a well-known host for bacillus cereus if left warm for too long. Day-old refrigerated rice makes far better fried rice than fresh rice; the grains dry out just enough to fry separately.
Cook Max includes recipes for rice-based dishes across every cuisine covered above. Once the base rice is reliable, everything that sits on top of it becomes easier.