Perfectly Simple and Tasty White Rice

I'm not a fabulous cook, but I've learned a few tricks over the years. One of my favorites is how to make great white rice at home on the stove top every time. This is an old traditional method that I hate to see go by the wayside, so I'll share it with you now.

First, let's talk about rice.

I didn't grow up on rice - no, that would be potatoes - but when my mom made rice, it was Instant Rice, made in a minute or so on top of the electric range. It was bland and tasteless, sometimes watery due to careless measuring, and I never cared for it. What an introduction to rice! Who came up with this parboiled, dehydrated, inferior version of one of the major staples on earth anyway?? Total yuk!! If even a kid in the 50s and 60s knew it didn't taste good, who eats this stuff? Rice is a wonder food, the staff of life for more than half the world's population, and it doesn't take that long to cook. But I had to grow up to find that out!

So what should good rice be like? Well, there's lots of rice varieties and lots of personal preferences, but generally, rice should could cook up light and fluffy with grains that look distinct from each other and not a big mushy mess. Rice is categorized as short, medium or long-grained, meaning how the raw grain measures when you compare the length versus the width. Long grain rice is three to five times longer than it is wide and it cooks up pretty fluffy. Medium grain is only about twice as long as wide so it tends to be rather sticky and is good for stuffings and puddings. Short grain rice is almost round looking, so it is the stickiest of all once it is cooked. You'll want to use short grain Arborio for Italian risotto or Japanese or Pearl rice for sushi. Each of those dishes call for rice that sticks tight, so use the rice that lends itself to that particular dish and you'll be happy with the results.

What about Brown Rice? Yeah, that's the healthy stuff. It has a nutty flavor and a reputation for being chewier and more nutritious than white rice. It is the choice of those following a Macrobiotic diet and is quite flavorful cooked up in a pressure cooker with a pinch of sea salt. Then there's Wild Rice, which is actually a grass native to North America. It is dark-colored, very yummy and a bit more expensive than other varieties of rice, so it is often mixed with a cheaper white rice to make it go farther.

For rice that will be a side dish or used in a stir fry, which is how I mostly enjoy rice, I like a fragrant long grain rice like Jasmine or Basmati. Let me tell you, nothing smells more wonderful as you cook it. Anyone who pops in or arrives home when you are preparing one of these will sniff the air in delight and greet you with a smile. The word "Basmati" actually means "fragrant" and it smells something like popcorn while you are cooking it. In the tradition of Ayurvedic medicine, Basmati rice is known as the King of Rice for its nourishing qualities and easy digestibility. It has been grown at the foot of the Himalayan mountains in India for thousands of years.

Jasmine rice is generally from Thailand. It is a bit less expensive than Basmati, so is often used as a substitute for the pricier version. One nice thing about Jasmine rice is that it doesn't harden when you refrigerate it. Have you ever put your leftover Chinese takeout rice in the fridge? The next day it is a solid block encased in the wire-handled cardboard container. Yeah, you could take the time to fry it up with some random veggies and an egg, but do you? I didn't think so.

Oh, and one more thing before we get to my rice recipe. Lots of folks eats lots of rice lots of the time. If you are in that category, you might want to invest in a Rice Cooker. I don't have one, but I hear they are positively wonderful. In fact, a rice cooker is a standard appliance in 95% of Asian households. That seems right since all you have to do with a rice cooker is add the correct amount of water to the rice, push the button and come back later to a perfectly cooked dish. Sounds unbeatable, no??

But if you are like me and you just have rice once in a while, then what you need is a good and foolproof recipe. That is just what I have for you here.

This is a no-fuss method without any true measuring. Really, I don't even measure the rice. I just pour it directly from the bag into a medium saucepan. I sort of judge by handfuls - one for me and one for you and so on. If that is too vague for you, then I will tell you that a cup of dry rice will cook up to serve about four people. That means that a cup of raw rice turns into two or so cups of cooked rice and each person eats about a half cup. That's if they're polite and not too hungry. I usually figure more than that since I like to serve generous portions and I do like leftovers. I never cook less than one-half to one cup of raw rice just for myself. More if I'm having company for supper.

Meanwhile, here's the recipe you've been waiting for. Grab your fragrant rice and pour it into a medium saucepan. Measure it out by the cup if that makes you more comfortable. Then set the saucepan in the sink and turn on the faucet so that you are running water onto the rice in the pan. Start swirling the rice with your hand to dislodge any chaff or talc. If you got the rice from a natural co-op, you might want to pick through it before you do this to find any small stones or gravel. Otherwise, most rice sold today is pretty clean and you don't have to wash it. But I still like to because I like the traditional method and also the personal contact with the food. So I swish the rice under running water several times, enjoying the weighty feel of the grains, and pour off the discolored liquid until the water runs clear.

Now here's the best tip of all: add water to the pan of rice, making sure the rice is level in the pan. Measure the water with the knuckle of your index finger. With the end of your finger touching the top of the rice, the water should come up to your first knuckle. That's barely over an inch of water by my first index knuckle, but it always works great. Some use a variation of this method by laying their palm flat on the rice and adding water until it comes up to their knuckles. That measurement is about the same on me, but I don't want to lay my hand flat in the pot. One finger will do.

Probably every Asian kid grew up knowing how to measure rice and water this way, but I'm just a Midwestern US city girl who didn't know what to do with real rice that didn't cook up in one minute flat. Now, with this method, my rice is ready to cook with no fuss and it fills my house with its floral fragrance. Some people also add soaking or toasting the grains, but I don't find it necessary.

And so, you put this pan of rice and water on the stove, add some sea salt or chicken bouillon granules if you like, and bring the pot to a boil. Give it a good stir and turn the heat down to simmer. From this point on, you DO NOT STIR the rice. You let it simmer with the lid on (or with a bit of space in the lid if your stove is hot) for 15 to 20 minutes. Soon it will start smelling very fragrant and get little holes or craters all over the surface. If you must peek, you can tilt the pan a bit to see if the water is about gone, but DO NOT STIR. When the water is pretty much gone, turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for at least ten minutes. Finally, when the rest of your dinner is ready, take off the lid and fluff the rice with a fork or a big spoon. You'll have great rice, ready to serve.

Enjoy!