For the longest time, long-grain white rice was my Achilles heel in the kitchen. No matter what I did, the rice would end up sticky, waterlogged, or even (for a change) burnt on the bottom. I was frustrated and quite embarrassed. Is it really that hard to cook rice?
That all changed on one of my first days at culinary school, when I was asked to prepare rice for another dish. When I nervously asked my chef instructor if there was a particular way he wanted me to prepare it, he shrugged and said, “Just boil it like pasta,” and then went off to help someone else.
Spirit. Blown.
My tip for perfect rice without measuring
I have since learned that boiling rice is a common way to prepare long grain rice (or any grain, really) in many cultures around the world, and it’s easy to see why. You don’t need special pots, measuring cups, or even a water-to-rice ratio. The rice cooks equally the same, regardless of the heat source, the type of rice, or the amount of rice. Boiling rice is truly the easiest and most straightforward method I know.
Fill a saucepan with water, add the rice, bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain the rice, return it to the saucepan and let it steam in its residual heat until ready to serve.
Super easy, right? Nothing fancy, but I promise it gets the job done. This method produces rice with distinct, individual grains and a chewy texture that's best eaten with a spoon or fork.
My technique works best with long-grain white rice, such as basmati, texmati, jasmine, or long-grain brown rice. You can also use it to cook short-grain rice (or barley, farro, or other grains), but you'll lose the unique textures and sticky, starchy properties of cooking these grains with other methods.
How to Make Boiled Long Grain Rice
You can cook as much rice as you want, as long as you use a large enough pot. One cup of dry rice will yield about four cups of cooked rice, so increase or decrease the amount depending on how much you need.
- Fill a pot with water and add the rice. The rice should be covered by several inches of water and have enough room to float from top to bottom (about a 1:4 ratio of rice to water). If using, add at least one teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of rice. Stir several times to make sure the rice and water are well combined.
- Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat until it maintains a gentle simmer.
- Cook the rice until it is barely tender. White rice will cook in about 10 to 15 minutes. Brown rice will cook in about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir the rice a few times during cooking as you remember. Taste it toward the end of cooking to check if it is done. It is done when it is no longer crunchy but still a little too firm for your taste.
- Drain the rice: Place a colander over your sink or a large bowl and drain the rice and cooking liquid. (You can save the cooking liquid for other cooking projects.) Shake the colander several times to completely drain the rice.
- Immediately after draining, while the rice is still hot and steaming, return it to the pot and cover. Let it sit off the heat for 10 to 15 minutes. The steam trapped in the pot will finish cooking the rice and help give it the perfect texture.
- Uncover the rice, fluff it with a fork and serve.
Simple tip!
You can keep the rice cooking liquid and use it to thicken soups, as a cooking liquid, or even to drink on its own. Remember that if it has been salted, you will need to adjust the salt in the recipe you are making.
Some useful tips
- If you are looking for individual, distinct grains, Try rinsing raw rice several times before cooking. This helps remove excess starch from the grains. You can also toast the rinsed grains in a little butter or olive oil before adding the water, or toss the cooked rice with a little butter or olive oil when you return it to the pot to steam.
- Scrub and clean your filter immediately after use, so that the rice starch does not have time to dry on the strainer. Trust me, dried rice starch is a real pain to clean up.
