A Rice Cooker Technique
This is a basic technique to cook steamed rice. have been cooking steamed rice with this technique since I initially started cooking rice (I think when I was ten!). My grandma taught me how to cook rice with just a rice cooker! And, I have been doing exactly the same since then. You wouldn’t believe not many people in Thailand know how to cook rice on stove. We only learned how to cook rice in just a rice cooker. I just learned how to cook rice on stovetop when I came to the US. We actually can use the same technique of measuring rice and water on stovestop. I’ll post the techniques after this rice cooker technique.
Let’s get started!
What you need is as follow:
1. Rice (Recommend: Jasmine Rice)
2. Rice Cooker
3. Water
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How to Cook Steamed Rice:
1. Put Jasmine Rice into the rice cooker pot. (The pot and the main machine is separable). The amount depends on how many people you have! Regardless of the amount of rice, you can use this technique to cook the steamed rice!
2. Wash the rice like in the photos below. You pour water into the rice and pour water out. I have repeated the process for 2-3 times. The first water looks a bit white; the last water looks clearer. But, please do not pour the rice out, just water.
3. Pour the water again into the rice. Now, you have to gently pour, not too much. The water you need is “one joint of your index finger,” measuring from the surface of the rice (NOT the bottom of the rice cooker pot). Regardless of how long your joint is or how much the rice is, you just measure from the rice surface with your own finger; that’s perfect. (How amazing the rice cooker is, right?!!??)
4. Put the rice cooker pot back to the main rice cooker. Put the lid on and plug in. Push the switch down. The light will move from warm to cook. It means that the rice is cooking. Then, wait wait wait (The time of the rice cooking depends on how much rice you cook. The rice cooker will calculate and work on it own way. You don’t have to be worried.)
Therefore, I recommend to cook rice before you cook other food. When you finish cooking the entree, the rice will be all done.
5. How do you know when the rice is done? You can see from the light! It will change from “cook” to “warm” and the steamed rice will be like in the photo below.
6. The technique that will help you cook the steamed rice delicious. When the rice is cooked, you have to stir the rice to let the smoke out. The more you do, the rice will come out great! Keep stirring until the smoke is almost gone (This technique is used when you cook the japanese rice for sushi as well).
7. You can serve the rice now.
A Stovetop Technique
I also don’t measure rice and water for the stovetop technique.
Ingredients:
Water, Rice, and A Pot with A Lid
Directions:
- Wash rice with water and rinse water off the rice.
- Pour water until the water is above one knuckle of your index finger.
- Let the water bring to a boil on stovetop on high heat uncovered.
- Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover with the lid.
- Let it cook until it’s done. It should take about 5-10 minutes.
To be honest, I have never timed my rice on stovetop. As long as you cook the rice on low, your rice won’t be burnt. I just keep an eye on my rice when I cook the rice on stovetop unlike cooking the rice in a rice cooker. If you still see some liquid in the rice, you just keep cooking. If you don’t see any liquid and your rice is white and fluffy, your rice should be just done.
You can serve the steamed rice with almost every Thai dish unless you have Thai noodle dish. If you would like to cook Thai entree, please see more Thai cooking recipes from this website!
I guarantee you will have a nice meal with your family!
ENJOY :))))
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This recipe was originally written in 2014 and got updated in 2020.
