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This ball was so huge, like bigger than some of the kids’ actual bodies, and it was a super windy day, so this of course resulted in absolute mayhem. Gleeful, delighted mayhem; every kid had a grin on their face a mile wide. What could be better than school ending, no classwork, and the promise of popsicles? (Bouncing a giant beach ball off of your head, that’s what.)
If it hadn’t been stopped, the larger-than-life beach ball would have bounded down the steep hill that also happens to be a 45 mph traffic lane. Can you imagine that car accident report? “Driver reports swerving into oncoming traffic after a beach ball the size of Mt. Olympus fell out of the sky onto the hood of his car.” 😳 Whew! Ending the school year with a bang over here??
On to today’s recipe! I’ve wanted to do a basic rice post for years and years but it always felt soooo boring. Doesn’t everyone know how to do this? NO, no they do not, I have found. I rely so much on this tried and true method, it seems unfair that I haven’t shared with you. It’s an important recipe to have in your back pocket, for weeknights and impressive dinners alike.
Rice is the perfect blank page for your stir-fry or curry, but things can go south quickly if you don’t know the rules. We make rice at least 1-2 times a weeks, and both my pre-teens can whip up a pot by themselves. Time to record how to cook rice step by step on the stovetop, for posterity!
Guys, I’m not kidding. Don’t listen to the rice maker industry. Don’t listen to the folks telling you you are going to screw this up. And please, for the love, don’t listen to the folks telling you to rinse your rice 8 times.
(Seriously, my friend Sarah had a friend when she lived in Japan who rinsed EIGHT TIMES. Actually, the story goes that this particular Japanese woman married an American dude, and the first time he made rice for her she took one bite and said, “How many times did you rinse this?” because she could tell it was three times and not eight times.🤯)
Turns out, this rinsing rule used to be super important, but is a little outdated, at least in the United States.
Rice is a big deal in Asia. Kind of like how the Inuits have 20 different words for snow, the Japanese in particular have gone deeeep into the world of rice. And indeed, if you are cooking some rice you bought overseas, you should follow all the rinsing rules you’ve heard about. Wash and clean that rice like you’re about to sell it on E-bay.
But here in the states? Nah. Rice grown and processed in Japan is not the same as rice in the United States. The reason the Japanese rinse so much is because the rice still has a sticky coating on it called hada nuka (“skin bran”), and if you cook your rice without getting that sticky stuff off, it will turn out gummy and mushy. You can buy “pre-rinsed” rice in Japan, but nobody does, because rinsing is such a cultural thing now.
If you hand-rinse rice that was already “rinsed” at the factory, you are not only doing a job that has already been done (trying to remove a “skin bran” that is not there), but you actually risk washing off some of the nutrients that are in the rice, sending them straight down the drain. Crazy, right, that it’s taken 30 years to get the memo out about this?? Raise your hand if your mama taught you to rinse the rice?
It’s all about the water to rice ratio, and timing.
It’s not hard. But sometimes, it’s the simplest things that are the easiest to mess up.
For every cup of uncooked rice, you’ll get about three cups of cooked rice (see the photo below). Generally when you’re serving a group you want 1/2 to 1 cup rice for each person, depending on what you’re serving with the rice. Of course, if you make many more cups of rice than you end up needing you can always freeze it for later (more on that later!)
Put the lid on your saucepan and turn the heat to high. As soon as the water starts bubbling (steam will escape from the lid), turn the heat down. I am always bustling around my kitchen doing other stuff while I wait for the rice to boil, and it boils over I swear about half the time. Don’t be like me. Stick around and keep an eye on it. (DON’T give up and buy a rice cooker now. If you can manage to boil pasta, you can stick around to boil rice too. Don’t be a wuss.)
Once it’s boiling, you are going to be tempted to take off that lid, especially if it boils over. Don’t do it! Just turn the heat down and walk away for 10 minutes.
Here’s the next big step. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. That’s it. Don’t take off the lid. Don’t move the pot off the stove. Don’t do anything except set a 15 minute timer. We’re letting the rice rest so it can continue steaming just a little, absorbing any extra liquid so it’s nice and fluffy.
After this strenuous waiting period, you are done! You can finally take off the lid, I promise I won’t yell at you this time.
Now it’s time to fluff!
They always say to fluff the rice with a fork, but any utensil will do. The goal here is to not smoosh the rice. So don’t jam a spoon in and stir. Instead, insert your fork or spoon underneath the rice and gently lift. Do this over and over until your rice looks big and fluffy and maybe like a little cloud that you might just float away on.
Toast the rice
There is one easy thing you can do to amp up the flavor of your rice, and that is toasting the dry rice in fat before adding the water. FATTTT yes please. Oh and we’re adding some garlic this time, because garlic is the best. I’m a garlic lover and almost always add this to my rice. Totally optional. (I usually just add a spoonful of jarred garlic.) Can you see how brown it gets? That’s because the butter gets browned as you cook. This is just regular white rice, plus browned butter – it is not brown rice. If you use oil, it won’t get as brown like this. I mean look at this toasty goodness.
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