Pro tip

[Pete Zicato]

I was nearly inspired by pierceH in the "Brown rice, white rice" thread to get a rice cooker. My previous attempts at cooking rice on the stovetop have been hit and miss. But I hate to buy special-purpose kitchen items when I can avoid it.

So I did some more google research and tried another batch. I think I've got it under control now. At least for long-grain white rice which is what I make.

Making tender rice means getting moisture through the whole grain. You should be able to get decent basmati rice by using 2 cups of water and one of rice and following the directions on the package. But that only works if you've got a pot with a tight fitting lid. I don't. So here's how I got a really good batch of white rice.

You'll need:
A heavy pot.
A strainer.
1 cup good long grain rice (basmati or jasmine)

Put the rice in the pot and run a bunch of water. Swish the rice around pour off the excess water. Do this until the water is fairly clear after swishing.

Cover the rice with water again plus a bit. Let it sit for 30 min (at least). (and there's the pro tip. Most rice recipes never mention this and it made all the difference.)

Pour the rice and water through the strainer (to get all the water off).

Put the rice back in the pot. Add two cups (or less. I'm going to try a bit less now that I'm getting moister rice).

Put the pot on heat to boil (don't cover).

Once it's boiling, turn the heat down to its lowest and cover. Disturb the rice as little as you can after this point.

Take it off the heat as soon as all the water has evaporated. For me this is ~15 minutes. (Some recipes recommend letting it rest (sit) for a few minutes after its done. This happens for us naturally in that it takes some time to get the whole family to the table and settled down.)

So there it is. Let me know if it works for you.

I love this kind of small but useful knowledge. Add your own bit of how-to below on any topic.