Perfect White Rice

Start with regular white rice (not the half-cooked, parboiled kind) – you can use basmati, jasmine, sushi rice.
*I’ll have to write separate post on how to microwave brown rice and wild rice next time – different water + timing instructions

For 4 people, add 1 1/2 cups of rice. This will make about 3 cups of cooked rice.

Pour in some cool water and swish the rice around to wash it.  Carefully pour out the water, keeping the rice in the pot. Just tilt the pot – the water will pour out and the rice will stay at bottom. You can even use your hands to cup the rice to prevent it from spilling out as you pour the water out. Repeat this 3 times more. Your water will be less cloudy each time. Note – the water will never be completely clear – rice is a starch, starch will cloud the water a bit!

The purpose of this is to wash the rice, getting rid of any dirt, dust and extra starch that coats the rice. Extra starch on rice makes the rice very sticky and gummy. When you wash it away, you’ll notice a big difference in the quality of the cooked rice.

Once you’re done with the washing, pour the water out again.

Now we’re going to add the cooking water. Add enough water so that it covers the rice by 1″. Sure, you can break out your ruler and do this, or you can do what my Dad taught me, use your finger to measure. It’s an Ancient Chinese Secret (okay, perhaps back then they didn’t have measuring cups.)

Put your clean finger in the pot so that the tip of your finger touches the top of the rice (don’t go all the way to the bottom – we are measuring from top of rice.) For most ladies (and men with small hands) 1″ is where your first knuckle is. DONE.

For men or ladies with large hands, just add enough water to go below the knuckle (or use your pinky finger.)

Put the lid on. Notice this rice cooker has air vents – this allows the steam to escape during cooking, which is good. If you use a microwave pot that has a very tight fitting lid, your lid will explode off. If you are using a any other microwave vessel (even a Pyrex!), put the lid on but just set it on top. Corningware glass lids will work fine – the steam will escape between the glass and pot.

Microwave for 9 minutes on high. Let it sit for 3 minutes undisturbed to finish cooking. Then it’s done.