Let me start off by saying I have no problem doing perfectly cooked rice in a saucepan on my stovetop, but I usually only want one or two servings, and it does leave a pan to wash.
Last week I discovered the method below which is not only fool proof, but leaves no cleanup other than the serving dish(es). It is 35 minutes from beginning to end (totally hands off for most of that time)… plus will stay super hot for super long once done.
I have made it three times in the last week, and unless I need more than 1-3 servings, will never do rice another way again… it is perfect!
This is timely - I just made a small amount of rice last night and was lamenting the fact that it wasn’t evenly cooked (most likely because it was too big a pan for the quantity). I’ll try this next time!
“Like many kids, I would bring uncooked rice to school, in a rectangular aluminum lunch box with a lid. We’d wash the rice, add in the right amount of water, cover, and place it in a huge bamboo steamer together with everyone else’s lunch boxes, stacked high.”
What a cool story! We did not have pb&j either, and in elementary school I prided myself on perfecting the perfect sandwich of deli cut ham, deli cut swiss, Pepridge farms bread, with a smear of Hellman’s (okay, a BIG smear, and Guldens mustard. All wrapped perfectly in waxed paper.
Anyway, about the rice. This method sounds intriguing, but since I don’t eat rice much, and husband can easily eat several servings every day, I doubt I would try it for “regular” rice. I’m wondering if it would work for rices like brown or black.
I always steam my rice when I want a single serving. Equal parts rice and water, use a bowl large enough that gives the rice room to expand and cook evenly. Typically the most I can do is 1 cup raw this way, and it produces a completely full bowl. This is the bowl for one cup:
I don’t actually use a steamer unless it’s the larger amount. For this tiny serving I take a couple of stainless steel tart rings and stack them on top of each other and place the bowl on top. This allows me to use a small pot with lid rather than having to use a large pot that a steamer insert or a bamboo steamer can fit into. I use one of these two to remove the bowl in this setup because it can be hard to do so without the steam hitting your fingers (if approaching with a towel).
I just tried it on a half cup (dry) of short grain brown rice, using about 1.8 parts water to rice by volume (after a 2-hour soak). It took substantially longer than white (which I was expecting, both because it was brown rice and because of the higher amount of water) - about an hour and 15 mins in the steamer to get the water fully absorbed. Unfortunately, I ended up with a bowl of near-mush. Way too much water. Next time I’ll try 1.5x, and choose a shallower vessel. Live and learn!
Brown rice take two - I soaked 2/3 c short grain brown rice for about 20 mins then steamed with a scant cup of water (so just shy of 1.5x by volume). Used a shallower vessel as well. Success! It took about 45 mins plus 10 mins resting time to get tender kernels with intact hulls (intact hulls are elusive with other cooking methods, I find). I’m a convert!
On a related note, how does salt impact rice during cooking in your experience? I usually add a small amount to the water when I cook rice but I forgot this time, and I’m wondering if that may have contributed to the intact hulls.
It was a general question, but thank you for your answer! I normally do as well, but I need to do some experiments to see if/how it affects texture, especially with brown rice, which I always find tricky to get just right.
I cook brown rice 1:1 since I soak it overnight and I find that amount of water sufficient, but again this will depend on your cooking vessel and how fast water evaporates in it. I haven’t tried steaming it the way I do with white rice, though.
As for salt, Lorna Sass did a bit of experimenting for her Whole Grains Every Day book. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at it, so I have to look through it to see. She had sections for all types of whole grain rices like brown basmati, brown jasmine, etc.
