Steamed Jasmine Rice
I can not overstate the importance of a properly cooked pot of steamed jasmine rice. Whether you are eating it plain (as part of a larger meal) or using it in dishes like fried rice or pad kaprao, properly or improperly cooked jasmine rice can make or break a meal.
The most obvious step to making jasmine rice is to ensure that you are in fact using….jasmine rice. Different types of rice require different cooking methods and this recipe will not work for every different type of rice. Jasmine rice from Thailand is the most common type found here in the US and most Thai brands are usually of good quality.
I usually make rice using an electric rice cooker but I have written this recipe for stovetop cooking. If you are using a rice cooker almost everything in this recipe will apply, except for the actual cooking process. Instead of messing with a burner and a timer, you can just press a button. The ratio of water to rice will remain the same using both methods.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to measuring the water when cooking rice. The first is to use a volumetric ratio of rice to water (e.g. 1 cup rice to 1 cup water). The second is to place the rice into a pot and then cover the rice with a specific “depth” of water. People will usually use a finger to measure the depth of the water above the rice. I use both methods at home but for the sake of simplicity, I will be showing you the volumetric ratio method.
An important thing to note is that whenever you are cooking larger quantities of rice (more than 2-3 cups, uncooked), it is always better to use a wider pot instead of a taller pot. The uncooked rice should never be in a layer deeper than 1 or 2 inches. If too much rice is stacked up in the pot, the rice at the bottom will get overcooked and mushy. This is because it takes a while for the water to evaporate all the way down to the bottom of the pot.
The rice and the specific dimensions of your pot can have a meaningful impact on the doneness of your rice. Making small adjustments as you cook more and more pots of rice is essential to making better rice. If your rice comes out a bit overcooked and mushy, reduce the amount of water next time. If your rice is under-cooked and crunchy, add a touch more water next time. The cooking times should not change much, just the ratio of rice to water.
Goes well with:
- Crab Fried Rice
- Green Curry of Chicken and Eggplant
Steamed Jasmine Rice
Equipment
- 2-3 quart pot with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 2.5 cups cool water, plus more for rinsing the rice
Instructions
- Place the rice into a bowl (or directly into the pot you will be cooking it in) and cover with a few inches of cold water. Use your fingers to agitate the rice and remove excess starch from the outside of the rice. The water will become cloudy as you do this.
- Carefully tilt your bowl and discard as much starchy water as you can without losing any rice.
- Add fresh water to the rice and rinse 2 or 3 more times until the water is almost clear. The purpose of washing away this excess starch is to keep your pot of rice from being mushy or gummy.
- Remove all of the excess water by straining or carefully pouring it off.
- Place rice into a 2-3 qt pot and add the 2.5 cups of measured water.
- Bring the pot of rice to a boil over high heat and once it begins to boil, immediately cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down to medium.
- Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, turn off the heat, and allow the pot to sit for 10 more minutes, covered. Do not open the lid for any reason during this whole process.
- Open the lid, fluff the rice and serve.
