Let's make shiny rice: How to cook delicious rice
Hi everyone. Yuki here.
Do you know the difference between average and delicious rice?
Delicious rice has gloss and stickiness. When it has these two things, it also means the rice is soft and fluffy. But to get perfectly fluffy rice, it starts from before you even cook the rice — it’s all about how you rinse it. The method below will change the way you cook and enjoy rice, so give it a go.
How to prepare the perfect rice
1. Measure out the desired amount of rice, place in a small mesh colander with a bowl underneath and rinse with water (best to use purified water or mineral water). Stir 2 or 3 times. The motion should be like making the rice “swim” in the water.
2. Take the colander out from the bowl and mix/polish rice 10 times (with light pressure to avoid breaking the grains). Place it in the bowl again and gently rinse. The purpose here is to remove any dirt from the surface.
When polishing rice, make sure there is almost no water. By rubbing the rice against one another, you can remove stains better.
3. Repeat the polishing step(2.) 2 or 3 times. The white cloudy water is good and you don’t need to try and change the rinsing water to clear. This water is the starch in the rice makes it tasty so don’t remove too much.
4. Take the colander out of the water to drip dry for 5 minutes. If you leave it for more than five minutes the rice can crack, which can create a bad texture.
5. Add water for cooking rice (varies on the amount of rice, follow packet instructions) and soak the rice at room temperature for 30 min to 2 hours. This makes rice light and fluffy. If you have time, you can leave it to soak overnight in the fridge for even shinier rice.
The below is unsoaked (left) vs rice soaked in water for one hour (right). If you can crush a grain of rice between your fingers (as pictured), you’re ready to cook perfectly fluffy rice.
Using brown rice?
When you use brown rice, it needs to soak for 12 hours or more. The bran of brown rice contains abscisic acid, which inhibits the body's enzymes when it accumulates in the body, making it harder to digest. Brown rice is rich in nutrition and good for your health but please rinse and soak carefully.
Have you tried this method? Let us know how your rice turned out when you try it. It also depends on the quality of rice you use so if you can, find high-quality Japanese rice and you’ll taste the difference.
Writer: Yuki Takatani
Reference:
*1 体に良いはずの食材が“毒”に!? 玄米を浸水させる“本当の理由”が衝撃的