8 ms·

One Knuckle Rice Rule

55 points by indiantinker 2y ago

PersianExplorer 2y ago
[flagged]
sudoaptinstall 2y ago
For many years I tried fiddling with the magic amount of water to rice. A few years back I said screw it. I now cook my rice like one would cook pasta. I pour however much I want in a pot of salted, boiling water. When it's done I pour it into a colander, set it on top of the pot, melt in some butter and fluff it with a fork. Nothing ever sticks to the bottom of the pan, it's pretty indistinguishable from rice cooked he "normal" way and it's way less hassle.
- mtsr 2y ago
  Additionally this is the best way to cook whole-grain rice. Unfortunately contaminants collect in the husk and cooking in large amounts of water dilutes it more.
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    It's also the best way to cook any rice to reduce the amount of arsenic in it.
  - sudoaptinstall 2y ago
    That's interesting, I've never come across this fact in all my years of cooking. I'll have to check it out.
- netsharc 2y ago
  The college student version is to buy rice-in-a-bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2WeH0XCz4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2WeH0XCz4 The bag serves as an interesting timer, when it's completely bloated in boiling water, the rice should be done.
  - shuvuvt5 2y ago
    A $20 rice cooker will pay itself off in a few weeks, and can cook dorm room meals too.
    - walthamstow 2y ago
      I love my WFH rice cooker lunch. A couple of frozen dumplings and some vegetables in the basket, add soy sauce to serve and you've got yourself a hands-free lunch that will sit on keep-warm until you're ready to eat it.
- GordonS 2y ago
  This makes "OK" rice, and I always use this technique for long grain rice. But for "better" kinds of rice, like basmati or jasmine, I always use the absorption method - the rice is so, so much better! The delicate flavours are better preserved and the grains are drier and more separated. Also when you're cooking stuff with the rice, such as risotto or biryani, the absorption method is a must for me - a risotto or biryani cooked otherwise is honestly not worth eating; but with absorption, the result is absolutely heavenly! I try to stick to the same brands of rice, as the amount of liquid, and cooking time, can vary from brand to brand.
- shuvuvt5 2y ago
  Pro tip, you don't even need to let it boil before adding the pasta.
  - aaomidi 2y ago
    Yeah but then it sticks
- skylurk 2y ago
  [flagged]
ryanjshaw 2y ago
Is this an issue when buying bulk rice in unlabelled bags? I don't eat a lot of rice, so when I do it's in small bags that have labels telling you exactly how much water to use?
sshine 2y ago
I cook 1 part rice with 2 parts water. Bring to a boil, leave on lowest heat for 20 minutes.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Magi604 2y ago
  I do this with my rice cooker Easy peasy no magic Asian touch required My mother tried to teach me the knuckle method as a child and it just bothered me. I need that precise ratio.
hgomersall 2y ago
The equation changes when you wish to optimise for removal of arsenic from the rice. Essentially to do that you want to pre-soak the rice and then boil it in excessive water, throwing it all away. It's tricky to get the rice cooked perfectly but it is possible. Different areas of growing have different arsenic levels, but it's very tricky to work out whether a batch of rice is likely to be high arsenic or not (we do both - try to source from a low arsenic region and cook the arsenic out).
- mrob 2y ago
  Not sure why this is downvoted. Rice bioaccumulates arsenic, and arsenic is a IARC Group 1 carcinogen with no known safe dose. Increased cancer risk has been observed even at very low doses: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3732405/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3732405/ Arsenic is found in rice in potentially risky quantities, e.g.: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651320304401 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014765132... It's possible to substantially reduce arsenic levels in rice using the correct cooking technique. This study found good results with a technique involving par-boiling in excess water, which is then discarded and the remainder of the cooking done using the standard absorption technique: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368728 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972... I personally follow this technique. I find the flavor is not noticeably different compared to pure absorption technique, and the texture is actually superior.
iainmerrick 2y ago
How can this give consistent results? The ratio of water to rice will be different depending on the pot size and the quantity of rice. If it’s assuming “the right size of pot” you need to specify how deep the rice is as well. 2 cups water to 1 cup rice seems a lot easier and more flexible. To cook a bit more rice, use a bigger cup.
- sublinear 2y ago
  The answer is the subjective judgement of rice is very broad and most people cooking it are inconsistent anyway.
- duck 2y ago
  I think most people using this rule are using a standard rice cooker and they are all roughly the same size. The measurement is from where the rice is, not the bottom of the pot. In terms of the ratio, we use equal parts water and rice, plus one additional cup of water.
  - iainmerrick 2y ago
    In terms of the ratio, we use equal parts water and rice, plus one additional cup of water. If you're cooking about a cup of rice (which is a nice big amount with a standard measuring cup -- hard to imagine needing more unless you're cooking for 5+ people) that comes out the same as my 2:1 ratio. Does that work if you're making a smaller amount, like a quarter or half cup of rice? Seems like it would be too much water.
    - e12e 2y ago
      A cup of rice in Japan, China is a standard size, and result in approximately one bowl of cooked rice. One or two cups per person would be normal. https://greedy-panda.com/2020/06/the-rice-measuring-cup-explained/ https://greedy-panda.com/2020/06/the-rice-measuring-cup-expl... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_(unit) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_(unit)
- Omin 2y ago
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
kwhitefoot 2y ago
> Basmati (Indian/Thai) What? Sure most Thai rice is Jasmine rice. Quite different from Basmati.
- NeoTar 2y ago
  Huh. I always assumed Jasmine rice was flavoured with Jasmine, didn't realise it was a different species.
  - kwhitefoot 2y ago
    Probably not a different species but definitely a very different variety.
- indiantinker 2y ago
  Thanks for the correction. It has been reflected on the article. I meant, Basmati (Indian)/ Jasmine (Thai)
happyglands 2y ago
I'm struggling with this right now and it's kinda driving me mad... My asian parents gave me a rice cooker and I'm starting to suspect there's some kind of magic involved. They use no measurement cups whatsoever, just follow this knuckle rule, which to me, as an engineer, makes no sense... Their rice cooker pot is a different size than mine, they cook different quantities than me and don't even bother to spread the rice on the pot so as to measure this precisely. Whenever I cook rice, I end up with a pool of water that bubbled out of the pot, rice stuck to the bottom and not fluffy at all. I even started a "diary" of rice cooking with the measurements (coincidentally in Bear also), but all my entries so far are marked as "FAIL". My parents were here the other day and I asked them to cook rice and use my measurement cup to find out what that knuckle rule translates to. Apparently, it's 1 rice to 1.6 of water. Did that the next day, FAIL... I've tried to wash the rice, even change the plug I use, the area of the house... It's annoying to say the least. I even tried their rice cooker for some days, same results. I guess there's some magic asian touch to it.
- ackfoobar 2y ago
  It's not a "ratio" as you have to account for evaporation, which is more or less constant across different amount of rice.
- sparsely 2y ago
  Rice cookers are super lenient with water quantities. Sometimes they "beep" for being done a little early, I've found that leaving the rice for like 10 minutes in the cooker after it's officially done to help a lot with consistency. Also are you sure you aren't using parboiled rice, which needs slightly different measurements?
  - happyglands 2y ago
    Yes, I'm using regular rice. My main issue is not even the end result (although the rice ends up pretty dry/sticky depending on the amount of water) but rather the fact that I end up with a puddle of starchy water on my kitchen top.
sparsely 2y ago
I've been using this foolproof method to make medium or shortgrained white rice for years. Quantities for two people: * One Nutella glass[1] worth of rice (don't overfill, the "peak" of the rice should be in line with the rim * Wash the rice in the rice cooker bowl several times, drain by tipping the water out without letting the rice flow out. You'll be left with a small amount of water in the bowl * One full Nutella glass worth of water. Put the rice cooker on! You can also add salt/coconut milk/etc to taste without adjusting the above. [1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/ac/35/74ac3541abbba4f63b99c97a3eae4e1a.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/ac/35/74ac3541abbba4f63b99... Eat the Nutella first if required!
- iainmerrick 2y ago
  Those little Nutella glasses are great, very handy in the kitchen. No lip and non-airtight lid means they're excellent for keeping things like sourdough starter. The lid won't pop off, and it's easy to scoop the starter out cleanly. It's funny that the larger glasses are comparatively useless (except for holding huge quantities of Nutella) with their massive shoulder and lip.
tshanmu 2y ago
The traditional Indian style of cooking involves cooking till about 80% on heat with however much you want and then drain the water (like pasta). I remember reading somewhere[1] that it reduces the amount of the arsenic leftover in rice by draining the water. [1] https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-rice-that-removes-arsenic-and-retains-nutrients/ https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-... Edit: added source
anujdeshpande 2y ago
Feature request - how to make sticky rice to go with Asian curries?
- indiantinker 2y ago
  Sticky rice is tricky as if you need good texture, you must steam it. Here is a good guide : https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-sticky-rice/ https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-sticky-rice/
walthamstow 2y ago
So many people misusing the word Asian in this thread. It's a big place and it has a lot of different rice-eating cultures.
switch007 2y ago
I recently experimented with frying the dry rice with lard, garlic and onion for a few minutes before boiling. The lard gives such a great taste. I'd usually use olive oil but currently it's 8x the price
a_c 2y ago
If you are to cook with a rice cooker, take the starting ratio of rice to water 10:11 by volume, adjust base on other factors. The one knuckle rule works because in most families, the environment of cooking the rice, the tool, the people to serve, the type of rice, is more stable. The heuristics of one knuckle fail instantly if you want to cook for one person (too much water), or cook in open fire where water evaporates
jcmeyrignac 2y ago
I read somewhere that the correct proportion is around 1.7 of water for 1 glass of rice. The rice is rinsed at least 5 times, to remove the starch.
ReptileMan 2y ago
1 part rice to 1.05 - 1.2 parts water by weight. You are welcome. Best way is to put the water and rice in a cup in a steaming vessel - pressure cooker with no pressure works really nice. If you use a pot - a dash or two more water for evaporation.
- sabellito 2y ago
  I don't understand this type of advice. Is it 1.05 or 1.2? How much more for evaporation? This isn't even close to fool proof. The pot and lid influence the ratio: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DJFU7ezipbg https://youtube.com/watch?v=DJFU7ezipbg
  - ReptileMan 2y ago
    Depends on the rice and application if you use 1.05 or a bit more. Sushi rice - you want lower end. Basmati - depends on the texture desirable. This is why I said the best way is to steam the water and rice cup - then you use precise ratio. If you use pot and lid - it is more of a trial and error to dial it in.
iamthejuan 2y ago
The key is the depth of rice should be the depth of water from the water surface to the surface of the rice.
pureheartlover 2y ago
What kinda rice cookers you guys got? Mine has a toggle which has cook on one setting and warm on the other. It gets turned on at the powerpoint. I was in a Japanese department store and saw some rice cookers which gave me the same feeling as when I saw their toilets - inadequacy!
atombender 2y ago
For basmati rice, the pasta method works the best: - Soak the rice for 10-40 minutes (more tends to be better; skip for parboiled sella rice) - In a pot, cover the rice in plenty of water (no need to measure with knuckles) and bring to a boil. - After about 4 minutes (depends on brand; sella takes longer; should be al dente but not crispy when you bite into it), drain and put back in pot. - Let rest on very low heat for five-ten minutes with a towel on top to absorb steam. This gives perfectly fluffy basmati every time.
xs83 2y ago
I find extra long grain basmati rice doesnt do well in a rice cooker, much prefer the soak and huge pan of water method so I can get consistent results for inch long rice grains! I measure for all other rices in my rice cooker depending on the rice
t-3 2y ago
That's a pretty strange rule of thumb. Using twice as much water as rice (by volume) is much easier, not to mention infinitely more hygienic. Don't forget the salt.
- fbdab103 2y ago
  Fighting words. I suspect a substantial fraction of the world cooks rice by this knuckle method. As for unhygienic, you do wash your rice, right? Your hands should already be in there. Edit: Jo Koy explains how to cook rice with this method https://youtu.be/wMNLicO2cHw?t=107 https://youtu.be/wMNLicO2cHw?t=107
  - kwhitefoot 2y ago
    We never wash rice before cooking it in our household. It's never a problem.
    - fragmede 2y ago
      You do you, but there can be arsenic in rice, which is proven to cause cancer, so in other areas of the world, washing the rice is important.
      - atopal 2y ago
        Unfortunately washing rice doesn’t remove the arsenic[0], cooking it with a lot of water like pasta does that. You might still want to wash the rice to remove other contaminants, depending on the rice you use. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3CHsbNkr3c&pp=ygUEUmljZQ%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3CHsbNkr3c&pp=ygUEUmljZQ%3D...
- christianqchung 2y ago
  What is strange to you and me is common for hundreds of millions of people. It's strange to me that you're paranoid about touching rice which is going to be boiled for half an hour. You don't wash your hands before cooking? Not all rice needs salt either.

55 points by indiantinker 2y ago

[flagged]

For many years I tried fiddling with the magic amount of water to rice. A few years back I said screw it. I now cook my rice like one would cook pasta. I pour however much I want in a pot of salted, boiling water. When it's done I pour it into a colander, set it on top of the pot, melt in some butter and fluff it with a fork. Nothing ever sticks to the bottom of the pan, it's pretty indistinguishable from rice cooked he "normal" way and it's way less hassle.

mtsr 2y ago
Additionally this is the best way to cook whole-grain rice. Unfortunately contaminants collect in the husk and cooking in large amounts of water dilutes it more.
- globular-toast 2y ago
  It's also the best way to cook any rice to reduce the amount of arsenic in it.
- sudoaptinstall 2y ago
  That's interesting, I've never come across this fact in all my years of cooking. I'll have to check it out.
netsharc 2y ago
The college student version is to buy rice-in-a-bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2WeH0XCz4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2WeH0XCz4 The bag serves as an interesting timer, when it's completely bloated in boiling water, the rice should be done.
- shuvuvt5 2y ago
  A $20 rice cooker will pay itself off in a few weeks, and can cook dorm room meals too.
  - walthamstow 2y ago
    I love my WFH rice cooker lunch. A couple of frozen dumplings and some vegetables in the basket, add soy sauce to serve and you've got yourself a hands-free lunch that will sit on keep-warm until you're ready to eat it.
GordonS 2y ago
This makes "OK" rice, and I always use this technique for long grain rice. But for "better" kinds of rice, like basmati or jasmine, I always use the absorption method - the rice is so, so much better! The delicate flavours are better preserved and the grains are drier and more separated. Also when you're cooking stuff with the rice, such as risotto or biryani, the absorption method is a must for me - a risotto or biryani cooked otherwise is honestly not worth eating; but with absorption, the result is absolutely heavenly! I try to stick to the same brands of rice, as the amount of liquid, and cooking time, can vary from brand to brand.
shuvuvt5 2y ago
Pro tip, you don't even need to let it boil before adding the pasta.
- aaomidi 2y ago
  Yeah but then it sticks
skylurk 2y ago
[flagged]

ryanjshaw 2y ago

Is this an issue when buying bulk rice in unlabelled bags? I don't eat a lot of rice, so when I do it's in small bags that have labels telling you exactly how much water to use?

sshine 2y ago

I cook 1 part rice with 2 parts water. Bring to a boil, leave on lowest heat for 20 minutes.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Magi604 2y ago
I do this with my rice cooker Easy peasy no magic Asian touch required My mother tried to teach me the knuckle method as a child and it just bothered me. I need that precise ratio.

hgomersall 2y ago

The equation changes when you wish to optimise for removal of arsenic from the rice. Essentially to do that you want to pre-soak the rice and then boil it in excessive water, throwing it all away. It's tricky to get the rice cooked perfectly but it is possible. Different areas of growing have different arsenic levels, but it's very tricky to work out whether a batch of rice is likely to be high arsenic or not (we do both - try to source from a low arsenic region and cook the arsenic out).

mrob 2y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted. Rice bioaccumulates arsenic, and arsenic is a IARC Group 1 carcinogen with no known safe dose. Increased cancer risk has been observed even at very low doses: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3732405/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3732405/ Arsenic is found in rice in potentially risky quantities, e.g.: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651320304401 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014765132... It's possible to substantially reduce arsenic levels in rice using the correct cooking technique. This study found good results with a technique involving par-boiling in excess water, which is then discarded and the remainder of the cooking done using the standard absorption technique: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720368728 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972... I personally follow this technique. I find the flavor is not noticeably different compared to pure absorption technique, and the texture is actually superior.

iainmerrick 2y ago

How can this give consistent results? The ratio of water to rice will be different depending on the pot size and the quantity of rice. If it’s assuming “the right size of pot” you need to specify how deep the rice is as well. 2 cups water to 1 cup rice seems a lot easier and more flexible. To cook a bit more rice, use a bigger cup.

sublinear 2y ago
The answer is the subjective judgement of rice is very broad and most people cooking it are inconsistent anyway.
duck 2y ago
I think most people using this rule are using a standard rice cooker and they are all roughly the same size. The measurement is from where the rice is, not the bottom of the pot. In terms of the ratio, we use equal parts water and rice, plus one additional cup of water.
- iainmerrick 2y ago
  In terms of the ratio, we use equal parts water and rice, plus one additional cup of water. If you're cooking about a cup of rice (which is a nice big amount with a standard measuring cup -- hard to imagine needing more unless you're cooking for 5+ people) that comes out the same as my 2:1 ratio. Does that work if you're making a smaller amount, like a quarter or half cup of rice? Seems like it would be too much water.
  - e12e 2y ago
    A cup of rice in Japan, China is a standard size, and result in approximately one bowl of cooked rice. One or two cups per person would be normal. https://greedy-panda.com/2020/06/the-rice-measuring-cup-explained/ https://greedy-panda.com/2020/06/the-rice-measuring-cup-expl... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_(unit) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_(unit)
Omin 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

kwhitefoot 2y ago

> Basmati (Indian/Thai) What? Sure most Thai rice is Jasmine rice. Quite different from Basmati.

NeoTar 2y ago
Huh. I always assumed Jasmine rice was flavoured with Jasmine, didn't realise it was a different species.
- kwhitefoot 2y ago
  Probably not a different species but definitely a very different variety.
indiantinker 2y ago
Thanks for the correction. It has been reflected on the article. I meant, Basmati (Indian)/ Jasmine (Thai)

happyglands 2y ago

I'm struggling with this right now and it's kinda driving me mad... My asian parents gave me a rice cooker and I'm starting to suspect there's some kind of magic involved. They use no measurement cups whatsoever, just follow this knuckle rule, which to me, as an engineer, makes no sense... Their rice cooker pot is a different size than mine, they cook different quantities than me and don't even bother to spread the rice on the pot so as to measure this precisely. Whenever I cook rice, I end up with a pool of water that bubbled out of the pot, rice stuck to the bottom and not fluffy at all. I even started a "diary" of rice cooking with the measurements (coincidentally in Bear also), but all my entries so far are marked as "FAIL". My parents were here the other day and I asked them to cook rice and use my measurement cup to find out what that knuckle rule translates to. Apparently, it's 1 rice to 1.6 of water. Did that the next day, FAIL... I've tried to wash the rice, even change the plug I use, the area of the house... It's annoying to say the least. I even tried their rice cooker for some days, same results. I guess there's some magic asian touch to it.

ackfoobar 2y ago
It's not a "ratio" as you have to account for evaporation, which is more or less constant across different amount of rice.
sparsely 2y ago
Rice cookers are super lenient with water quantities. Sometimes they "beep" for being done a little early, I've found that leaving the rice for like 10 minutes in the cooker after it's officially done to help a lot with consistency. Also are you sure you aren't using parboiled rice, which needs slightly different measurements?
- happyglands 2y ago
  Yes, I'm using regular rice. My main issue is not even the end result (although the rice ends up pretty dry/sticky depending on the amount of water) but rather the fact that I end up with a puddle of starchy water on my kitchen top.

sparsely 2y ago

I've been using this foolproof method to make medium or shortgrained white rice for years. Quantities for two people: * One Nutella glass[1] worth of rice (don't overfill, the "peak" of the rice should be in line with the rim * Wash the rice in the rice cooker bowl several times, drain by tipping the water out without letting the rice flow out. You'll be left with a small amount of water in the bowl * One full Nutella glass worth of water. Put the rice cooker on! You can also add salt/coconut milk/etc to taste without adjusting the above. [1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/ac/35/74ac3541abbba4f63b99c97a3eae4e1a.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/ac/35/74ac3541abbba4f63b99... Eat the Nutella first if required!

iainmerrick 2y ago
Those little Nutella glasses are great, very handy in the kitchen. No lip and non-airtight lid means they're excellent for keeping things like sourdough starter. The lid won't pop off, and it's easy to scoop the starter out cleanly. It's funny that the larger glasses are comparatively useless (except for holding huge quantities of Nutella) with their massive shoulder and lip.

tshanmu 2y ago

The traditional Indian style of cooking involves cooking till about 80% on heat with however much you want and then drain the water (like pasta). I remember reading somewhere[1] that it reduces the amount of the arsenic leftover in rice by draining the water. [1] https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-rice-that-removes-arsenic-and-retains-nutrients/ https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-... Edit: added source

anujdeshpande 2y ago

Feature request - how to make sticky rice to go with Asian curries?

indiantinker 2y ago
Sticky rice is tricky as if you need good texture, you must steam it. Here is a good guide : https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-sticky-rice/ https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-sticky-rice/

walthamstow 2y ago

So many people misusing the word Asian in this thread. It's a big place and it has a lot of different rice-eating cultures.

switch007 2y ago

I recently experimented with frying the dry rice with lard, garlic and onion for a few minutes before boiling. The lard gives such a great taste. I'd usually use olive oil but currently it's 8x the price

a_c 2y ago

If you are to cook with a rice cooker, take the starting ratio of rice to water 10:11 by volume, adjust base on other factors. The one knuckle rule works because in most families, the environment of cooking the rice, the tool, the people to serve, the type of rice, is more stable. The heuristics of one knuckle fail instantly if you want to cook for one person (too much water), or cook in open fire where water evaporates

jcmeyrignac 2y ago

I read somewhere that the correct proportion is around 1.7 of water for 1 glass of rice. The rice is rinsed at least 5 times, to remove the starch.

ReptileMan 2y ago

1 part rice to 1.05 - 1.2 parts water by weight. You are welcome. Best way is to put the water and rice in a cup in a steaming vessel - pressure cooker with no pressure works really nice. If you use a pot - a dash or two more water for evaporation.

sabellito 2y ago
I don't understand this type of advice. Is it 1.05 or 1.2? How much more for evaporation? This isn't even close to fool proof. The pot and lid influence the ratio: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DJFU7ezipbg https://youtube.com/watch?v=DJFU7ezipbg
- ReptileMan 2y ago
  Depends on the rice and application if you use 1.05 or a bit more. Sushi rice - you want lower end. Basmati - depends on the texture desirable. This is why I said the best way is to steam the water and rice cup - then you use precise ratio. If you use pot and lid - it is more of a trial and error to dial it in.

iamthejuan 2y ago

The key is the depth of rice should be the depth of water from the water surface to the surface of the rice.

pureheartlover 2y ago

What kinda rice cookers you guys got? Mine has a toggle which has cook on one setting and warm on the other. It gets turned on at the powerpoint. I was in a Japanese department store and saw some rice cookers which gave me the same feeling as when I saw their toilets - inadequacy!

atombender 2y ago

For basmati rice, the pasta method works the best: - Soak the rice for 10-40 minutes (more tends to be better; skip for parboiled sella rice) - In a pot, cover the rice in plenty of water (no need to measure with knuckles) and bring to a boil. - After about 4 minutes (depends on brand; sella takes longer; should be al dente but not crispy when you bite into it), drain and put back in pot. - Let rest on very low heat for five-ten minutes with a towel on top to absorb steam. This gives perfectly fluffy basmati every time.

xs83 2y ago

I find extra long grain basmati rice doesnt do well in a rice cooker, much prefer the soak and huge pan of water method so I can get consistent results for inch long rice grains! I measure for all other rices in my rice cooker depending on the rice

t-3 2y ago

That's a pretty strange rule of thumb. Using twice as much water as rice (by volume) is much easier, not to mention infinitely more hygienic. Don't forget the salt.

fbdab103 2y ago
Fighting words. I suspect a substantial fraction of the world cooks rice by this knuckle method. As for unhygienic, you do wash your rice, right? Your hands should already be in there. Edit: Jo Koy explains how to cook rice with this method https://youtu.be/wMNLicO2cHw?t=107 https://youtu.be/wMNLicO2cHw?t=107
- kwhitefoot 2y ago
  We never wash rice before cooking it in our household. It's never a problem.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    You do you, but there can be arsenic in rice, which is proven to cause cancer, so in other areas of the world, washing the rice is important.
    - atopal 2y ago
      Unfortunately washing rice doesn’t remove the arsenic[0], cooking it with a lot of water like pasta does that. You might still want to wash the rice to remove other contaminants, depending on the rice you use. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3CHsbNkr3c&pp=ygUEUmljZQ%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3CHsbNkr3c&pp=ygUEUmljZQ%3D...
christianqchung 2y ago
What is strange to you and me is common for hundreds of millions of people. It's strange to me that you're paranoid about touching rice which is going to be boiled for half an hour. You don't wash your hands before cooking? Not all rice needs salt either.