How to cook rice


The traditional Javanese method of cooking rice. I like it much better than a rice-cooker.

1½ cups uncooked rice
  1. Rinse the rice with water a few times until the water is not cloudy anymore.
  2. Put rice in a small pot and cover with water. The water should come about ½ inch above the top of the rice.
  3. Boil over medium heat, uncovered, until the water is gone (be careful not to let the rice burn). This takes 5–7 minutes. Stir occasionally with a flat wooden spoon to prevent sticking.
  4. Transfer rice to the top part of a steamer.
  5. Steam the rice over low to medium heat, cover, until done. This step takes about 15 minutes.
Serves 2–3

American notes: The kind of rice is important. Jasmine rice from Thailand is widely available here; it is alsois imported into Java, so can be considered 100% authentic. In Java, various local rices of very high quality, such as delanggu, are well worth trying, but these are grown in small quantities and, as far as I know, not exported.

Flat wooden rice paddles are available quite inexpensively in Japanese stores and sometimes in Chinese stores. These are intended more for serving than for cooking, but in fact work excellently for many purposes, such as tossing things around in a pan.  I have several and use them all the time. Wet the paddle before stirring the rice to help prevent sticking.