Tips for cooking perfect rice

There are many different ways to cook rice. Some are better than others. Check out our advice for great tasting rice every time.

Use a good rice cooker

Whilst not essential a good rice cooker with fuzzy logic technology does more than simply boil the rice. It steams, braises and other cooking techniques to achieve optimal taste, texture and aroma.

Use a saucepan but do it right

The most common method of cooking rice is the boiling method in a saucepan. Often a lot of nutrients are lost in this method but if the process involves some steaming then the results can be satisfactory

Use good quality rice

Use a good quality grain which doesn't have many broken grains. If using a rice cooker choose the right function for the rice you are cooking. Do not use pre-cooked rice.

Wash your rice if needed

Not all rice needs washing but if your rice is particularly starchy then run through cold water using a sieve or similar until the water runs more clear.

Use the right amount of water

Different rice types require different amounts of water. This amount is also determined by the amount of rice you are cooking. You can either use rice cooker bowl level lines to assist with this or try work out the ratio of rice to water yourself.

Leave to rest

When finished cooking in either a pan or a rice cooker remove the cover, gently stir the rice to release excess moisture and leave it to stand for a few minutes. Leaving on keep warm in a rice cooker with the lid shut after stirring works best.

HOW TO COOK RICE
FOR ALL RICE TYPES

do these steps first

Measure how much rice you want to use

1 cup of rice = 180ml

Rinse the rice in a sieve or similar by running through water (for short grain rice run until clear)

then either cook in a saucepan or a rice cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

2. Rice Cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

Put 1.5 cups of water for each cup of rice measured and bring to boil in a saucepan
Then add cover, lower the heat and simmer for 18-20 minutes
Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes

2. Rice Cooker

Add the required cups of rice to the inner bowl
Add water to the equivalent rice level line. (use 1 rice cup : 1.2 cups of water if no level lines)
Choose WHITE RICE or LONG GRAIN cook function and press ‘START’

1. Absorption method (Pan)

2. Rice Cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

Put 2 cups of water for each cup of rice measured and bring to boil in a saucepan
Then add cover, lower the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes
Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes

2. Rice Cooker

Add the required cups of rice to the inner bowl
Add water to the brown rice level line. (use 1 rice cup : 2 cups of water if no level lines)
Choose BROWN rice cook function and press ‘START’

1. Absorption method (Pan)

2. Rice Cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

Put 2 cups of water for each cup of rice into a covered saucepan
Bring to a vigorous boil then lower the heat and simmer for 12-14 minutes
Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes

2. Rice Cooker

Add the required cups of rice to the inner bowl
Add water to the brown rice level line. (use 1 rice cup : 1.2 cups of water if no level lines)
Choose WHITE RICE or REGULAR RICE cook function and press ‘START’

1. Absorption method (Pan)

2. Rice Cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

Put 1.1 cups of water for each cup of rice measured and bring to boil in a saucepan
Then add cover, lower the heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes
Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes

2. Rice Cooker

Add the required cups of rice to the inner bowl
Add water to the equivalent rice level line. (use 1 rice cup : 1.1 cups of water if no level lines)
Choose SHORT GRAIN or WHITE RICE cook function and press ‘START’

1. Absorption method (Pan)

2. Rice Cooker

1. Absorption method (Pan)

Put 2 cups of water for each cup of rice measured and bring to boil in a saucepan
Then add cover, lower the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes
Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes

2. Rice Cooker

Add the required cups of rice to the inner bowl
Add water to the brown rice level line. (use 1 rice cup : 2 cups of water if no level lines)
Choose BROWN rice cook function and press ‘START’
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Absolutely. There is a huge difference. This is because when you cook rice in a saucepan you are pretty much boiling the rice only. There is very little steaming, braising, resting or rising and falling in temperature. This means that the best of the nutrients, flavour and texture are not retained. This is why would always advise to use a rice cooker with advanced fuzzy logic. A good rice cooker will also save you time and energy too!

Sure we do. Please check our help pages or our tips and troubleshooting guide on this page.

We would recommend that you buy a rice washing bowl. They usually look like this:

To correctly wash right you should use  a shaking and swirling motion in a motion that is similar to gold panning. See this video here.

Yes. We have a recipe blog at www.greedy-panda.com

We also sell a very useful Greedy panda cookbook available by clicking here.

The greedy panda cook book by Yum Asia

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