How to Cook White Rice (without a Rice Cooker)

My family often eats white rice—so often that I purchased a 10-cup Zojurushi rice cooker several years ago—we’ve had it for at least 10 years! It makes cooking rice so easy since we can just put the rice and water into the bowl of the cooker, set it for white rice, and have perfect cooked rice in about 20 minutes later! But when I’m away from home, I can still make my own rice—without my trusty rice cooker. Cooking white rice is actually very easy—there’s no reason to use that instant stuff! You can save a lot of money by purchasing one big sack of rice instead of buying it box by box. In today’s post, I am sharing how to make a pot of rice on the stove, and my blogging friends are sharing their rice recipes! Scroll to the end of the post for their recipes!

How to Stove-Cook a Pot of Rice

Supplies

Pot with a lid

A sieve with fine mesh

Dry measuring cup

Liquid measuring cup

Ingredients

One part rice to two parts water (e.g., 1 cup rice and 2 cups water)—my husband loves rice, so we usually make one cup of rice per person, but that’s a generously sized portion; you may be able to get by with 1 cup of rice per person.

Instructions

While my husband and I mostly make rice in our rice cooker, my husband’s mom, who was from South Korea, always cooked her rice on the stove (in a very old pot of hers)—and her rice came out perfectly every time! I am not sure the ratio of water to rice she used, but when I cook rice on the stove, I add two cups of water for every cup of rice.

Before you cook your rice, you should first wash it first to remove any impurities. I often just run some water over it in my pot, stir it was a chopstick, and carefully dump out the milky water, and repeat. But I also sometimes rinse it in a special rice sieve; you need to use a sieve with very fine holes so you don’t lose grains of rice through the holes.

Then, simply add the rice and water to a pot (without covering it) and heat it on medium until the water starts boiling. Once the water starts boiling, cover the pot, turn down the heat, and simmer the rice on low until for about 20 minutes, until you’ve cooked off all the water. It’s helpful to have a pot with a glass lid so you can watch the rice—you don’t want to remove the lid during the cooking process—otherwise, your rice won’t steam properly. After the rice has cooked off, remove the pot from the heat, but keep the lid on for about 5 minutes more so the rice can steam fully. I usually make enough rice for two nights and just reheat the leftover rice in the microwave the following day.

Easy Weeknight Rice Bowls

There are many quick meals you can make if you have rice! During the week, I make some rice or reheat some and top it with any of the following extras for a great meal.

• Dumplings. (We like buying frozen Bibigo “mandu”—the Korean word for dumplings, from our local Asian grocery store, Woo-Ri Mart (in Princeton Junction, NJ). I prefer the beef ones, but my daughters like the vegetarian ones with chapchae, a combination of a type of Korean noodles with vegetables. To heat the frozen dumplings, I generously coat a non-stick pan with olive oil and brown them for about 8 minutes, turning them frequently
• Sauteed fresh bok choy (just saute a small amount in olive oil until it becomes soft); you can season it with sea salt, garlic powder, or a combination of the two
• Cooked salmon (I top mine with soy sauce and a bit of garlic powder and heat it in the oven at 350 degrees until its internal temperature reaches 145 degrees)
• Cooked chicken (also seasoned with soy sauce and garlic powder, but cooked until it reaches 165 degrees)
• Cooked edamame (I just buy organic frozen edamame in a bag from Target), heat it in the microwave, and top it with some sea salt.

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