absorption method
Starts when the pan comes to the boil. The rest timer follows on automatically.
Cover the rice with cold water, swish for ten seconds, pour off the cloudy water. Repeat four or five times until it runs only faintly milky. Drain well. This washes off the loose milling starch that otherwise glues the grains together.
Drained rice, 450 ml cold water, 1 tsp fine salt and a knob of butter into the pan. Full heat, lid off, until it reaches a rolling boil. Stir once. That is the last time you touch it.
Lid on, heat to the lowest setting that holds. 11 minutes. Do not lift the lid — every peek vents the steam that is doing the cooking. On gas, a diffuser stops the bottom scorching.
Off the heat entirely, lid still on, 10 minutes. The moisture evens out between the wet bottom and the dry top, and the grains firm up. Skipping this is the usual reason for stodgy rice.
Run a fork through from the edges inwards, lifting rather than stirring. A spoon crushes the grains. Serve straight away.
Three or four changes of cold water, until it runs clear. Sticky rice is almost pure amylopectin starch, which is exactly what makes it cling — you are only washing off the milling dust, not trying to make the grains separate.
Cover with plenty of cold water and leave at least 4 hours, overnight for preference. This is not optional and it cannot be rushed: steam alone will not hydrate the grain, so whatever water it has taken on now is all it gets. It is ready when a grain crushes to paste between finger and thumb. Drain thoroughly.
Line a steamer with muslin, or use a bamboo basket. Rice in an even layer no deeper than 4 cm, sitting clear of the water. Lid on, over a vigorous boil, 25 minutes, turning the whole mass over at the halfway mark so the top gets its turn underneath.
Off the heat, still covered, 5 minutes. Shorter than the absorption method because there is no pooled water to redistribute — this is just to let it settle.
Turn it into a covered basket or wrap it in a clean cloth. It firms up as it cools and is meant to be eaten warm with your fingers, rolled into a ball against the side of the bowl. No salt, no butter — it is a neutral foil for what it is served with.
| Rice | Water | Cook | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basmati | 1 : 1.5 | 11 min | 10 min |
| Basmati, soaked | 1 : 1.25 | 11 min | 10 min |
| Jasmine | 1 : 1.25 | 11 min | 10 min |
| Long-grain white | 1 : 1.5 | 11 min | 10 min |
| Japanese short-grain | 1 : 1.25 | 12 min | 10 min |
| Japanese, soaked | 1 : 1.15 | 12 min | 10 min |
| Brown | 1 : 2 | 30 min | 10 min |
| Thai sticky | soak 4 h+ | steam 25 min | 5 min |