How to Cook Rice (Cómo Cocer Arroz)

Stovetop rice has a reputation for being tricky, which is strange, because it only asks three things of you: the right amount of water, a lid that stays on, and the patience to leave it alone. Nearly every gummy, scorched, or crunchy pot of rice comes from breaking one of those rules. Usually the last one.

This is the absorption method for long-grain white rice, the everyday rice that goes under Classic Chili, White Chicken Chili, and Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo. Rinse, measure, simmer covered, rest. Learn the ratio once and you won’t need the directions on the bag again.

What You’re Learning

Rinsing is what keeps the grains separate. Milled rice comes coated in a fine dust of loose starch. Skip the rinse and that starch dissolves into the cooking water, turns into a thin glue, and sticks every grain to its neighbor. Rinse until the water runs mostly clear and the only starch left is inside the grain, where it belongs. The same logic is why you never stir rice while it cooks: stirring scrapes fresh starch off the surface and brings the glue right back.

Steam does the cooking, and the rest finishes it. Once the pot is covered, the rice is really steaming, not boiling. When the water is gone, the grains on the bottom are fully cooked but the ones on top are a little behind. Ten minutes off the heat with the lid still on lets the trapped steam even out the moisture through the whole pot. Lift the lid early and that steam walks out the door, which is how you end up with rice that’s mushy on the bottom and firm on top.

Ingredients

Serves 4 (about 4 1/2 cups cooked).

• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice (jasmine and basmati work too)
• 2 1/4 cups cold water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the rice. Put the rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water, swishing it with your fingers, until the water runs mostly clear, about 1 minute. Shake off as much water as you can.
2. Combine everything in the pot. Add the rinsed rice, water, salt, and butter to a 3-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Give it one stir to level the rice into an even layer.
3. Bring to a boil. Set the pot over medium-high heat, uncovered, and bring it to a full boil.
4. Cover and simmer. As soon as it boils, put the lid on and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Cook for 15 minutes. Don’t lift the lid and don’t stir.
5. Rest off the heat. Move the pot off the burner and let it sit, still covered, for 10 minutes.
6. Fluff and serve. Uncover and fluff the rice gently with a fork, lifting from the bottom instead of stirring. Serve right away.

Notes

• The 1 to 1.5 ratio is for rinsed long-grain white rice. Brown rice needs closer to 1 to 2 and about 40 to 45 minutes of simmering. Short-grain sushi-style rice wants a little less water, about 1 to 1.25.
• If your lid vents a lot of steam, lay a sheet of foil over the pot before putting the lid on. Too much escaping steam is the usual reason rice comes out crunchy.
• Still firm after the rest? Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the top, cover, and set it back over the lowest heat for 5 minutes.
• Scaling up: the ratio holds, but for more than 2 cups of dry rice use a wider pot so the rice stays in a shallow layer and cooks evenly.
• Paella rice is a different animal. Short-grain rice, a wide pan, no lid, and no stirring, on purpose. See Paella Valenciana for how that one works.
• Leftover rice makes the best fried rice. Spread it out to cool, refrigerate within an hour, and use it within 3 days.