When I graduated from college and moved into my own place, my parents really wanted to buy me a rice cooker. Living in a 450 square foot apartment with very little counter space, I politely declined. They still offer every time they visit. After all, how can I prove that I’m Chinese if I don’t own a rice cooker? Sacrilege! Even though we’ve since upgraded to a house with slightly more counter space, I’ve now learned to cook rice just as well on the stove with one simple trick that a rice cooker doesn’t seem necessary.
Rice cooked on a stove can often turn out gummy or soggy even if you measured the rice to water ratio (1:2) out perfectly. The reason rice made in a rice cooker always turns out light and fluffy is that it has a mechanism to release steam, which forces out additional moisture that normally gets trapped in a pot resulting in wet rice. By using a kitchen towel, you can replicate this same steam release feature. The towel absorbs all the excess steam and leaves you with perfectly cooked rice. Try this out next time and let me know if you see a difference in the results!
How to Cook Perfect Rice on the Stove
Recipe Type: Carbs
Author: Jess Dang
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Stovetop rice can often turn out gummy and soggy. Use our kitchen trick to guarantee light and fluffy, like-you-made-it-in-a-rice-cooker rice every single time
Ingredients
Ingredients
Rice – any type, 1/2 cup / serving
Water – 2x water / cup of rice
Salt – ½ tsp. / cup of rice
Canola oil (optional) – 1 tbs. / cup of rice
Instructions
Make
Rinse rice until water runs almost clear. This additional step washes away any residue and also washes off any residual starch that can make your rice soggy
Place rice in a pot (I typically make rice in a Dutch oven because it holds heat very well) and fill with water using a 1:2 rice to water ratio (1 cup rice requires 2 cups water) unless the package says otherwise. Add salt and oil, cover, and bring to a boil
When the water boils, lower heat to a simmer. Place a kitchen towel over the pot, place lid over the towel, cover, and cook until rice has absorbed all liquid (~20 to 25 minutes for white rice; ~40 to 45 min for brown rice). Just make sure the kitchen towel doesn’t touch your heat source!
Remove lid and fluff rice with a spoon. You should have very light and fluffy rice because the towel has absorbed all excess steam
Smarts
To add more flavor to your rice, use chicken broth (homemade, boxed or canned, or from bouillon) in place of water
3.2.1682
Jess Dang
Jess Dang is the Founder of Cook Smarts where she also wears the hat of Chief Kitchen Coach. She left the corporate world in 2011 to start Cook Smarts because she was passionate about bringing food education back to our schools and family dinners back into our lives. Follow me here
I'm cooking black rice which produces a purple dye when it cooks. Would you suggest the towel method with that as well? If it prevents the splatter, I think it may be worth it.
Yes, it should definitely help with the spattering. Give it a try!
oy! I'm too nervous to have a dishtowel so close to the flame :( Do you cook on electric or gas? Any way to make perfect rice on the stove without using the cloth and flame simultaneously?
Thank you!!! I tried this with white rice and it worked perfectly. I've always been so frustrated with soggy and gummy rice. I've tried so many different ways to make it on the stove top, and nothing has helped until this. With the flame on low and the tips of the towel folded back over the top of the lid, I felt safe doing this. I also stayed in the kitchen, just in case.
thanks! this works soo well! for those worried about heat source vs kitchen towel, I've been gathering the ends of the towel at the top of my dutch oven and wrapping a hair tie around the handle & ends. yay for safety!
I learned this towel trick years ago from my college girlfriend's Persian family. It works great no matter what type of rice I use.
Obviously the towel should be folded and/or tucked under the lid so that is as far from the heating element or gas flame as possible. I.e. NOT like the photo above.
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I'm cooking black rice which produces a purple dye when it cooks. Would you suggest the towel method with that as well? If it prevents the splatter, I think it may be worth it.
Yes, it should definitely help with the spattering. Give it a try!
oy! I'm too nervous to have a dishtowel so close to the flame :( Do you cook on electric or gas? Any way to make perfect rice on the stove without using the cloth and flame simultaneously?
Thank you!!! I tried this with white rice and it worked perfectly. I've always been so frustrated with soggy and gummy rice. I've tried so many different ways to make it on the stove top, and nothing has helped until this. With the flame on low and the tips of the towel folded back over the top of the lid, I felt safe doing this. I also stayed in the kitchen, just in case.
thanks! this works soo well! for those worried about heat source vs kitchen towel, I've been gathering the ends of the towel at the top of my dutch oven and wrapping a hair tie around the handle & ends. yay for safety!
I learned this towel trick years ago from my college girlfriend's Persian family. It works great no matter what type of rice I use.
Obviously the towel should be folded and/or tucked under the lid so that is as far from the heating element or gas flame as possible. I.e. NOT like the photo above.