If you cook rice the 'Asian' way, how do you stop it boiling over?

[sladtheinkaler]

(If you boil unwashed Uncle Bens in too much water and then drain and fluff it, this thread is not for you).

I rinse the rice a few times. I put water to my first knuckle. I put it on a lowish heat with the lid on and leave it alone. When I see pits / mini-craters in the rice I turn off the heat and leave it, lid on, for 10 mins and then it's perfect.

The only problem is that it does boil over when it first reaches the boil and I have to lift the lid to let out some steam a few times until it settles down.

Too high heat?
Pan too small?

@TSMWEL no, I don’t do it in the IP as I find microwave as easy. But there are loads of recipes online.

@anothercortisolqueen first knuckle- people measure the water according to finger knuckles. So cover the rice with about an extra 2cm water- up to your knuckle.

First post nails it!

You can get smaller microwave rice cookers which work brilliantly. We’ve had ours for about 20 years and it is still going strong.

Microwave rice cooker.

Small enough to fit in a pan drawer, stacked inside a medium sized pan.

And/or run some oil or fat around the interior rim of the saucepan.

Yeah I too am an epic fucker-upperer of rice. Admitting that in real-life as a brown person of south Asian heritage had led to many a judgemental glare from my MIL 🤣

If im making plain rice I will soak it for an hour, then wash until the water is clear, add salted water up to my knuckle like you do and then put the heat on high until a rapid boil then turn to medium high, watch until there are pits in the rice, pop the lid on and turn down to low for 5 mins then off with lid on for 10 mins.

I lived in South Korea for a while and ate a lot of rice! I got a rice cooker there and still love it. It is very similar to this one.

https://yum-asia.com/uk/product/panda-mini-advanced-fuzzy-logic-ceramic-rice-cooker/

We still eat rice 2 or 3 times a week and use it as a slow cooker. I don’t use the other functions that much, but if there is time the brown rice setting makes the brown rice taste wonderful.

Definitely worth it. It is our most used small kitchen appliance.

Rinse the rice really well, put it in a saucepan with plenty of cold water. Bring to a boil and boil uncovered for exactly 7 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Drain excess water, put a tea towel or paper towel over the saucepan (to soak up the steam), put the lid on and let the rice rest for 10-20 minutes. Fluff it up before serving.
Perfect "Asian style rice" every time.

Do it in the oven. Weigh the rice. Add twice that weight of boiling water (kettle is fine). Lid on. Into a 220 oven. 20 mins later, perfect rice.

I measure by volume in a Pyrex jug - half amount of rice to water, usually 100ml rice to 200ml water for two (scant though, don't overdo the water, bit under is best). Then bring to the boil quickly with lid on and turn down to lowest/1 until it just bubbles gently. Then turn off all together with the lid still on. Usually turns out nicely and takes the guesswork out of it.

Radical but my best rice is to bake it in the oven. I use 1 part rice to 2 parts water, wrap the over dish in foil and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes: rice is perfect every time

I was about to start a thread on this, as we have yet again, had soggy rice for dinner.
Any recommendations on a rice cooker?

We always use basmati rice but have got it perfect.. twice as much water as rice (ie 150g rice, 300ml water) add rice and cold water into the pan and stir once. Put on high heat until water boils then add the lid and turn down to low/medium. Cook for 10 mins and then remove from the hob. Leave the lid in place and leave to one side for it to continue cooking for another 10 mins. Comes out perfect every time, fluffy and fully cooked

Water and rice ratio needs to be exact … I do 1:2. Place rice in water,bring to the boil ( watch at this point ) once boiling , turn heat very, very low . Stir once with a wooden spoon and do not touch again then lid on for 22 mins . After 22 mins , lid off and cover with a tea towel, lid on and leave for 10 mins .

then after 10mins of resting , I stir with a chopstick to separate grains !

Exactly this. Agree that slightly under is best, can always add a little more at the end.

I sometimes wash the rice but more usually I heat a bit of oil or butter in the pan and stir the dry rice into that to coat, then add the water (I always use boiling), cover, and reduce the heat right down to minimum possible. If I do it this way I don’t wash the rice because then it’s all wet when I want to stir it around in the oil.

Oven method. Rinse rice, pour over boiling water so it covers the rice and then some, bring back to boil on stove, put lid on and put in simmering oven (100 degrees) for about 20 mins.

Another vote for buying a rice cooker here. I worked in East Asia for very many years - a rice cooker is the most basic cooking device over there and I don't think I ever came across a household that didn't have one.
Add rice up to the line, add water up to line, et voila perfectly cooked rice maintained at serving temp. Set a timer beforehand and you can have it cooked for dinner while you are on your commute home!

Absolutely.. Half Thai family here . Not seen rice cooked in a pot on a fire for at least 20 years - and only then in hill tribes with no access to electricity. Even the families in Klong Tory slum have a communal electricity point specifically for their rice cookers . Mine is going on my ‘desert island’ as my luxury. Couldn’t live without it .

You need a decent pan with a thick bottom.

Melt a bit of butter in the bottom of the pan and add the washed rice, stir it round for a couple of minutes not quite enough to colour the rice. Add cold water and turn the heat up to mid-high.

Turn it right down to low as soon as it comes to the boil and then put the lid on.

12 minutes and it's perfect.

Edited because I reread your post and realised you were doing something completely different. Asia is a big continent fwiw.

I think your pan is too small. You have to assume that the water is going to come up to roughly double its current height so if you're adding an amount of water which will fill the pan to more than slightly past half full, it's likely to boil over.

But a rice cooker is fantastic and requires none of this calculation and no input at all. Just put in water and rice and press the button. If it's ready before the rest of your food it can keep it warm safely for hours if necessary.

Just use a bigger pan 🤣

@BertieBotts which make of rice cooker do you have?

I always start with boiling water, I thought that was what I was meant to do 😭

Same. There are countless recipes where boiling / simmering water is added to rice.

I have one from amazon which I think is a no-brand because I've had two nearly identical ones which had different logos, to the point I can use the same cooking bowl and lid for the new version. I couldn't actually tell you the name without going to look in the cupboard. I don't know if I'd recommend it necessarily because it seems like the thermostat goes dodgy after a while - the first one failed to stop cooking one day and seemed like a fire hazard, while the second one has just developed an annoyingly occasional tendency to turn off early and leave the rice undercooked and a bit wet. (They work perfectly for the whole time until this happens).

I don't use the keep warm function for long mainly because I suspect them of being cheap Chinese electronics so I wouldn't leave them unattended for hours.

OK, actually having looked up the date of purchase I can see the brand names - but as said, I don't think the brand names necessarily help since it's the same model under the branding.

"Suntec" bought in December 2019, "Bestron" bought in September 2023. So they last approx 2-4 years.

I am pretty sure it is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/EMtronics-EMRCCSTSS0-6-Automatic-Removable-Non-Stick/dp/B0D2D6MX8D/