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?

If you have a spare 11 minutes this channel is usually interesting and you can see from this why you don't need anything fancy.

I am usually 100% against mystery Amazon electricals but I made an exception for this that said, it feels a bit wasteful to throw away the whole device every couple of years, so I'm going to try a more reputable brand (but probably not a Western brand since I suspect they will overthink it) when I replace it this time.

@BertieBotts thank you for looking!

never seen an asian person make rice not in a rice cooker!

My rice is always perfect. Soak 10m, rinse. Place in saucepan and add boiling water from kettle, about 1inch above rice. Lid on, medium/low heat for 15m.

This should sort it out.
No more faffing (or fluffing!) about, and different flavours to boot!

Am daughter of Indian mum/Nepalese dad and agree 100% with your method. Hasn’t failed me yet and am almost 60.

Have noticed that younger Asians including DD and DS all swear by their rice cookers. In fact DS’s gf bought her trusted rice cooker from India, so even there rice cookers are being used - which surprised me the most I think

You mean the south Asian way? Boil on high at first then lower the heat and it won't boil over. When it's almost cooked add some butter or ghee.

Rice cookers from india! I am surprised!

Rice cookers are everywhere now. Saves space on the hob to cook things to go with your rice. I’d hate to be without mine.

Am I missing something? What is wrong with chucking it in a pan of water and boiling it, then draining into a colander and rinsing starch off with boiled water from the kettle? Never bothered with a rice cooker, or leaving to steam or putting a lid on or letting water boil away or measuring knuckles. I mean why? What problem are you all trying to solve?

I have a rice cooker but my Chinese Dad cooked rice like this.

Wash multiple times.
Use cold water and bring to the boil, boil for a few seconds, cover with lid, turn heat off completely, leave for about 30 to 40 minutes.

I have a Yum Asian Panda rice cooker.

Rice cookers are good for adding veg and fish to, rice, layer of veg and then fish skin side up. Chuck on for 40 mins and a complete meal.

@titchy rice can be cooked badly or at least people can cook it so it’s not to others liking.

Saves space on the hob but takes up space on the counter or wherever you need to store it.

I grew up with a rice cooker, but we don't have one now. Like many posters here, I just wash the rice a few times, use the knuckle to estimate the depth of the water and heat from cold until it boils for a bit. Turn off once it starts boiling aggressively and leave for a bit before fluffing.

Rice cookers can be versatile, but for us, a pot is fine.

It's not pasta. If you're able to drain it with separated grains, then the rice hasn't been cooked long enough and will not be the right texture. Unless you mean easy cook rice, but I find that too hard and no good for things like curries or Asian cuisine.

If you want soft, fluffy rice, then boiling it the Asian way or getting a rice cooker is the way to go.

I had the perfect rice cooker when I lived in Korea. And yeah everyone had one.

I’ve had two since being back here in the UK and neither have been that good. 😌

Cook the rice PIP. Boiling water in the main pot then wash your rice till the water runs clear and then put an equal volume of rice and water in a smaller pot in the main pot.
5 minutes high pressure for basmati and leave to stand for 3 before releasing pressure
18 minutes for brown and stand for 3.

Really easy to clean up and if the rice is to go with something else you are pressure cooking you can sit the inner pot of rice on a trivet over the other food.

No need to rinse first.. just boil for 10-11 mins then rinse in boiling water

Sure, I used a pot for years but a decent rice cooker changed my life. I can make the rice early and let the cooker hold it while I’m cooking everything else. I can cook congee or soups in it. I can set it up at night to start cooking in the early hours and have rice for making bento-style packed lunches.

Yes I can use a pot, just as I can get by with a chef’s knife and no food processor. But I’m only going back to that under duress. Putting things away after using them doesn’t feel like a huge imposition to me.

Foolproof method is 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water, never rinsed rice, I add salt. Bring the water up to the boil, the minute you see it simmering and starting to boil, turn the heat right down to the lowest, stick the tight lid on it and around 10-15 mins depending on the rice and the water, your rice will be done, make sure theres no liquid left

I do have a little rice cooker, it doesnt have a removable inner so you cant wash it apart from wiping it. Ive also had some fails with the rice cooker, so use it now and then. We dont eat a lot of rice anyway.

This is what I do too. I go from 8 to 3. It also sounds like you need to use a bigger pan. Mine is about half full when the rice is cooked. I use a rice cooker when I'm cooking for 8+ people but we are 5 so a saucepan is all I need.

I turn the hob down to 1 as soon as it starts boiling, put the lid half on until it settles down and then put the lid on properly.

Chinese family so we use a rice cooker, but I do have one of those sistema microwave rice cookers too (it's my emergency back up should the rice cooker go kaput) that someone mentioned up thread and it works well so it's a good option if you don't have the space for a rice cooker. I also have an instant pot that I believe you can cook rice in too but I haven't used it for that so can't comment on whether it's any good.

I soak the rice as long as I can, and rinse because of the arsenic risk.

@FairyBatman I still prefer the microwave. Exactly 10mins with no need to measure volumes, no qpr, no reaching into the IP with tongs to try and snag the smaller pot out without burning my fingers. The PYREX jug I use has a handle. It really couldn’t be easier. I love the IP for other things- just not rice.

I do think you need to change things slightly with different rice. And also how you want the rice, in some parts of Asia you want the rice to stick together, in others you want individual grains.

I only got a rice cooker because I was replacing my kettle and toaster and Argos had buy three pay for two offer.

If you are making a meat or chicken pilau, you can't use your method. The rice has to cook in the same pot the chicken is in mixing the two together. You need to be able to know how many cups of water per rice ratio of the type of rice you are cooking and then cook accordingly. You can't drain the rice after cooking or you are taking away all the flavour.