The Best Way to Cook Rice is All About the Right Ratio | Rice | What’s Eating Dan?



Why do most of us struggle to make perfect rice on the stovetop at home? The answer, Dan claims, is the standard ratio is working against us. It’s not our fault!

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26 Comments

  1. I have understood the rice ratio lie for a long time, however, I never thought to sous-vide the rice with exactly the right amount of water!! Nicely done! I also didn't think it would work for every type of rice, as most cookbooks give differing amounts of water for each type of rice, so good work for sorting that out for us!

  2. On page 159 of the great “Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery,” Ken harm lays out essentially the same knuckle rule with this interesting twist: with the water at 1 inch above the rice, you bring it to a boil, and leave it uncovered until the water reaches the level of the rice. Then you cover it for 15-20 minutes.

  3. I just tried the thermostat method and it cooked way too long and came out with horrible rice. For whatever reason, it took about 40 minutes to cook 2 cups of rice. The result was gummy with some burnt bits.

  4. Good for those that live near sea level. For those that live at a higher elevation ratios are a bit trickier/ and it also depends on the amount of heat applied to the pot while the rice is cooking. So I use a pressure cooker and place the wire rack and support inside of the pressure cooker. Then I add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the pressure cooker pot. Next I use a stainless steel bowl which will hold 1 cup of brown rice and 1 and 1/2 cups of water. I heat the pressure cooker with the lid assembled until the stem comes out of the vent and set the pressure to 10 lbs. In a timed 20 minutes of cooking time under pressure, I turn the heat off and let the pressure naturally reduce until there is no longer any pressure inside the pressure cooker, about 20 minutes or so. The red indicator button falls and when I turn the valve to open there is no pressure escaping the pot. . I use a TFal dual pressure cooker. In the past I have also used a Mirror pressure cooker which uses the dual rings for the pressure toggle, one ring for 10 lbs and two rings for 15lbs pressure. If you hasten the pressure drop by running the cooker under cold water for a quick reduction of pressure, the rice will splatter all over the inside of the pot.

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