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Cooking Rice

⚠️ This recipe is general guidance, not professional instruction — you cook at your own risk. See our Terms of Use for details.

Rinse it, or don't — that single choice is most of what separates fluffy rice from a sticky clump. The other half of the job is just leaving the pot alone: no stirring, no lifting the lid, until the timer runs out.

  • Prep5 minutes
  • Cook15–18 minutes
  • Totalabout 23 minutes
  • Servings4
Illustration for Cooking Rice

Ingredients

  • 300 g long-grain or jasmine rice
  • 450 ml water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon butter or oil (optional)

Steps

  1. Put the rice in a fine strainer and rinse it under cold running water — a minute or more, until the water runs clear. Cloudy water means there is still starch on the grains that would make the rice clump together.
  2. Bring salted water to a boil in a pot, and add a teaspoon of butter or oil if you like, which keeps the grains from sticking to each other quite as much.
  3. Add the rinsed rice, stir once briefly, and once the water comes back to a full boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
  4. Cover the pot with a lid and let it cook for 15–18 minutes. Do not lift the lid while it cooks, even if you are tempted to check on it.
  5. Once the time is up, take the pot off the heat and let the rice rest for another 5 minutes, still covered — it finishes steaming from the heat trapped inside.
  6. Only now remove the lid and fluff the rice gently with a fork. A spoon would mash the grains instead.

Tip: Lifting the lid while the rice cooks lets out the steam the whole process depends on — the pot loses heat and pressure, and the rice ends up cooking unevenly, some soft, some hard. You can also tell by the sound: once the bubbling quiets down and the pot goes nearly silent, the water has been absorbed and the rice is done.

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This recipe is general inspiration, not professional instruction — times, temperatures, and ingredient suitability can vary depending on your situation. You cook at your own risk: follow the kitchen safety and hygiene basics and use your own judgment, especially with raw foods and allergens. We are not responsible for any damages resulting from using this recipe. See the terms of use for details.