Rice - how to cook a specific style

[niangelo]

Ok, so I eat alot of parboiled stuff. I wanted to go the sticky direction, so I bought a bag of generic asian long-grain. It ALWAYS came out hard in the middle when I used the conventional cooking method (2 to 1 water ratio, bring to boil, cook 20-30 minutes.)

Lately I've noticed high-end restaraunts serving rice, it's not the seperated grain Swiss-Chalet style pilaf, it's the sticky, chewy, thick, glutinous kind. I wanna make rice with the consistency of the kind you get in sushi or in other Japanese food - sticky, sticky, and nice big texture.

How do I accomplish this? Rice cooker and regular rice? Special steps on the stove top?

Thanks!

 

[Andy M.]

You need to buy a different kind of rice. Long grain rice cooks up in nice separate grains unless you really mess up the cooking process.

Medium and short grain rices will cook up more sticky and will clump together (easier to pick up with chopsticks).

Look for Asian rices in the Asian/Chinese section of the market or at an Asian market.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Generic long grain white rice: the basic 1:2 (rice to water) ratio generally works and is only slightly sticky (depending on where the rice was grown, how old it is, etc) - add the rice to the water, bring it to a boil, put on a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to low for 15 minutes ... turn the heat off and let it sit for another 10-15 minutes before lifting the lid. I've never had long-grain white rice that was hard or crunchy using that method. That's pretty much the same result you'll get with a rice cooker using the same rice.

You have to realize that the rice you get in an Asian restaurant may have been cooked in advance and merely reheated when ordered ... which would account for the extra "sticky" factor in long rice.

As Andy noted - you could try using medium or short grained rice for something a little more sitcky. You can also look for something labeled Sushi or Sticky rice.

 

[niangelo]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[ironchef]

Ok, so I eat alot of parboiled stuff. I wanted to go the sticky direction, so I bought a bag of generic asian long-grain. It ALWAYS came out hard in the middle when I used the conventional cooking method (2 to 1 water ratio, bring to boil, cook 20-30 minutes.) Buy a rice cooker, use a 1.25-1 water to rice ratio for long grain, hit start and don't lose any sleep over it. Mostly all Asian restaurants use a rice cooker. For less sticky rice, decrease the water portion slightly.

Lately I've noticed high-end restaraunts serving rice, it's not the seperated grain Swiss-Chalet style pilaf, it's the sticky, chewy, thick, glutinous kind. I wanna make rice with the consistency of the kind you get in sushi or in other Japanese food - sticky, sticky, and nice big texture. Then you need to buy short grain rice, such as Calrose. Then buy a rice cooker. Use a 1 to 1 ratio and fluff the rice immediately when it is done.

How do I accomplish this? Rice cooker and regular rice? Special steps on the stove top? See above.

Thanks!

No problemo.