Perfect Japanese rice in a rice-cooker

Rice is the second most cultivated plant on earth, after corn, and is by FAR the dominant source of carbohydrates in Asia, where I currently live.  But growing up in America, I learned how to make rice in a pot, on the stove.  Throw in some butter, a pinch a salt and pepper, and you've got yourself a delicious side dish to those meat n' potatoes. Or so I thought.

Well, not so in Japan!  My coworkers were amazed (appalled really) that I didn't know how to use a rice cooker.  And it took 5 months of terrible, gooey rice before a nice old lady finally showed me the secret of making rice the Japanese way.  It turns out that like me, many Westerners have no idea how to make rice properly in a rice cooker.  _{(Conversely however, most Japanese have no idea how to make rice on the stove-top, so at least I have that :-)}  Several well done Instructables already exist on how to make pizza and bread and hamburgers in a rice cooker, and even alcohol, but none (that I could find) on how to make plain 'ol rice.  This instructable hopes to remedy that. 

This is delicious, fluffy white rice that the Japanese use as a base for almost every meal.  _{(Though it is not sushi rice, which uses other ingredients.)}

So without further ado, let's get started.

Step 1 Ingredients (ie. rice) and other stuff

Pretty basic stuff here.  Basically, you'll need:

Hardware -
a rice cooker
a measuring cup

Software -
short grain white rice
water

Pictures 1, 2 & 3 show the rice cooker I'm using.  It's Japanese, which will become important in later steps, but basically it is a metal bowl that fits inside of a squat bread-maker-looking device, with a few buttons on the front. 

Picture 4 shows a close up of the rice I'm using.  This is a short grain white rice, typical of Japan.  It is more starchy than its long and medium grain cousins, and that translates into a stickier rice, good for chopsticks (_{and risotto, but that might be another 'ible}).  It's a very common rice in Asia, but can be purchased in most grocery stores everywhere.

EDIT:  It has been asked what brand or variety of rice I'm using in particular, which is a good question.  I buy Koshihikari rice (Wikipedia), as I believe most people in Japan do as well.  I am not sure if this exact variety is available in every country, but undoubtedly some form of short grain rice will be.

Comments

[hottie_mchottson]

Made rice last night using the method described in this instructable and it was WAY good!! Kudos definitely. I just used normal long grain rice as it was all I had on hand and I had to rinse it 8 or 9 times before it finally wasn't very cloudy then soaked for a half hour or so.

It turned out really nice, excellent taste and texture. Plus it didn't have that weird rice sludge that always builds up on the top of my rice cooker when I cook rice. I'm a huge fan so I'll be using this method from now on. Thanks :-)

[ATTILAtheHUNgry]

So happy to hear it. :)

[sinofvalex]

nom nom.. im try make this
try making Iran rice(Persian)
its nice and has a flavour instead of english rice that is kinda tasteless to me
-regards-

[taria]

I use Jasmin rice and it turns out okay. Is this other rice better?

[ATTILAtheHUNgry]

I wouldn't say 'better', I'd say different. Jasmin rice is really good in lots of dishes, and usually (I think) it is less sticky. This rice is particularly good for chopsticks, because it is stickier. Both are delicious.

[taria]

oh okay, where can it be found? I might try it was well, since I do like rice. :) BTW where did you find the light-saber chopsticks, those are too cool.

[ATTILAtheHUNgry]

I buy mine in Japan, But I have no idea if it is available everywhere.

The chopsticks come from ThinkGeek.com I believe. They rock.

[westfw]

We once had a "rice tasting" at a party. Picked up about 7 kinds of rice (in much smaller bags than yours!) at a couple of the local markets, prepared each as per the package directions, and served them all up. Japanese "sushi" rice, Basmati, brown Basmati, black japonica, red rice, jasmine rice, and US-style "converted" rice. It was really interesting, and I recommend such an experiment if you have a community that will provide a variety of products.

The amount of water needed seems to vary a great deal depending on type of rice. The "correct" amount of water used for a US converted rice will turn Japanese rice into mush, for example.

[emilygracedavis]

Thank you so much for this! Here I have been suffering from gooey-rice syndrome for years and have been using solely brown, red, and wild rice to avoid my nasty white rice goo. I'm making white rice again tonight because of your polishing tip.

[ATTILAtheHUNgry]

Ha, no problem. :-) White rice is good stuff.

But as a native Minnesotan, I gotta give props to wild rice too, that stuff is taaaaaa-sty.

[buirv]

Not a bad instructable, However, rice is not just rice. What is they typical type of rice that the Japanese use? Or a specific brand name. They don't use Jasmine rice either and I can't stand the stinky smell of Jasmine rice. So What do the real Japanese connoisseurs use?

[ATTILAtheHUNgry]

Good question, and I've added the answer to the 'ible above.

I personally buy Koshihikari rice, which as it turns out is what most people in Japan eat. I have no clue if this variety is available in every country, but it is far and away the most popular type in Japan.

[hiroshi3110]

As a Japanese, we use Japonica rices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rice
I hope grocery stores nearby your home sell those from Japan :)

[taria]

I wonder if some Korean stores might sell it, I'll have to check it out, we have like 4 here where I live.