The Foolproof Way To Make Rice Like A Master Sushi Chef

Hi, my name is Taka Sakaeda.

I'm a professional chef.

And today,

I'm gonna show you the best way to make white rice at home.

We're gonna be going over techniques the pros use

so you can make perfect white, fluffy rice.

This is White Rice 101.

The steps to cooking white rice is very simple

and straightforward.

By understanding a few concepts

we're gonna learn how to make the perfect rice

[bright music]

Today,

the method I'm showing you is for short-grain Japanese rice.

I'll be going over how to cook this type of rice

without a rice cooker.

First thing that we're gonna do

is we're gonna measure out the rice.

I'm gonna be making two cups of rice.

I have a one-cup measure here, nice to the top.

And we're gonna get one more cup.

I'm gonna go ahead and start the rinsing process here.

The first rinse

is where it's gonna have the most starch content.

What we're trying to do here is to remove

some of the starch so that when we're cooking it,

we don't end out with a gummy mess.

We're using cold water.

We're just gonna use kind of a claw hand here

and agitate the rice as this is in the water.

The agitation here is to help kind of remove

the starch from the surface of the rice.

We can see here the initial rinse.

A lot of starch is being released into the water.

And this is really important that we try to discard

this water as quickly as possible.

If we let us sit in this water,

this starch water will go back into the rice.

So after the first rinse,

we're gonna go ahead

and rinse it several more times until the water runs clear.

This second

and third rinsing is not really about the rice anymore.

It's just making sure that the starch is suspended

in the water so that when we discard the water

that there's no starch left on the bottom.

This is essentially our third rinse.

The water is clear.

We can see the rice all the way straight through.

So we're gonna go ahead and let the water drain out.

At this point, I'm gonna set a timer for five minutes.

This is really about consistency,

making the rice over and over.

If I let this rest for a random number of minutes,

then the amount of water that's left into the rice

is gonna be different every time.

[bright music]

Something that I'd like to touch on

and talk about is the fact

that this has this emblem here that says New Crop.

And so this is indicating that this was recently harvested.

So that means that generally speaking,

there's gonna be more water content in those grains of rice.

All the rice is harvested one time of the year.

And so throughout the year,

that rice is sitting and is drying over time.

Different brands

will have slightly different water content and moisture.

And also,

even the difference between a short-grain

and medium-grain will change drastically

in terms of how much water you will need.

This is why cooking rice is a science.

And you're gonna have to experiment

in order to get it perfect for you.

So if you're gonna start experimenting

making rice in a pot at home,

please try to stick with one company, one rice varietal,

making sure that all the variables are the same.

So all we're concerned about

is how much water we're putting into the pot.

Generally, if you've never cooked rice before,

a good place to start

is one part of dry rice to 1.2 parts of water.

Also, depending on the volume of rice that you're cooking,

the ratio will actually change and fluctuate as well.

And so if we're cooking a small batch of rice,

you actually need more water.

Today, we're doing two cups.

Let's say, now taking that,

and if you're doing 10 cups of rice,

the ratio is actually getting closer and closer

to one to one as you increase your volume of rice.

I have a three-quart saucepan here,

which is a decent size for cooking this amount of rice.

So here I have the two cups of dry rice going into the pot.

And so once this goes into the pot,

I wanna make sure that this is nice and level

because once I put the water in here,

I no longer want to agitate this rice.

This is really important.

We're trying to make sure that the starch stays on the rice

and doesn't come into the water.

I have here two and a quarter cups of water,

which I'll be gently pouring over the rice here.

Where I did pour,

I just wanna refill that gap

so that the rice is sitting nice and evenly.

If you don't even it out,

we will have different spots

where there'll be no rice cooking.

And so it'll be very uneven in those sections.

So we have it on high heat here.

So we're trying to bring it to a boil as fast as we can.

And then we're gonna throw the lid on there,

bring it down to a simmer so we can trap the steam.

We have the rice now simmering, our timer set at 18 minutes.

And the most important thing during this process

is not to take off the lid.

If you do lift the lid, all the steam is gonna be released,

and that is the moisture we need

to cook the rice throughout.

Having a glass lid does help

so we can see what's going on inside,

and making sure that we do see some bubbling,

and that there is steam that is moving around.

Do not open the lid, don't do it!

[bright music]

So our 18-minute timer just went off.

And we're gonna go and turn off the fire, but guess what?

Still do not take off the lid.

I'm sorry, but we have to still wait 10 more minutes.

And so we're gonna let this rest.

And the residual heat

and residual steam that's left in there is really gonna help

make sure that the rice is evenly cooked throughout.

So taking these extra steps

will ensure that you have evenly cooked,

beautiful fluffy rice.

And now, the rice has been resting for 10 minutes.

We can finally take the lid off to see what we've made.

[gentle music]

Ooh,

and so looking at the surface here, looking pretty good.

We can see individual grains of rice.

And as I'm mixing this and pulling this apart,

你看到米饭粘聚nicely,

but not overly sticky.

And we're just gonna mix this

so that the bottom here where the heat element is,

it tends to be a little bit drier.

And so we're just gonna try to incorporate

and make sure that the moisture content

in the rice is all even throughout.

And we're gonna go ahead

and put the lid back on

to really evenly distribute the rest of this,

and they'll be ready to serve.

Now that the rice has been resting

for the additional five minutes,

we're ready to serve.

And we're just gonna be serving

this as a side accompaniment.

Have this nice cute little bowl here.

And there you have it,

perfect way to cook Japanese short-grain rice.

I'm gonna go ahead and give this a taste

and make sure that everything came out nicely.

So just looking at this, again,

looking at the individual grains, looks great.

Has a nice firmness,

but center is still cooked through.

Nice and fluffy. Came out great.

This is an experiment

and this is a work in progress until you figure out exactly

what works best in your home kitchen,

in the pot that you're using,

and the rice varietal that you're using.

So don't get discouraged.

Even for professionals,

this is a process that sometimes takes 10 to 20 times

to get it perfect for the restaurant.

Stay the course,

keep experimenting, and learning to improve.