Rice

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Place the rice in a medium-size bowl. Fill
the bowl with enough water to cover the
rice. Gently rub the slender grains of rice
between the fingers of one hand, without
breaking them, to wash off any dust or light
foreign objects (like loose husks), which will
float to the surface. The water will become
cloudy. Drain this water. You don’t need a colander
for this; I just tip the bowl over
the sink to pour off the water, making sure
the rice stays in the bowl. Repeat this 3 or
4 times until after you rinse the grains the
water remains relatively clear. Now pour in
1¾ cups of cold tap water and let the rice
sit at room temperature until the kernels
soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
2 Transfer the rice, water and all, to a
saucepan. Stir in the salt and bring
to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir the
rice once or twice (just because). Let the
water boil, uncovered, still over medium high heat (and no stirring), until it has
evaporated from the surface and craters
are starting to appear in the rice, 5 to 8

1
Use your fingers to remove any dust from the rice grains.

Basics Unfolded
2 Stir the rice up from the bottom of the pot to ensure even
cooking.
1 Once the boiling water begins evaporating, craters will appear
in the surface of the rice.
colander for this; I just tip the bowl over
the sink to pour off the water, making sure
the rice stays in the bowl. Repeat this 3 or
4 times until after you rinse the grains the
water remains relatively clear. Now pour in
1¾ cups of cold tap water and let the rice
sit at room temperature until the kernels
soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
2 Transfer the rice, water and all, to a
saucepan. Stir in the salt and bring
to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir the
rice once or twice (just because). Let the
water boil, uncovered, still over medium high heat (and no stirring), until it has
evaporated from the surface and craters
are starting to appear in the rice, 5 to 8
minutes. Now (and not until now) stir once
or twice to bring the partially cooked layer
of rice from the bottom of the pan to the
surface. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting
lid and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Let the rice steep for 8 to
10 minutes (8 if you are using an electric
burner, 10 minutes for a gas burner). Then
turn off the heat and let the pan stand (or
sit, for that matter) on that burner, undisturbed, for 5 minutes.
3 Uncover the pan, fluff the rice with a
fork (this lets the steam escape so it does
not overcook the rice), and serve