Today I introduce you to “How to cook Japanese rice perfectly and easily”. If you have a rice cooker, you can just follow their directions. But if you don’t have one, this is the easiest recipe for perfect Japanese rice.
Steamed rice is a staple food in Japanese cuisine. Japanese rice has soft texture and rice grains are shiny when it is cooked! We mostly eat rice two or three times a day. Even when we don’t cook, most super markets and convenience stores have many kinds of rice balls and rice products can be cooked in microwave.
Lately, some people add multi-grain rice to white rice when it is cooked to make the dish healthier but steamed white rice remains perennial favorites.
The cookbook Bento for Beginners is now available on Amazon.
Tips for cooking Japanese rice;
- Find dried short-grain white rice, not “sweet sticky rice”.
- Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes before cooking.
- The heat level is the key. Once it boils, turn down the heat to very low not to get burned.
- Do not open the lid when it is cooking even if it bubbles over. Wait patiently.
- Steam the rice for 10 minutes after cooking.
Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese rice
Tips for storing cooked rice;
Put one portion of cooked rice without cooling down in a glass container with a lid or freezer bag, or wrap with plastic wrap. Store in the freezer and use within 3 weeks. When you eat, put unwrapped frozen rice on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes with a cover.
The key to store is to freeze the rice without cooling so it has fresh cooked rice taste even after storing for 3 weeks in the freezer.
Ingredients (4 servings, about 4 cups)
1 ½ cups short-grain white rice (I recommend Koshihikari Rice 4.4 Lb)
1 2/3 cups water
Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese rice
January 4, 2020 at 6:31 pm
Thanks for the tip. It never occurred to me to freeze cooked rice. I’ll give it a try! 🙂
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January 4, 2020 at 6:41 pm
Yes!! Please try!! You won’t regret it 🙂 For Japanese rice, freezing is the best, no refrigerate!!
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January 4, 2020 at 8:42 pm
Good to know! Thanks! 🙂
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January 4, 2020 at 9:20 pm
Thank you!!😊😊
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January 5, 2020 at 2:21 am
Koshihikari is my favourite rice, the only white rice I use now, and I use it for everything, even risotto. It has am amazing taste, once we tried it, we never went back.
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January 5, 2020 at 11:46 am
Can’t agree more!!! Koshihikari is the one I love eating in the US😊
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January 5, 2020 at 10:01 am
I always struggle cooking rice so I’ll be sure to give this a try! 🙂
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January 5, 2020 at 11:50 am
Thank you!! Hope this helps you😊😊
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January 5, 2020 at 4:37 pm
This is great! Thanks for sharing these easy rice-cooking instructions! 🙂
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January 5, 2020 at 7:32 pm
My pleasure😊 It still takes a little bit time to soak and steam but it is worth it😃
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January 11, 2020 at 8:27 pm
I’ve never tried using a kitchen towel when resting the rice and I couldn’t believe how much it improved the rice. I’ve been steaming rice like this for years, but from now on I make sure to take this extra step. thank you for the advice!
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January 13, 2020 at 10:23 pm
Thank you for stopping by and for the comment😃 If you use a rice cooker, you don’t need this step, but when you cook Japanese rice with a deep pan, you might want to steam rice with a kitchen towel or kitchen paper to make rice softer and moisture. I hope you will like it😊
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February 24, 2020 at 1:59 am
Koshihikari is the best one in Japan. It would be know as the king of white rice in Japan. My favorite!!
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February 25, 2020 at 12:59 am
Yes, indeed! There are many many kinds of rice out there so I just wanted to suggest one of good famous short grain rice.
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