Plain Boiled Rice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the rice two or three times, then soak it in cold water for 1–2 hours.
Cook
Bring the cold water to a boil over high heat in a medium pot.
Add the soaked rice to the boiling water, partially cover the pot, and stir occasionally.
Cook until the rice is soft but not mushy, then remove the pot from the heat.
Drain and rinse
Drain the thick water (congee water) from the rice.
Add 2–3 cups of cold water to the rice and mix well with a spoon to separate the grains.
Drain the rice again, then cover the pot with a heavy object to help it drain thoroughly.
Keep warm
Place the pot on a low charcoal fire or near the fire with some hot coals on top to keep it warm and evaporate excess moisture.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Starch that softens and swells in water, forming the main body of the dish.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the rice grains during soaking and provides the liquid for cooking.
The step that matters
Cook until soft but not mushy, then remove from heat. Rice keeps absorbing water and starch from the cooking liquid, so stopping at the right moment prevents the grains from breaking down and turning gluey.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More boiled rice recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.