Ingredient

Rice

Whether rice comes out separate and fluffy or soft and clinging is decided almost entirely by which rice you bought, and only secondarily by how you cooked it. Two kinds of starch, in different proportions in different varieties, do the whole job.

Two starches

Rice starch comes in two forms. One is a long, straight molecule that sets firm as it cools and keeps grains separate. The other is heavily branched, absorbs a great deal of water, and stays soft and sticky.

Long-grain rices — basmati, most everyday long grain — are high in the first and low in the second, so they cook to distinct, dry grains. Short-grain rices — sushi rice, arborio, glutinous rice — are the reverse, so they cling, and in the case of risotto rice they release enough starch into the liquid to make it creamy without any cream.

This is why substituting is so unforgiving. Risotto made with basmati has no creaminess; a pilaf made with arborio is a stodgy mass. Neither is a cooking error.

Which rice for what

Basmati

Long, slender, aromatic, cooks very dry and separate. Indian food, pilaf, anything served alongside a sauce.

Jasmine

Long grain but softer and stickier than basmati, and floral. Thai and Southeast Asian cooking.

Arborio, carnaroli, vialone nano

Short, high in the sticky starch and firm in the centre. Risotto only. Carnaroli holds its shape best.

Bomba or Calasparra

Absorbs a lot of liquid without going creamy. Paella, where you want separate grains that have soaked up stock.

Sushi rice

Short grain, sticky enough to hold together when pressed. Seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt after cooking.

Glutinous or sticky rice

Almost entirely the sticky starch — no gluten involved despite the name. Steamed, not boiled.

Brown rice

Any of the above with the bran left on. Takes roughly twice as long, absorbs more water, and stays chewier.

Reliable fluffy rice, absorption method

For basmati and other long grain. Weighing beats measuring by volume, but a mug works if you use the same mug for both.

1. Rinse in several changes of cold water until the water runs nearly clear. This removes loose surface starch, which is what glues grains together.
2. Optionally soak for twenty to thirty minutes and drain. Soaked basmati cooks more evenly and the grains elongate rather than break.
3. Use roughly one and a half parts water to one part rice by volume for soaked basmati, or about one and three-quarters if unsoaked. Salt the water.
4. Bring to the boil, stir once, then turn the heat to its lowest setting and put a tight lid on.
5. Cook for about ten to twelve minutes without lifting the lid. Lifting it lets out the steam that is doing the cooking.
6. Take it off the heat and leave it, still covered, for a further ten minutes. Then fork it through — never stir it, which breaks the grains.

The common failures

• Sticky when you wanted fluffy — the wrong variety, no rinsing, too much water, or stirring during cooking. See rice sticking together.
• Crunchy in the middle — not enough water, or the heat was too high so the water boiled away before the grain absorbed it.
• Burnt on the bottom — heat too high. In Persian and Korean cooking a deliberately crisp bottom layer is the best part, but it is made on purpose.
• Gluey risotto — over-stirred late, or the wrong rice, or too much liquid at once. Risotto wants hot stock added gradually.
• Watery — the lid was not tight, or the pan was too wide, so steam escaped.

Storing cooked rice

Cooked rice is one of the few foods where the storage advice is genuinely a food-safety matter rather than a quality one, because of spores that survive cooking and can multiply in rice left at room temperature.

FoodHQ does not publish food-safety timings. The Food Standards Agency publishes guidance on cooling, storing and reheating cooked rice, and it is worth reading once. As a cook, the practical version is: cool it quickly, refrigerate it promptly, and do not leave a pan of rice out on the hob for hours.

Common questions