Rice in a Pot, Without a Rice Cooker

Rice is the cheapest calorie in the store and the base of about a third of the recipes here. You do not need an appliance.

The method for white rice

Ratio: 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cups water. Not two cups. The 2 to 1 ratio on the bag makes mushy rice in a pot with a good lid.

1. Rinse the rice in a bowl of cold water, swirl it with your hand, and pour off the cloudy water. Do this three times. Rinsing removes loose starch, which is the difference between separate grains and a sticky clump.
2. Put the rinsed rice, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a pot. Bring it to a boil uncovered.
3. As soon as it boils, turn the heat to the lowest setting your stove has and put the lid on.
4. Cook 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid. Every time you lift it, steam escapes and the rice on top stays hard.
5. Turn off the heat and let it sit, still covered, for 10 more minutes. This is the step everyone skips and it is the most important one. The rice finishes cooking in its own steam and the grains firm up.
6. Fluff with a fork, not a spoon. A spoon crushes the grains.

Brown rice

Same method, but 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, 40 minutes of simmering, and 10 minutes of resting. Brown rice takes longer and is more forgiving.

If it comes out wrong

Wet and mushy: too much water, or you stirred it. Never stir rice while it cooks. Next time use less water.

Hard on top, done on the bottom: your lid does not seal, or you lifted it. Put a clean dish towel between the pot and the lid to seal it, with the corners folded up away from the burner.

Burned on the bottom: heat was too high. Your lowest setting may still be too hot on an electric coil. Use a heat diffuser, or just accept a thin crust, which in Persian and Korean cooking is the best part.

Rice you can buy instead

Microwave rice pouches cost about $2 for two servings, which is roughly four times the price of dry rice. They are also already dry and cold, which makes them better for fried rice than fresh rice. Keep two in the cabinet for nights when 25 minutes is too long.

Make it once, use it three times

Cook a double batch. Cold rice from the fridge is the required ingredient for fried rice, works in soup, and reheats in the microwave with a splash of water and a plate on top. Cooked rice keeps four days in the fridge.

One note on food safety that is actually real: cool cooked rice quickly, get it in the fridge within an hour, and do not leave a pot of it out overnight. Rice is one of the few foods where this matters.