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Slopslack

Why your rice is mushy, and the one fix that works

It’s the water. Use less of it, and leave the lid alone.

Weeknight Table · Mara Okafor ·

Mushy rice almost always means too much water. The ratio printed on many bags of long-grain white rice is 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, which is generous if your lid fits well. The extra water has nowhere to go, so the grains keep drinking it until they split and turn to paste.

The fix is to use less: 1 1/2 cups of water for every cup of long-grain white rice. Everything else in this post helps a little. This is the part that matters.

The method

For 1 cup of rice, which makes about 3 cups cooked:

  1. Put the rice in a bowl of cold water, swish it with your hand and pour the water off. Repeat two or three times, until the water is only slightly cloudy. Rinsing washes off loose surface starch, which is what makes rice gluey. Drain it well.
  2. Put the rice, 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in a heavy saucepan with a tight lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, uncovered.
  3. As soon as it boils, give it one stir, cover it and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Cook for 15 minutes. Don’t lift the lid. The steam is doing the cooking now, and every peek lets some out.
  4. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 10 minutes. The grains firm up, and the moisture evens out between the top and the bottom of the pot.
  5. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Ratios for other rice

Water per cup of rinsed rice, on the stove:

  • Long-grain white: 1 1/2 cups, 15 minutes
  • Jasmine: 1 1/4 cups, 12 to 15 minutes
  • Basmati: 1 1/2 cups, 15 minutes, or 1 1/4 cups if you soaked it for 30 minutes first
  • Short- or medium-grain, like sushi rice: 1 1/4 cups, 15 minutes. This rice is meant to be a little sticky.
  • Brown rice: 2 cups, 40 to 45 minutes. Or boil it like pasta in plenty of salted water for 30 minutes, drain, return it to the pot and let it steam, covered and off the heat, for 10.

What still goes wrong

  • A wide pot or a loose lid lets more steam escape. If your rice comes out crunchy on top, add 2 tablespoons of water next time, not half a cup.
  • Stirring while it cooks breaks grains and releases starch. One stir at the boil, then hands off.
  • Doubling to 2 cups works at the same ratio. Past that, take a few tablespoons off the water, because evaporation doesn’t grow with the batch.
  • Rice cookers come with their own cup, which holds about 180 milliliters, or three-quarters of a US cup. Use that cup with the lines in the bowl, or a US cup with water you measure yourself. Mixing the two is a common way to end up with soup.
  • Rice that has sat in the back of the cupboard for a year is drier and may want a tablespoon or two more water.

If it’s already mushy

Spread it on a sheet pan and put it in a 300°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes to dry the surface. It won’t be perfect, but it will be better. Or turn it into something that wants soft rice: fried rice tomorrow, since a night uncovered in the fridge dries it out; rice pudding; or congee, simmered with more water, a few slices of ginger and a soft egg on top.

Next time, measure the water. That’s all it takes.