Cooking rice!

That's all there is to it! Really!

Cooking plain rice really is dead easy but it can also be a disaster. Work out your way to make it work and then always do it that way to avoid disappointment.

This isn't a guide to cooking all different rices in all different ways. Just the way we do it. It is called 'The Absorbtion Method'.

Our favourite white rice is Basmati because it has that fragrant far-eastern smell. It isn't the right thing to serve with everything but we do just that anyway because we like it.

Any white easy-cook rice is ok. Our reader (Hello Chloe!) has just asked "what is easy-cook rice?" because it seems that they don't put that on the packet any more. So just buy plain white rice or white basmati and you'll be fine. Some white rice is impossible though so definitely do not buy white American long-grain rice.

Even if they don't label it any more, easy-cook means it is already washed and pre-steamed to make it less likely to stick into a glop. And that is essential. Glop is only ok in extreme circumstances or for risotto or rice pudding. I hope you are never in such a circumstance except intentionally. American long-grain is always a right old glop, risotto and pudding rice are meant to be glop.

To cook plain white rice:

Measure out the amount you need. One cup is way too much for two people but not really enough for three.

Put the rice into a cold saucepan. Use a nice big pan because the rice likes to cook in a thinnish layer.

Add exactly twice the volume of water. So one cup rice = two cups of water (duh!). Use boiling water out of the kettle if you can because you start timing from when the water boils and it isn't that easy if you use cold water and have to guess the moment it started boiling.

Add the water and put the heat on high. When the water boils again then stir briefly to make the rice all loose in the water. Now put the lid on and cover the pan. It has to boil on a very low heat from now on but it mustn't stop actually boiling.

Set a timer for eight minutes.

Rice actually takes about 10-12 minutes so after eight minutes you can check how it's getting on but know that it isn't overcooked. Overcooked is undesirable when you are rice.

So what you do is CAREFULLY dig a hole right in the middle and see how much water is left still to absorb. DON'T Disturb the rest of it. Stirring at any point after the first boil will give you glop. Glop is undesirable.

Look at the bottom of the pan in the hole you've just dug and judge the amount of water that is left as follows:

Quite wet and watery down there: Lid back on, 2-3 minutes and check again.

Definitely wet but not very: Lid back on, 1 more minute and check again,

A bit slimy and starchy but no actual water left: Take off the heat and put on a cold ring or a trivet somewhere. Rest for ten minutes. Stir to fluff up. Serve. Yum.

Dry but not stuck: TAKE right off the heat RIGHT NOW and put on a cold ring or a trivet somewhere. Rest for ten minutes. Stir to fluff up. Serve. Also Yum.

Stuck to the bottom but still white and smells ok: You probably got away with it. Take off the heat, add a couple of tablespoons of hot water into the hole you dug. Leave it alone and hope it recovers before fluffing up and looking as cool as possible while your guests carry on chatting.

Very well stuck to the bottom or worse: Maybe scrape a bit off the top and pretend you are on a diet. Hopefully someone else is doing the washing up and they a have strong scouring pad.

Variations to this are really only for brown rice. For some reason brown rice cooks completely differently to white rice. I think it's because white rice is actually brown rice with the brown layer removed. Apart from being very tasty indeed, the brown layer holds all the starch together when you cook it. So for brown rice you boil it like a vegetable and drain it afterwards. The cooking time is longer too, typically 20-25 minutes. Brown rice is always going to work. Just follow the instructions on the packet.