Cooking brown rice, or at least cooking it well, is tricky. The goal is to soften the texture of each grain's fibrous bran coating—a process that takes longer than that called for in the cooking of white rice—without causing the rice to become mushy. Unfortunately, the labels on most packaged brown rice recommend an ineffective method that suggests boiling water and rice in a two-to-one ratio, then allowing the mixture to simmer for 40 minutes or more, until all the liquid is absorbed. We followed those directions and ended up throwing away more than a few pots of unsatisfying rice. What we ultimately found is that brown rice looks and tastes the best when it has been boiled and drained like pasta and then steamed in the small amount of moisture that remains in the pot. The boiling cooks the rice, while the subsequent steaming allows the grains to retain their integrity and come out light and fluffy.
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Credit: André Baranowski
1 cup short, medium, or long-grain brown rice Kosher salt, to taste
1. Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink.
2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat. Cover the pot and set it aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork, and season with salt.
this recipe is perfect for when you don't have two hours to prepare brown rice. it is never sticky or dry this way, only light and fluffy. great as a quick side dish for a dinner after work. add vegetables, or dried fruit and spices to jazz it up while it steams.
by elskermeg
on 2009-03-18
Tried this method with brown basmati and the results really were perfect. Highly recommended!
by elskermeg
on 2009-03-18
Tried this method with brown basmati and the results really were perfect. Highly recommended!
by Burhowald
on 2009-05-12
When I cooked it in a rice cooker. 1.5 C of brown basmati rice with about 3 1/4 C of water. Fluffy, perfectly cooked.
by twarmbrod
on 2009-08-14
Great easy way to ensure rice is not sticky. Rice turned out wonderfully light and fluffy.
by Liz
on 2009-08-15
I have used this method since it was published. I have also given it to just about every one I know. I make at least 4 cups and freeze any I don't use.
by 30Daythrowdown
on 2010-01-09
I am a rice failure. As much as I love to cook as well as write a food blog, perfect rice has eluded me. THIS was the answer. I used a large stock pot and three cups of organic brown rice. It couldn't have been better. Light, fluffy, and SO easy. THANK YOU!
by LINDY.CHENG
on 2010-09-25
And 50 minutes after I read this recipe, 4 cups of totally fine, not sticky, brown rice! No more microwave brown rice from Costco!
by MICSTR
on 2010-09-28
We've been making brown rice this way almost weekly ever since the method was published and it is always perfect! No more gummy gloppy mushy brown rice anymore....
by NEWKIWI
on 2010-10-18
I used to make rice, white and brown, this way until I learned that a lot of the healthy nutrients are poured away with that water. I steam my rice now and it comes out perfectly.
by PAULAKOALA
on 2010-11-11
Question for NEWKIWI dates 10-18-2010
Can You please give me your instructions on steaming the brown rice. I too am concerned I would be pouring the nutrients away into the drain. Thank You very much I will check back here in a couple of days.
Sincerely, Paula
by PAULAKOALA
on 2010-11-11
Question for NEWKIWI date 10-18-2010
Can You please give me your instructions on steaming the brown rice. I too am concerned I would be pouring the nutrients away into the drain. Thank You very much I will check back here in a couple of days.
Sincerely, Paula
by COWPUNK123
on 2010-12-15
NEWKIWI and PAULAKOALA: The water rich material found in roots, stems and fruits do aid to the transfer of their fluid nutrients into the hot or boiling water around them. While you get the nutrients of the solid materials, varying amounts of water bound nutrients are lost. Most (not all) grains, however, act quite differently. The moisture bound nutrients in grain are found in the oils in the aleurone layer and the endosperm which are too dense to permeate the pericarp. Any nutrient loss from dumping the water is negligible. Of course, this does not apply to white rice or any other grain that has had its bran layer removed.
Hope that helps.
by ANONYMOUS
on 2010-12-24
I have been searching high and low for a technique or appliance that would make the perfect brown rice. This recipe finally did just that. I was skeptical but had just bought a new cast iron pan and decided to give it a whirl. Color me astonished! This was the best rice I have ever cooked. I bumped the recipe up to 2 cups rice so I would have some left over to freeze. The rice, spread out on a cookie sheet and frozen is just as good when reheated in the microwave for my quick lunch or dinner needs. I was paying nearly $10 for 2lbs of precooked flash frozen brown rice that wasn't nearly as good as this rice when reheated. Never again. Thank you.
by FROSTIE89
on 2011-02-21
Why would you throw out perfectly edible rice? So many people around the world are undernourished and you are throwing out rice because it's "unsatisfying".
by AVASHHUGHES
on 2011-03-10
Turned out perfect!! Used the rice to fill my bean burritos...I am a very experienced cook and can never seem to cook brown rice! I am thrilled with this method!
by RC908
on 2011-03-30
I have a question re: Brown rice technique
step 2: "2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat"
How is steam generated again when it is off the heat? if you open pot in order to drain rice, (I assume you transfer rice to a separate drain colader over the sink) that means you have to let off all the steam that was generated in the beginning no? should i use a steamer? i have a regular pot that has a vegetabel steamer on top of it. please help..thx
by MADCAT
on 2011-07-25
Perfect every time and it's nice to have the left overs waiting in the freezer.
by AARONDALLIN
on 2011-08-10
Turned out great!!
@Frostie89 The hunger and malnutrition problems of the world are not caused by an inadequate amount of food. They are caused by access and distribution problems. So keeping a bit of gross rice in your little house or apartment, in an affluent country, isn't going to make a bit of difference. Unless you were to walk around the corner and give it to someone who is hungry. If you want to truly do something, go to these places, or give to the appropriate charities. Kiva.org is a magnificent program. It allows you to lend money to people in poor areas of the world(as little as $25), in order to help their businesses. If you help small businesses in these areas it strengthens their economies and peoples. Check it out.
by PITAY REYES-VITAN
on 2011-10-05
STEAMING RICE IS PERFECT FOR US ... A STEAMER ALLOWS YOU TO COOK DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF RICE IN ONE GO. THAI-JASMINE RICE, JAPANESE RICE, BASMATI ETC ... THEY COOK AT THE SAME TIME. OR SEVERAL DIFFERENT TEXTURE OF THE SAME VARIETY AS WELL. PROPORTIONS OF RICE GRAIN TO WATER IS EASILY CONTROLLED. NO DRAINING REQUIRED. AND NO CRUST FORMATION. GREAT FOR INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCES!
by DEIRDREREID
on 2012-01-18
Has anyone tried this method with a mix of mostly brown rice and some wild rice? Wondering if the wild rice would cook enough this way. Thanks for any tips!
by JILLD
on 2012-01-22
Finally - every time I have made brown rice in the past it turns out gummy. This recipe is spot on - THANK YOU!!!
by GREEN3Q
on 2012-01-26
I just made this recipe with red cargo rice - delicious!
by LPARISE
on 2012-01-26
DEIRDREREID- I have used a mix of wild rice and brown and it came out perfect! With that being said I tend to favor my wild rice more "al dente".
by KATHLEEND
on 2012-01-27
By far, the best ever for cooking brown rice. It really works! The rice was light and fluffy. I needed more rice so I increased the water by 4 more cups and the rice 3/4 c more. Added salt in water. Cooked 35mins drained and steamed covered 10-15mins. Never had brown rice cook without being hard and chewy. Now never again! This totally works! Don't know why it works but rice is sooo good and fluffy. Perfect texture, not soft soggy crunchy hard just perfect! This brown rice is as light as white rice! WOW!!!
by KATHLEEND
on 2012-01-27
By far, the best ever for cooking brown rice. It really works! The rice was light and fluffy. I needed more rice so I increased the water by 4 more cups and the rice 3/4 c more. Added salt in water. Cooked 35mins drained and steamed covered 10-15mins. Never had brown rice cook without being hard and chewy. Now never again! This totally works! Don't know why it works but rice is sooo good and fluffy. Perfect texture, not soft soggy crunchy hard just perfect! This brown rice is as light as white rice! WOW!!!
by ABOUTROSBOUTROS
on 2012-03-23
This recipe makes cooking brown rice about as difficult as hard-boiling an egg. So straight-forward!
by gvhorwitz
on 2012-03-29
Why on earth do those folks who sell brown rice NOT print this method. Every one of them have that complex, and difficult method on their packages.
It would seem to me that if they did, they would sell tons more rice!
This is the very easiest and without a doubt, the best way to cook rice. It works and never fails to produce perfect rice.
by ESTERA
on 2012-05-02
Can you add chicken bouillon to the water after it starts to boil to give the rice more flavor?
by HAUDI
on 2012-05-14
I cook all rice -- brown, black, red (and quinoa, couscous, etc.) -- the Daisy Martinez way: oil a straight-sided skillet or medium sauce pan over med. high heat; add the rice and stir 'til coated and toasted (about 1 min); add liquid (anything from water to stock to left-over bean broth) to a level about 2 in. over the rice; boil until liquid reduced to level of rice; cover and reduce heat to "low" for 20 min. Perfect and idiot-proof. If desired, add garlic, onion & spices to the oil and salt & pepper with the liquid.
Can You please give me your instructions on steaming the brown rice. I too am concerned I would be pouring the nutrients away into the drain. Thank You very much I will check back here in a couple of days.
Sincerely, Paula
Can You please give me your instructions on steaming the brown rice. I too am concerned I would be pouring the nutrients away into the drain. Thank You very much I will check back here in a couple of days.
Sincerely, Paula
Hope that helps.
step 2: "2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat"
How is steam generated again when it is off the heat? if you open pot in order to drain rice, (I assume you transfer rice to a separate drain colader over the sink) that means you have to let off all the steam that was generated in the beginning no? should i use a steamer? i have a regular pot that has a vegetabel steamer on top of it. please help..thx
@Frostie89 The hunger and malnutrition problems of the world are not caused by an inadequate amount of food. They are caused by access and distribution problems. So keeping a bit of gross rice in your little house or apartment, in an affluent country, isn't going to make a bit of difference. Unless you were to walk around the corner and give it to someone who is hungry. If you want to truly do something, go to these places, or give to the appropriate charities. Kiva.org is a magnificent program. It allows you to lend money to people in poor areas of the world(as little as $25), in order to help their businesses. If you help small businesses in these areas it strengthens their economies and peoples. Check it out.
It would seem to me that if they did, they would sell tons more rice!
This is the very easiest and without a doubt, the best way to cook rice. It works and never fails to produce perfect rice.