Cooking sticky rice?

[MaggieTheCat]

So, I got some Japanese sticky (sweet) rice at the store the other day and made a dish with it tonight, except when I cooked my rice, half of it stuck to the bottom of my saucepan. I followed the directions for cooking the rice exactly, which were this:

Rinse 1c rice under cold water and drain, to remove starch.
Add rice and 2c water to saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 25 minutes.

There is now a very thick layer of rice stuck to the bottom of my pan. I think I'll be able to get it off, but it's burnt and crispy and doesn't taste very good. Any tips on how to cook this stuff without it sticking so bad?

[RetailWorkhorse]

Yikes, stuck rice. Mayhaps the fire was too high.

[Aethian]

Did you rinse the rice till it the water was clear?

Something I do when I cook rice on the stove top is when at high heat to not stop stiring and then low heat is as low as I can go with a stir about a third of the way through.

[Kittish]

Sounds like you probably didn't use enough water. I always add an extra half cup or cup of water when I cook rice, and generally don't have trouble with it getting burnt to the pot. When I first started learning to cook, I'd also follow the 1 cup rice to 2 cups water ratio and often end up with burnt rice or rice that was only partly cooked when all the water was gone. A nice bonus (for me anyway) to adding extra water is that almost ANY type of rice will come out sticky, even brown rice. And I like my rice sticky.

Also, I only cook my rice about 20 minutes after it comes to a boil, and check on it several times especially near the end of that. If I can hear or see that all the water has boiled off or been absorbed, I'll take it off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes or so and check to see if it's actually done. If not, add a bit more water and back on the heat.

[Food Lady]

If you're not sure how to get it off the pan, here's the solution: sprinkle in some powdered dishwasher detergent, add hot water, and let soak. I have no idea how to keep it from getting on the pan, though.

[Der Cute]

Next time you want to cook said rice, here's how:

Put dry rice into saucepan.
Rinse at least 3 times, until water run off is clear. (fill pan, use lid to drain cold, repeat)
Add water to pan to cook rice with this trick:
Add water, enough to be level with the rice.
Jiggle the saucepan to level out the rice (think of wet sand here)
Stick index finger to bottom of pan, use thumb to measure level of rice on the finger. Don't move thumb.
Remove finger/thumb set from rice.
Put finger/thumb measurement somewhere else in pan, touching the TOP of the rice level.
Use that measurement at TOP of rice level for required water level.

And start slow, boil rice then turn water down to simmer, with lid slightly vented for cooking.

Or use a rice cooker with the finger trick.

I am part Japanese, and I was deemed the rice cooker kid in the household. Mine never burnt/stuck.

PS add more water for brown rice, another half finger

[HYHYBT]

Truth in advertising: you wanted sticky rice, you got it

[Evil Queen]

I can't cook rice. That's what I have DataJager for.

...and now I want rice. Which is better than what I wanted earlier; donuts.

[Food Lady]

I always want donuts.

[Plaidman]

What cutenoob says. When my manager bought me a rice cooker like hers, she gave damn near the exact intructions.

That and let the rice soak for a little in the water before cooking. Like 15 minutes.

[Cazzi]

I'm terrible at cooking rice, although recently I've got it perfect... twice...
& was too amazed at myself to eat it!

[NorthernZel]

I always cook my rice in the microwave - perfectly cooked, non-burnt and a wee bit sticky (we normally use Yasmin rice) every time.

[Jester]

I am part Japanese, and I was deemed the rice cooker kid in the household. Mine never burnt/stuck.

Good. Then perhaps you can help me out.

I am a huge fan of sushi and sashimi, and many times have made sashimi platters for my friends, parties, etc. I want to go to the next level and start making my own sushi. Rolls, nigiri, etc. The thing is, I have no idea how to cook sushi rice, and have heard that it is both easy and a bit complicated, if that makes sense.

So, suggestions/instructions for cooking sushi rice?

There's a free Kirin Ichiban in it for you if you can tutor me to the point that I actually get it right. Learning to make sushi has been one of my (failed) New Year's Resolutions for years now.

I always cook my rice in the microwave...

The microwave is an evil machine that should never be in a kitchen other than to heat liquids up quickly or melt butter.

No, I don't cook with the microwave. Ya think?

[NorthernZel]

The microwave is an evil machine that should never be in a kitchen other than to heat liquids up quickly or melt butter.

No, I don't cook with the microwave. Ya think?

Heh-heh

I don't use the microwave too much, though - only for cooking rice and steaming vegetables.

Originally we only bought a microwave because it was the easiest way to heat up a bottle of baby formula (and later baby food) for Lil' Zel.

[Magpie]

So, suggestions/instructions for cooking sushi rice?

Invite a friend over with strong wrists. See, you cook the rice (I've never used any special tricks), and then pour the syrup over it, and then you have to fan it until it cools. This takes quite a while. To speed it up you can pour it out onto a baking sheet, and cut it with a wooden paddle, but it still takes forever. And any kind of agitation to help it cool also makes it stick to everything.

As a suggestion - making the rice is already enough work that we never bother with making rolls. We get a large slab of salmon, make the rice, and eat salmon sashimi with sushi rice on the side.