[0 - 1] - Hi, my name is Taka Sakaeda.
[1 - 3] I'm a professional chef. And today,
[3 - 5] I'm gonna show you the best way to make white rice at home.
[5 - 7] We're gonna be going over techniques the pros use
[7 - 10] so you can make perfect white, fluffy rice.
[10 - 12] This is White Rice 101.
[12 - 15] The steps to cooking white rice is very simple and straightforward.
[15 - 17] By understanding a few concepts
[17 - 22] we're gonna learn how to make the perfect rice [bright music] Today,
[22 - 25] the method I'm showing you is for short-grain Japanese rice.
[25 - 27] I'll be going over how to cook this type of rice
[27 - 28] without a rice cooker.
[28 - 29] First thing that we're gonna do
[29 - 31] is we're gonna measure out the rice.
[31 - 32] I'm gonna be making two cups of rice.
[32 - 35] I have a one-cup measure here, nice to the top.
[35 - 37] And we're gonna get one more cup.
[38 - 40] I'm gonna go ahead and start the rinsing process here.
[40 - 41] The first rinse
[41 - 43] is where it's gonna have the most starch content.
[43 - 45] What we're trying to do here is to remove
[45 - 47] some of the starch so that when we're cooking it,
[47 - 48] we don't end out with a gummy mess.
[48 - 49] We're using cold water.
[49 - 51] We're just gonna use kind of a claw hand here
[51 - 54] and agitate the rice as this is in the water.
[54 - 57] The agitation here is to help kind of remove
[57 - 59] the starch from the surface of the rice.
[59 - 61] We can see here the initial rinse.
[61 - 64] A lot of starch is being released into the water.
[64 - 66] And this is really important that we try to discard
[66 - 67] this water as quickly as possible.
[67 - 69] If we let us sit in this water,
[69 - 71] this starch water will go back into the rice.
[71 - 72] So after the first rinse,
[72 - 73] we're gonna go ahead
[73 - 77] and rinse it several more times until the water runs clear. This second
[77 - 80] and third rinsing is not really about the rice anymore.
[80 - 82] It's just making sure that the starch is suspended
[82 - 84] in the water so that when we discard the water
[84 - 86] that there's no starch left on the bottom.
[88 - 90] This is essentially our third rinse.
[91 - 92] The water is clear.
[92 - 94] We can see the rice all the way straight through.
[94 - 96] So we're gonna go ahead and let the water drain out.
[96 - 99] At this point, I'm gonna set a timer for five minutes.
[99 - 101] This is really about consistency,
[101 - 103] making the rice over and over.
[103 - 106] If I let this rest for a random number of minutes,
[106 - 109] then the amount of water that's left into the rice
[109 - 113] is gonna be different every time. [bright music]
[113 - 114] Something that I'd like to touch on
[114 - 115] and talk about is the fact
[115 - 118] that this has this emblem here that says "New Crop."
[118 - 121] And so this is indicating that this was recently harvested.
[121 - 122] So that means that generally speaking,
[122 - 125] there's gonna be more water content in those grains of rice.
[125 - 128] All the rice is harvested one time of the year.
[128 - 129] And so throughout the year,
[129 - 133] that rice is sitting and is drying over time. Different brands
[133 - 137] will have slightly different water content and moisture. And also,
[137 - 138] even the difference between a short-grain
[138 - 140] and medium-grain will change drastically
[140 - 141] in terms of how much water you will need.
[141 - 143] This is why cooking rice is a science.
[143 - 145] And you're gonna have to experiment
[145 - 146] in order to get it perfect for you.
[146 - 148] So if you're gonna start experimenting
[148 - 150] making rice in a pot at home,
[150 - 153] please try to stick with one company, one rice varietal,
[153 - 155] making sure that all the variables are the same.
[155 - 157] So all we're concerned about
[157 - 159] is how much water we're putting into the pot.
[159 - 160] Generally, if you've never cooked rice before,
[160 - 162] a good place to start
[162 - 165] is one part of dry rice to 1.2 parts of water.
[165 - 169] Also, depending on the volume of rice that you're cooking,
[169 - 171] the ratio will actually change and fluctuate as well.
[171 - 174] And so if we're cooking a small batch of rice,
[174 - 175] you actually need more water.
[175 - 177] Today, we're doing two cups.
[177 - 178] Let's say, now taking that,
[178 - 180] and if you're doing 10 cups of rice,
[180 - 182] the ratio is actually getting closer and closer
[182 - 185] to one to one as you increase your volume of rice.
[185 - 187] I have a three-quart saucepan here,
[187 - 190] which is a decent size for cooking this amount of rice.
[190 - 195] So here I have the two cups of dry rice going into the pot.
[195 - 197] And so once this goes into the pot,
[197 - 198] I wanna make sure that this is nice and level
[198 - 200] because once I put the water in here,
[200 - 202] I no longer want to agitate this rice.
[202 - 203] This is really important.
[203 - 206] We're trying to make sure that the starch stays on the rice
[206 - 207] and doesn't come into the water.
[207 - 210] I have here two and a quarter cups of water,
[210 - 213] which I'll be gently pouring over the rice here.
[213 - 214] Where I did pour,
[214 - 215] I just wanna refill that gap
[215 - 217] so that the rice is sitting nice and evenly.
[217 - 219] If you don't even it out,
[219 - 220] we will have different spots
[220 - 222] where there'll be no rice cooking.
[222 - 224] And so it'll be very uneven in those sections.
[224 - 226] So we have it on high heat here.
[226 - 228] So we're trying to bring it to a boil as fast as we can.
[228 - 230] And then we're gonna throw the lid on there,
[230 - 232] bring it down to a simmer so we can trap the steam.
[232 - 235] We have the rice now simmering, our timer set at 18 minutes.
[235 - 238] And the most important thing during this process
[238 - 239] is not to take off the lid.
[239 - 242] If you do lift the lid, all the steam is gonna be released,
[242 - 243] and that is the moisture we need
[243 - 245] to cook the rice throughout.
[245 - 246] Having a glass lid does help
[246 - 248] so we can see what's going on inside,
[248 - 250] and making sure that we do see some bubbling,
[250 - 252] and that there is steam that is moving around.
[252 - 259] Do not open the lid, don't do it! [bright music]
[259 - 260] So our 18-minute timer just went off.
[260 - 264] And we're gonna go and turn off the fire, but guess what?
[264 - 266] Still do not take off the lid.
[266 - 269] I'm sorry, but we have to still wait 10 more minutes.
[269 - 271] And so we're gonna let this rest.
[271 - 272] And the residual heat
[272 - 275] and residual steam that's left in there is really gonna help
[275 - 277] make sure that the rice is evenly cooked throughout.
[277 - 279] So taking these extra steps
[279 - 281] will ensure that you have evenly cooked,
[281 - 282] beautiful fluffy rice.
[282 - 284] And now, the rice has been resting for 10 minutes.
[284 - 290] We can finally take the lid off to see what we've made. [gentle music] Ooh,
[290 - 292] and so looking at the surface here, looking pretty good.
[292 - 294] We can see individual grains of rice.
[294 - 298] And as I'm mixing this and pulling this apart,
[298 - 300] you're seeing that the rice is sticking together nicely,
[300 - 302] but not overly sticky.
[302 - 304] And we're just gonna mix this
[304 - 307] so that the bottom here where the heat element is,
[307 - 309] it tends to be a little bit drier.
[309 - 310] And so we're just gonna try to incorporate
[310 - 312] and make sure that the moisture content
[312 - 314] in the rice is all even throughout.
[314 - 316] And we're gonna go ahead
[316 - 318] and put the lid back on
[318 - 320] to really evenly distribute the rest of this,
[320 - 322] and they'll be ready to serve.
[322 - 324] Now that the rice has been resting
[324 - 325] for the additional five minutes,
[325 - 326] we're ready to serve.
[326 - 327] And we're just gonna be serving
[327 - 329] this as a side accompaniment.
[329 - 331] Have this nice cute little bowl here.
[333 - 334] And there you have it,
[334 - 337] perfect way to cook Japanese short-grain rice.
[337 - 339] I'm gonna go ahead and give this a taste
[339 - 342] and make sure that everything came out nicely.
[342 - 344] So just looking at this, again,
[344 - 347] looking at the individual grains, looks great.
[348 - 350] Has a nice firmness,
[350 - 352] but center is still cooked through.
[352 - 354] Nice and fluffy. Came out great.
[354 - 355] This is an experiment
[355 - 358] and this is a work in progress until you figure out exactly
[358 - 359] what works best in your home kitchen,
[359 - 361] in the pot that you're using,
[361 - 362] and the rice varietal that you're using.
[362 - 364] So don't get discouraged.
[364 - 365] Even for professionals,
[365 - 368] this is a process that sometimes takes 10 to 20 times
[368 - 369] to get it perfect for the restaurant.
[369 - 370] Stay the course,
[370 - 372] keep experimenting, and learning to improve.