In Southeast Asia, like in China, rice is consumed at pretty much every meal. Filipinos eat a lot of it. Most of the recipes in this blog suggest serving the dish with, or over, rice, so here are a few notes on preparing perfect rice.
First, be a bit selective when buying your rice. Avoid products such as Minute Rice or Uncle Ben's Converted Rice, just get regular old white rice. Look for rice that's fairly long-grained as opposed to short or broken grains (the latter makes the best rice porridge or pudding, but isn't so good for Asian foods.) California or jasmine rice is just fine. Even cheap store-brand rice in five-pound plastic bags, such as S&W and Scotch-Buy, will do nicely: you don't need to get imported rice from an Asian market. On the other hand, if you're going shopping at one of those anyway, their rice might be cheaper than that in regular supermarkets. It doesn't really matter that much what you get, though.
If you buy rice that's sold in bulk from open bins, such as in some Asian markets or in co-ops, take a little rice in your hand and check out the grain quality. Also smell it to make sure it isn't musty.
To cook perfect rice Asian-style you first need to wash it. Place 1 cup of uncooked rice per person plus a little more (for second servings or if you're feeding Asians: they eat a lot of rice, so make extra in that case) in a large, heavy saucepan. Wash and dry your hands. Place the pan in your sink and add plenty of water. Using your fingers, swish all the rice around quite a bit. The goal is to remove dirt, dust, rice weevils and excess starch. So if you see any little dark things floating around during the washing be sure and remove them, including dark rice grains.
Tilt the pan and drain most of the water out, using the fingers of one hand as a kind of strainer to keep the rice from making its getaway along with the water. repeat this process three or four times.
Some people like to use a spoon, spatula or wire whisk to wash their rice. I prefer using my fingers because that lets me feel the rice: I can feel when enough starch has been removed as the rice feels different: grainier, somehow. I can't describe it, but there it is. Removing excess starch helps keep your cooked rice from being too sticky or gooey.
When your rice is washed, add twice as much water as there is uncooked rice. I measure this Filipino-style with my index finger: poke your finger unto the rice until it hits the bottom of the pan and feel how deep the rice is, then mark that spot with your thumb. Then do the same thing only stop when the tip of your finger just reaches the rice. The top of the water should just come up to where your thumb is. Too much water and your finished rice will be too wet: not enough and it won't cook completely and will scorch on the bottom. Note that different kinds or strains of rice will require slightly different amounts of water: some need a bit more than others so you'll have to experiment. The general rule of thumb (no pun intended) is twice as much water as uncooked rice, at least to start with. You can always add more water, a little at a time, during cooking so it's better to err on the side of not quite enough vs. too much.
Place the pan on your stove over medium-high heat, covered loosely, and heat until the water just starts to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover more tightly (just leave a slight gap for excess steam to escape) and cook for 15 minutes. Do not stir during cooking.
If you lose track of time simply take a little rice on the end of a fork and eat it to see if it's tender. If it is, it's ready to remove from the heat and let steam a little (see below.) It should be tender, not crunchy, yet still a bit tough at this point as it will still be allowed to steam a bit longer in its own heat.
Check your rice every five minutes or so and add a little more water if it's too dry. Don't stir! After the 15 minutes are up, remove the pan, tightly covered, from the heat and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. This will allow the rice to continue steam-cooking until it's just right. You can now remove the lid and let your rice cool until it's ready to eat, if you want to. Some people like to fluff up their rice with a fork at this point, but Asians usually don't bother.
Leftover rice can be reheated for later use if a bit of extra water is added to prevent sticking and scorching when reheating, or it can be used to make fried rice. We mix some up in our dog's food along with their kibble to stretch the latter a bit longer: our dogs love it (they think they're getting "people food"), and seem to thrive on it as rice is easily digestible and isn't usually an allergen. Dogs that aren't all that active, such as household pets, don't need nearly as much protein from meats in their dog food as do working dogs, such as hunting dogs during hunting season, so adding a bit of digestible cereal as a filler is OK. Most cheaper and/or well-known dog food brands use corn for this anyway, and rice is better for them than corn (a known allergen and not easily assimilated by dogs' systems.)
As an aside: what we "foreigners" call steamed rice, Filipinos refer to as "plain rice." Steamed rice means rice bowls: meals in a bowl containing cooked rice and topped with some cooked chicken and a sauce or gravy, often containing a few veggies like peas and carrots. I learned this the hard way: my wife, a friend and I were in the food court of a shopping mall one evening and decided to have dinner there. I wasn't that hungry (I was a bit constipated that day, actually) so I ordered a serving of chop suey (a vegetable dish) and two servings of steamed rice, thinking I was just going to get two scoops of cooked rice. Instead, I got my chop suey plus two rice bowls! Way more food than I wanted to eat that day! So if you're in a Filipino restaurant and want some more steamed rice, order plain rice if you don't want a surprise. On the other hand, those rice bowls are quite delicious. :)
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