Cooking plain white rice

My mother sent me off to college with a small Zojirushi rice cooker with a three cup capacity. This was the ultimate sign of love from them. It was a life saver in college. During snow storms, when no one in my entryway wanted to walk across campus to the dining hall, we made bowls of ramen in my reliable rice cooker. We used it to mull wine and cider for holiday hot drinks dinners. And it was how I got by over Thanksgiving weekend, when I didn’t travel home and the dining halls were closed. That rice cooker is still going strong after 15 years.

But, if you don’t have a rice cooker, there is a basic rule you can follow for cooking white rice (I like jasmine) on the stove top:

* Put rice in a heavy bottomed pot with tight fitting lid. Rinse it once or twice to remove starch. Level the rice, and with your hand placed flat over the rice, add water until it reaches the creases of your first knuckle.

* Cook over high heat, stirring once or twice only, until it comes to a boil. Lower heat until medium and let it cook uncovered (no stirring beyond this point) until most of the water evaporates and tiny holes start bursting on the surface of the rice.

* At this point, lower heat to the lowest setting, cover, and let it finish cooking for 15 to 20 minutes. No stirring, and no peeking until the end.

Note: If cooking rice just for frying (that is, you have a hankering for my savory fried rice but no leftover day old rice to use), remove from heat and scoop out rice onto a large plate. Spread out on plate and place in fridge until ready for the frying.