5 Tips on How to Cook Japanese Rice Even Tastier

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1 How to Cook Japanese Rice with Rice Cooker

1.1 Tip1. Rinse the rice properly

1.2 Tip2. Put the rice and good water in a rice cooker

1.3 Tip3. Let the rice soak before cooking

1.4 Tip4. Steam the rice after cooking

1.5 Tip5. Loosen the rice

2 Elevate Your Menu Today!

Japanese Food
Last ModifiedJanuary 22, 2025
how to, rice

How do you usually cook Japanese rice? Even the quality of rice cooker is getting improved, there are some process you should be careful when you cook Japanese rice. Find the best way to cook Japanese rice and elevate your Japanese cuisine today!

How to Cook Japanese Rice with Rice Cooker

Tip1. Rinse the rice properly

How to rinse the rice is very important step. Rice need to be rinsed before it is cooked to remove bran and debris on the surface of rice.

About the water

Rice absorbs water when you are rinsing the rice and when you let the rice soak before cooking. That’s why it is really important to use clean and good water when you rinse the rice. It is recommended to use soft mineral water.

However, don’t let the rice absorb water so long time at first. If you leave it long time, the rice would absorb the smelling of bran as well so that you should rinse the rice and then drain the water as soon as possible.

How to rinse the rice

With the water almost completely drained, begin to rinse the rice. When I say “rinse rice,” I mean that you rinse rice by “stirring the rice in the bowl” about 20 times with a hand as if you were holding a ball. Do not use too much force, but stir the rice in the same direction. Do not rinse so hard or turn so fast that the rice breaks.

After you rinsed the rice gently, put water in the bowl and drain the cloudy white liquid. Before draining the liquid, mix it gently from the bottom of the bowl once (as the thicker rinsing liquid tends to remain at the bottom). Repeat this process a couple of times.

After that, the water should be so clear that the rice can be seen through it and then rice rinsing process is finished.

Tip2. Put the rice and good water in a rice cooker

As it was mentioned in the previous step, using good water (soft mineral water) elevate the rice taste.

But you don’t need to prepare mineral water every time. Instead of mineral water, it is okay to use boiled water. Just keep in mind that the water must be boiled without a lid.

Tip3. Let the rice soak before cooking

It is very important to soak the rice in water before cooking. Soaking the rice allows the rice to contain a plenty of water. Rice that has been soaked in water will cook more quickly and fluffily. Soak the rice for at least 30 minutes (1 hour in winter).

Also, since rice contains a limited amount of water, soaking the rice for too long will cause the starch layer to leach out and cause the rice to become too sticky. The maximum soaking time is 90 minutes. Since cooler temperatures are preferable during soaking, it is even better to keep the rice in the refrigerator during the summer months.

Tip4. Steam the rice after cooking

Cooked rice must be steamed thoroughly after cooked. The taste of rice changes greatly depending on how long it is steamed. After turning off the heat, leave the rice steaming for 10 to 15 minutes with the lid. Be careful not to steam too long, or the rice will become mushy.

Comparing steamed rice and without steaming, steamed rice looks fluffy and tasty. This is because during the steaming, the rice is allowed to absorb enough steam so that no excess moisture remains in the pot. For this reason, it is desirable to keep the inside of the pot at the same high temperature as when the heat is turned off.

Tip5. Loosen the rice

After steaming is complete, stir to loosen the rice from the bottom of the rice cooker.
By mixing, the bottom of the rice cooker and the rice inside are exposed to air, which removes excess moisture. The flavor is also more uniform, and the rice can be kept warm without losing its flavor.

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5 Tips on How to Cook Japanese Rice Even Tastier