White Rice

Long grain white rice is a great accompaniment to many dishes, such as the Pork Cashew dish shown here.

You can make rice on the stovetop, in a microwave, or in a rice cooker.

I usually use a rice cooker because it’s foolproof; it calls for 1 1/2 cups of water for each cup of rice. On the stove top or in the microwave, we usually use more like two cups of water per cup of rice. Either way, we get enough rice for four or five people, easily.

Some people recommend rinsing the rice in a strainer first to eliminate the surface starch. This makes the rice a little less sticky and more fluffy. Make it the way you want. But if you’re going to use chopsticks, you’ll prefer it a little stickier.

The stove top and the rice cooker take about 1/2 hour, and the microwave about five minutes. Of course it depends on the microwave and your altitude above sea level. Just experiment and go slowly at first, sampling the rice as you go. You’ll know when it chews right. Keep track of what you are doing and you will have your own method that suits your taste and equipment.