can anybody give me some tips on cooking rice

Tips on cooking rice that is fluffy and won't stick to the bottom of the pan. Use long grain white rice when cooking Chinese food. Medium grain rice is also acceptable, but the Chinese use short grain rice mainly for dishes such as congee. Don't use instant or precooked rice. Large bags of long grain white rice are available in Asian markets and most supermarkets - Dragon King is a good brand. Opinions vary on converted rice - rice that has been parboiled with the husks on. While it is more nutritious than white rice, I find it tastes rather bland. It takes longer to cook than regular rice so if you do use it, follow the instructions on the box carefully. For fluffier, faster cooking rice, try soaking it in cold water for about thirty to sixty minutes prior to cooking. Before cooking, rinse the rice several times, until the water comes out clear. This removes any starch and residue - otherwise the rice may be sticky. When cooking rice in a saucepan, be sure to use a pot with a heavy bottom - copper is best. This will give the rice a thinner crust. Don't use salt or butter when cooking plain rice - this kills its natural sweet flavor. Another tip if your rice is taking a long time to cook - do you know how long the bag has been sitting in the cupboard? Older rice can lose some of its moisture, requiring more water and a longer cooking time than fresh rice. Leftover rice will keep for days, and it's perfect for making fried rice. Just be sure to wait until the rice is perfectly cold before storing it in the refrigerator. For the best results, wait a couple of days before making the fried rice - this gives the ingredients more time to blend together. If the cold rice is a bit lumpy, try sprinkling a bit of cold water on it. For a bit of variety, try one of the scented rices such as jasmine or basmati. Just remember that the amount of water required and the cooking time will be less than for other types of long grain white rice.

Actually, others do prefer to measure things up when cooking rice. It may differ on the amount of rice that you are about to cook, if you put two cups of rice, you should then also put two cups of water on it. I also think that it's much easier to cook rice on rice cooker, here in the philippines, we sometimes cook it in a traditional way - through rice pots cooked instoves or wood. To which is good tasting and the aroma is enhanced, maybe because of some thing in it that I do not know!;) For fried rice, I think it would rot if not put on a fridge. The easier way to cook it is by garlic and butter, add a little oil for the butter not to burn easily. Mince on an amount of garlic that you prefer, and mince it then put on the heated butter and oil then wait till it's golden brown. Pour in the left-over rice and stir-fry in medium-high heat, continue stirring until the rice absorbs the aroma of the garlic and until you feel that the rice was already cooked.

Well, you need a rice cooker (to make things easier). Then wash the amount of rice you want. If you wash two cups of rice, then you need to make sure the water level is two too. That's all. Switch on the cooker and you'll have the rice ready in about 20 - 30 minutes. However, some rice absorb water and so, you need to put in a little more or it will be hard and half-cooked. Some rice don't need so much water (just enough will do).

When I started making rice, I had this problem too. For me it ended up being an issue with how hot I had the water. If the temp is too high, the water will all evaporate away before allowing enough time for the rice to cook. This leaves you with hard, crunchy rice. To solve this problem, you can just add more water to teh pot and let it cook some more. Other times, as if to make up for my first mistake, I would add too much water and the rice would be cooked and soggy before the water had a chance to cook away. the trick is that the rice will only absorb so much water, so you need to make sure that you are adding the right amount and not cooking it too quickly or slowly. Also, unlike a lot of other things, rice should not be stirred while it cooks. You kinda have to take a leapt of faith with this one (so make sure the temp isn't too high to keep the rice from burning) but stirring the rice allows the starches to come out and make your rice kinda sticky and gloopy. Basically, you shoudl allow your rice to cook and then just fluff it with a fork when it's done. If all else fails, there are a lot of rice cookers ont he market and I know a lot of people love them. In fact, I've been thinking about getting one myself.