The Best Sticky Brown Rice Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to sticky rice? ›

The Secrets to Perfect Sticky Rice

Soak the sticky rice for in enough water to cover the rice. This softens the grain and the extra water helps add that fluffy texture. Soaking for 4-24 hours is a good range. After soaking, add a little salt before cooking for taste, about 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon.

It's not as easy to achieve sticky brown rice because the bran layer is a natural barrier with the starch required to make the rice sticky.

Drain the water once the rice has finished soaking. Fill a large pot with 2 cups (450 milliliters) of water and add a few extra tablespoons of water. Using more water than you actually need will help make the ricer stickier and clumpier. Consider adding a dash of salt.

We love sauteeing some onions or leeks in butter with some thyme before adding rice to the pot, but you should use what you have around! Ginger and garlic both make for exceptional brown rice. If you're going the spice route we love turmeric, cumin, oregano, and smoked paprika with brown rice.

Soak for 6 to 24 hours. Soak it longer if you want your sticky rice to have a softer texture. Drain the water (no need to shake off the excess water), and evenly arrange the soaked rice on a heat-proof, rimmed plate or bamboo steamer lined with natural steamer liners or parchment paper.

For this technique, you'll boil your rice in an abundance of water for 30 minutes. Drain off the excess water, return the rice to the pot, cover, and let the rice steam for 10 minutes. Ta da! Perfect brown rice, every time.

It is important to use BOILING water not cold tap water for the baked method. Otherwise it takes a good 15 minutes or so for the water to heat up enough to start cooking the rice during which the rice is just wallowing and bloating in warm water, resulting in mushy rice.

The correct cook time and water ratio for brown rice depends on the cooking method that you're using. Properly cooked rice should have a slightly chewy consistency. Overcooked rice will be mushy; undercooked, it will be hard and crunchy.

Cooking Time: Overcooking rice can lead to a sticky texture. If the rice is cooked too long, the grains can break down and release more starch, resulting in stickiness.

And don't worry about removing the starch if you're making sticky rice, either. Rinsing rice before cooking doesn't altogether remove the starches necessary for the rice to stick together; it only removes the impurities and other remnants that may have come along for the ride from the source.

Does sticky rice need more or less water? ›

However, because sticky rice requires less water, boiling it immersed in water in a rice cooker as opposed to manually steaming results in an inferior product with a diluted sweetness.

Brown rice is a whole grain that still has the hull, the bran layer and the germ intact, allowing it to have high levels of fiber and other nutrients. White rice, on the other hand, does not have any of the aforementioned, which makes it less nutrient-dense, although enriched rice has more of certain nutrients.

Add extra seasoning: cooking brown rice with salt is essential for flavorful grains, but you can also infuse more flavor by adding olive oil and butter, swapping in garlic salt, or adding spices such as cayenne, ground ginger or cumin.

First, rinse the rice.

This step is essential for removing excess starches on the outside of the rice. If they're not washed away, they will cause the rice to clump and become gummy as it cooks. Our goal is to make perfectly fluffy brown rice, so don't skip this step!

Gluggy rice is simply rice that has been overcooked and absorbed too much water. If it sticks together in clumps, it usually indicates a lot of starch.

What makes it sticky? Unlike classic white or wholegrain rice, sticky rice has a much higher starch content containing unusually high amounts of amylopectin and a very low amount of amylose. The high amylopectin in this case is what gives it its ultra-sticky quality.

While the rice cooks, sauté the tofu, shiitakes, fried onions, dried shrimp, radishes, and pork for a few minutes. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of five spice powder, and the white pepper.

But I could really make it better by playing the proactive game before the rice gets stuck: “Adding a little oil or butter at the beginning of cooking will coat the grains, which will help keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot without making it mushy,” Rich says.