The finger method:

This is a recipe that one of my grandmothers taught my mother, who taught me. This one, I use mainly for seasoned rice dishes because things can be added to it before boiling, or broth (a plain soup) can be used in place of water.

This is for 4 substantial servings (4 rice-bowls).

You will need: 

     1 large saucepan, or a short pot. 
     2 cups of white rice, preferably persian, glutinous, or converted, depending on how sticky you like it. 
     2 tablespoons of butter, margerine, rendered fat, or vegetable oil. 
     water or broth as needed (usually 3 to 3.5 cups) 
     salt to taste 

Directions: 

   1.Put the rice in the bottom of the saucepan, and wash it thoroughly by rinsing, and then pouring off the cloudy water.  Repeat until you
     can recognize grains of rice through the water, and then pour this last rinse out. 
   2.Put your middle finger in the saucepan until it touches the bottom, and put in water or broth until the level reaches the second line of
     your finger. 
   3.Add your salt and oil. 
   4.Place on the stove, and cover loosely, which means there should be a centimeter of space between the side of the cover and the edge
     of the pot or saucepan. 
   5.Turn on the stove at medium/low heat, and leave it alone for about 20 minutes. 
   6.Check to see if it's done, and if not, come back every 5 minutes.
   7.If you need to check, and can't tell from looking at the top, stick a spoon in the middle, and push gently to the side to see if there is any
     water left.  If there is, then move the rice back to cover the hole.  Try not to touch it too much. 
   8.If you run out of water before the rice is the level of softness you want, in the well you make in it for checking, just pour a quarter cup
     of hot water to the middle, and move the rice back over to cover the water. 
   9.When it's done, turn off the heat, and cover the rice completely, and let it sit for 5 minutes. 
  10.Stir, and then serve. 

The Pasta Style:

Then, there is the other absolute sure-fire way that my other grandmother taught me.  This is how I cook rice when I want it somewhat plain.  The idea is to boil it as you would pasta.  Remember to use alot of water, just like you would with pasta.

You will need: 

     However much rice you want up to 5 cups. 
     A large pot of water, salted, with about a tablespoon of oil 
     A strainer 
     A large bowl 

Directions: 

   1.Set the pot of oiled and salted water on high heat. 
   2.In a large bowl, rinse the rice repeatedly, until the water is somewhat clear. 
   3.Drain as much water as you can from the rice, and then wait til your water on the stove boils. 
   4.When the water reaches a fast, rolling boil, gently pour in the rice. 
   5.Stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick together, and then wait. 
   6.Occasionally stir the rice, and after 10 minutes, check to see if it's done. 
   7.Check every two minutes after that, and when it's as soft as you like, turn off the heat and then pour the contents of the pot into a
     strainer. 
   8.Shake the strainer a bit, to get out as much excess water as possible, and then return the rice to the now empty pot. 
   9.Season to taste, and then serve. 

Rice cooked this way can also be used for rice balls (onigiri), unless it is parboiled rice.  Parboiled rice should never be used if you prefer it sticky on its own, but is the best to use when making the deep fried breaded rice balls.  There is a better way to make rice for sushi or onigiri though.

Sushi/Onigiri Rice

You will need: 
2 cups of short grain rice.  If you can't find specifically short grain rice, rice labelled as "sushi rice", "risotto rice" or Calrose rice will do.
2 and 1/2 to 3 cups of water.  Start with 2 and 1/2 and keep another half cup of very hot or boiling water standing by in case it's needed.
1/8 cup clear white or rice vinegar.  You can use cider vinegar if you prefer the flavor.  I like to use a little more...almost 1/4 cup if I'm going to be making onigiri with a strong, oily fish.

Use a wooden or plastic spoon.  A metal spoon will turn your rice into mush.

1.  Wash the rice well.

2.  After the last rinse, try to pour out as much water as you can.  If you're not sure of yourself, pour it through a strainer, and then pour the rice back into the pot.

3.  Add the water to the rice.

4.  Cover the pot, and cook it on high heat until it's boiling.  Before it boils, stir it a couple of times to prevent clumping.

5.  After it's started to boil, turn the heat down to low, and leave it alone for 20 minutes.

6.  Check the rice.  If there's no water left at the bottom, but it's still not cooked enough, add a little more HOT water in the hole you just made to check, cover again, and leave for another 5 minutes.  What you want is the rice to me slighly "al dente", but not hard.

7.  Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the heat, and add the vinegar.  Stir it gently, just to distribute it fairly evenly.

8.  Turn the rice out onto a large tray or foil lined cooking sheet, and spread it out a bit.  Make "vents" in it every few centimeters to help it to cool faster.

9.  Once it's cooled, start making your sushi or onigiri with it.

IMPORTANT:  If it will take you more than a few minutes to assemble your sushi or onigiri, take what you'll be using for the next 10 minutes to work with, and put the rest in the refrigerator.  Rice and other cereals and grains have b.cereus bacteria, and it can grow very quickly despite the vinegar.

To make rice less sticky, you will need to parboil it.  Parboil means "partially boil".

Rice that has already been parboiled is sold in most western grocery stores.  It's called "converted rice" or "Pele rice".  They make it by spraying it with boiling hot water and then drying it while it's still in the husk.  It looks a bit beige or yellowish but more translucent than regular rice.  Long grain rice is used for this, but sometimes you can find shorter grain parboiled rice that is labelled for making paella.

To make parboiled rice at home is very simple, but how to do it depends on whether you're going to cook it right away or to store it for later use.  Since you won't be doing it in the husk, it won't be as firm as the mass produced rice, but it will be less sticky so long as you don't use too much water when you cook it the second time.

To cook it right away, just wash the rice, and put it in a pot with lots of extra water.  Bring it just to a boil, and then pour this water out.  Rinse it one more time, and pour this water out too.  Then put in just enough water to cover it, and cook it until the water is absorbed.

To make parboiled rice for later cooking, you will need a baking sheet or drying screen.  Preheat your oven to about 100 degrees celsius.

Set a big pot of water boiling, and then put in the rice.  Stir it a little until it's about to boil again, and then boil it for five minutes.  Drain the rice in a strainer.  Get out as much water as you can, and then spread the rice on the baking sheet or drying screen.

Dry it in the oven for half an hour or so, until it is completely dry.  Take it out of the oven, and let it cool. Store it in a clean bag or jar.

How to Make Rice Less Sticky and Lower Its Glycemic Index

For people with diabetes, or who may be at higher risk because of their ancestry, this information is extremely important.  Some of us were not built for the western diet of bleached, unfermented grains, and don't have alternatives readily available on the store shelves, or for a reasonable price.

Fiber is important, and a little bran is okay, but too much can lead to gas and other digestive problems.  Traditional African and Native American preparation methods usually involve either removing or softening the hulls of grains.  These processes also tend to lower the glycemic index, and make the nutrients in them more accessible.  An example of this would be the process of making nixtamal (hominy) from corn.

Rice must also be prepared properly, or it will have the same effect as eating white bread or donuts.  In this light, it is hard to say whether brown or white rice is better for certain people.  I would err on the side of tradition for one's ancestry in this.  If your great great grandparents milled their grains, you probably should too.  If you don't know, then go according to your budget and health concerns, but do the best you can.  Do a fermentation soak either way.

By the way, another benefit of fermentation soaking is that it needs less added salt.  The rice will taste salty enough on its own, and if it doesn't to you, you'll still need less of it.  It will have a sort of flavor called umami, so you'll get more enjoyment from it than the plain grain sweetness with saltiness.

Soaking/Fermenting the Rice

You can soak white or brown rice for 24 hours in plain water.  If it is very cold, start out with very warm water, and keep it in a fairly warm spot like on top of the refrigerator or near a (closed) window that gets some sunlight.

If you don't have 24 hours, put two or three cups of rice in a large pot.  Rinse a few times as usual, and then fill the pot with mildly warm water.  Add about 1/4 cup of cider or wine vinegar (to your taste), and stir it around.

Let this set for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours.

You can tell that your rice is fermenting well when if you put your hand into the bottom of the pot, and remove it quickly, the water on your fingers tastes somewhat acidic, or more acidic than it did at the beginning.  If you're doing a long soak, you should disturb the rice but carefully from the bottom of the pot, every few hours or so.

Once it's done fermenting, it should have puffed up a bit as well, from the water it has absorbed.

Carefully pour off the top level of the water, including all the bran/hulls that have floated to the top.

If you've done a long soak, you'll just need to pour off the water down to just above where the rice begins.  You can then cook it in a rice cooker, or on the stove on medium/medium low heat.

If you've done a short soak, you should have a ration of 1:1.25 rice to water left.  The rice hasn't had time to absorb as much water as with a long soak.

The important thing in this is to get rid of the excess bran, but preserve the water you soaked it in.  This has alot of nutrients that shouldn't be wasted.

Some people think this makes the rice taste too strong.  I can respect that.  You've already done a good thing by fermenting it, and even though it's not ideal, it'll do.  Save this water to use as a starter for home made rice-aid.  Then rinse the rice and replace the acidic water with clear water for cooking.

Rice-aid

It's an acquired taste.  You either love it or hate it.  It's made by using the excess or leftover water from the fermenting of rice.

Put the water in a pot, and turn on the high heat.  Add about a tablespoon of honey or palm syrup per half liter of rice water.  If you like, also add an eight of a cup of sliced ginger, three balls of allspice, a stick of cinnamon, mint, or whatever other spices you would generally like in lemonaid.

Stir occasionally until it just boils, and then let it cool.  Strain, and serve cold or over ice.

More Rice Tips

For golden coloured rice, stir a teaspoon of tumeric into the water before the rice begins to cook. 

If you're in Israel the Knorr seasoning blocks give a nice flavor to rice.  It will need to be stirred after cooking to evenly distribute it though. 

Use leftover rice to make fried rice.  It can also be used to add a bit of starch to a meatloaf in place of breadcrumbs. 

Never let cooked rice sit out for more than a couple of hours without keeping it very hot.  Rice turns very quickly.  To serve it at parties that may last awhile, but keep it from burning at the bottom, put it in a pan atop a pan of water that is over a tealight or other warmer.  To cool it off quickly before it turns after a meal, transfer it from the pot to smaller containers.

If you are on a salt restricted diet but don't like your rice too sweet, use a couple of dashes of pepper and salt free chicken broth to enhance the taste.

Brown rice takes longer to cook, but the basic rules are the same.  You may want to check it occasionally though, to see if more water needs to be added along the way, because of the longer cooking time.

Brown or other rice that is still in the hull should be bought as fresh as possible, and stored in the refrigerator or freezer.  The rice hull has oils in it that can spoil if not kept cold.

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