How to cook plain boiled Japanese rice

The first thing to point out about gohan - plain boiled Japanese rice - is that they usually eat a short-grain variety of rice; not as short as pudding rice but certainly shorter than Basmati or the typical long-grain varieties found in our supermarkets.

The second important point is that the rice is cooked until slightly softer than most of us are used to, and the grains tend to stick together - which makes eating it with chopsticks much easier!

Now don’t get me wrong: we are not talking here about a horrible, glutinous mess, but the grains are not separated and there is not a hint of crunchiness!

It is only when I tried proper, good-quality Japanese rice cooked in this way that I really appreciated the taste of the rice itself, and realised that it is not just a filler or something to pour sauce onto!

How to cook it

Whichever of the following two methods you choose, it is important that you first rinse the rice at least four or five times in plenty of cold water, until the water is clear.

Then drain and leave it for one hour before cooking.

1 Using an automatic rice-cooker

This is the easy way - just put the required amount in the container, add cold water up to the indicated mark, close the lid and switch on. You can keep the rice warm and fairly fresh in one of these for up to a whole day. (See instructions for your particular model).

If you don’t have a rice-cooker, then you can cook it by

2 using a saucepan (with lid) - a little complicated at first, but it works well if you follow the instructions carefully.

Put the rice and appropriate amount of water in the pan; this should be no more than one-third of the height of the pan.

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How much water?

For Japanese rice, use one cup plus 15 - 20% for each cup of rice. (One cup is probably enough for two people, unless you have a large appetite).

For brown rice, use more: one cup plus 20 -30%

For newly-harvested rice and for sushi, use slightly less - one cup plus 10%

For pudding rice, just one cup of water for each cup of rice.

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Gently shake the pan to make sure the rice is even, then cover and heat the pan over a high heat until the water begins to boil, (watch carefully!) then quickly reduce the heat to medium-low until it is just simmering.
You can hear - or perhaps better, feel through the knob on the lid - that the water is bubbling vigorously (boiling) and then very gently (simmering).
If it begins to overflow, reduce the heat, but do not open the lid.

IMPORTANT: do not open the lid at any stage of the cooking process!

After about 12 - 15 minutes, you should be able to hear a faint cracking or ‘dry bubbling’ sound, or feel that it is no longer simmering, and can see little or no steam.
Now, quickly turn the heat up high for about ten seconds only, then off.
Remember to LEAVE THE LID CLOSED.
Leave it like this for 15 minutes.

You should now have perfect boiled rice! (Well, you should have!!)

If it did not work, make sure you follow the instructions to the letter; of course you may need to adjust the amount of water / rice, the heat, the cooking time at each stage etc. Even the age and condition of the rice makes a difference - older rice is drier and harder.

If you happen to burn the rice (at the bottom of the pan) - you will be able to smell this! - you should still leave the lid closed; leave it for about 30 minutes, then it will be easier to remove the rice, and it will still be warm.

So it is best to experiment a bit first, before you try it out on your guests.

Remember that ‘gohan’ is served by itself, ideally in a rice-bowl. It is not usual to add anything, not even a sauce. However, it is normal - and delicious - to wrap some rice in a sheet of nori, a type of dried seaweed.

See the section on seaweed for more details!

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