You’ve been cooking Jasmine Rice wrong your whole life! Most recipes get it wrong because it’s not widely known that jasmine rice is softer than most, so you need LESS water than normal white rice so it’s fluffy rather than gummy. Use just 1 1/4 cups water for every 1 cup of jasmine rice (the standard for typical white rice is 1 1/2 cups water to 1 cup rice).
Use for all things Thai – and anything really. It’s just a really great rice!
Also see How to Cook: White rice | Basmati Rice | Brown Rice
How to cook Jasmine Rice
Jasmine rice is a lovely, subtly perfumed rice used across South East Asia. It’s strongly associated with Thai food, and used for serving with everything from Thai marinated chicken to Chilli Basil Stir Fry, Satay Skewers and the many Thai curries out there.
It’s also used to make Thai fried rice and Pineapple Fried Rice which is the other recipe I’m sharing today!
The secret for how to cook jasmine rice perfectly
What most people do not know is that jasmine rice is softer than most white rice, which means you need less water in order for the rice to cook so it’s soft and fluffy, rather than gummy on the outside.
So while most rice is cooked with 1.5 cups of water for each cup of rice, for jasmine rice, it’s reduced to 1 1/4 cups of water.
Yes, 1/4 cup really makes a difference! I made a lot of overly soft jasmine rice in my life that I was never really happy with until I finally figured this out.
There is NO NEED to rinse rice!!
Busting an age old myth here – that rinsing the rice is mandatory for fluffy rice. NO it is not! I have made so much rice in my time verifying this exact fact.
Here’s what I know:
No rinsing – if you use 1 1/4 cups of water for every 1 cup of jasmine rice, your rice will be fluffy even without rinsing
If you rinse, you must reduce the water by 2 tablespoons to factor in the extra water than remains in the rice (ie 1 1/4 cups water minus 2 tablespoons)
If you rinse AND soak for 1 hour, you must reduce the water by 3 tablespoons (ie 1 1/4 cups minus 3 tablespoons)
Rinsing vs no rinsing – rinsing yields a barely noticeable marginal improvement in fluffiness. It would not be noticeable to most people;
Only rinse IF you buy your rice direct from a rice farm, or similar, to remove debris and anything that night remain from the processing; and
No need to clean if you buy retail – If you buy rice at the store in shiny plastic packets, your rice should already be clean – and that includes less starch too.
Let’s face it. Rinsing rice is a pain. For an extra 2% fluffiness, it’s just not worth it (in my humble opinion).
If you need to rinse the rice to clean it, if you just can’t break the habit, or if your Asian mother would have your head if you didn’t, here’s how:
Place rice in bowl, fill with water. Swish with hand then drain. Repeat 3 to 4 times – water will never be completely clear. Drain in colander, cook per recipe.
How to cook Jasmine Rice
Once you get the rice and water ratio right, then the steps are exactly the same as cooking normal white rice and basmati rice:
RAPID SIMMER – Put water and rice in saucepan, bring to simmer on high heat as fast as you can. You want the whole surface to be rippling, the edges bubbling and white foam;
COVER and turn to LOW – Turn heat down and cover, cook 12 minutes. Do not lift lid!
Stand 10 minutes to let the rice finish cooking. If you skip this, the grains are wet and slightly hard in the middle;
Fluff! Use a rubber spatula or rice paddle – this stops the grains breaking (Jasmine rice is softer than most white rices).
And voila! Fluffy Jasmine rice. 🙂
Use for all things Thai, Vietnamese dishes, stir fries, and use for fried rice like Nasi Goreng. Though traditionally associated with South East Asian foods, it will goes perfectly with any Asian foods, and even Indian food if you don’t have basmati rice.
And just generally for anything you want to serve with rice, whether Asian or not! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
How to cook Jasmine Rice (stove)
Ingredients
No rinsing method:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups water (cold tap water)
Rinsed rice:
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups MINUS 2 tbsp water
Instructions
No rinsing (my everyday method):
- Place rice and water in a medium saucepan (one with a tight fitting lid). Bring to rapid simmer with NO LID on medium high.
- Turn down to low or medium low so it's simmering gently, then place lid on. Do not lift lid during cook.
- Cook 12 minutes or until water is absorbed by rice – tilt pot to check (if lid not glass, then QUICKLY lift lid to check).
- Keep the lid on then remove from heat. Stand 10 minutes, fluff with rubber spatula or rice paddle, then serve.
RINSED RICE (Note 3):
- Place rice in a bowl, fill with water and swish. Once cloudy, drain. Repeat 2 – 3 more times until water is pretty clear – it will never be completely clear.
- Drain rice in a colander, transfer to saucepan.
- Add water – 1 1/4 cups of water MINUS 2 tablespoons per 1 cup of rice. Follow cook steps above in No Rinsing.
Recipe Notes:
- Use a medium to large saucepan for up to 2 cups. For 3 cups rice+, use a pot.
- If lid is not tight fitting or heavy, then you may get bubble overflow – reduce heat if this happens, it will subside as water gets absorbed by rice.
- Glass lid is easiest – you can see what’s going on inside without lifting the lid, especially useful at end to check if all water is absorbed.
- Reason we bring to simmer without lid is to reduce risk of overflow once lid goes on. If you bring to simmer with lid on, you need to be more careful about exactly when you turn the heat down so it doesn’t get foamy overflow. Much easier to to lid off first, then lid on when you turn it down.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
A common sighting – Dozer trotting off ahead of me to join his friends on the beach. I get there eventually!!
Hi Nagi, I, like others, find rinsing rice relaxing and therapeutic. No idea if it makes a difference! Good quality rice in Thailand is marked on the pack if new or old. New rice needs less water (5%?) compared to old rice. In Oz I always assume rice is old, But you are spot on, 1 1/4 is perfect, Although I can only cook good rice in a rice cooker, Every other attempt is gluggy (yuck!)
I think rinsing rice is too much of an ingrained (lol) habit for me to break! My Filipino Mum taught me to measure the amount of water needed by putting my fingers at the top of the rice and putting enough water to reach the top of the first knuckle of my middle finger. Somehow it always works, no matter how big the person’s hand is or whether you cook on the stove, microwave, or rice cooker 🙂
I hated the plain old white rice my mum used to cook occasionally when I was a child. Then my now mother in law had really yummy rice and I had to ask her what is was – jasmine of course! We only have jasmine, arborio & basmati rice in our house.
I always cook in the microwave or rice cooker without rinsing.
Perfect Rebecca! N x
Hi Nagi,
do you recommend using an electric rice cooker and if so is the rice /water ratio the same as cooking on the stove top?
Ok, confession…sometimes I look at a recipe even if it’s not necessarily a fave of mine just to see Dozer. Dont get me wrong, I like reading your recipes and one of these days I’m going to get back to cooking. I do find it soothing to read cooking recipes. It encourages me of the possibilities ahead in my cooking I pray, and the pics of Dozer are sweet always.
I knew he’d steal the show Riley 😂
He is such a beautiful boy and you’re a beautiful owner/mommy😊 The world needs more pet owners like you that’s for sure. Sooooo many animals need homes. Maybe Dozer could get another sibling one day. I always say 1 more really isn’t that much work. God bless you and your work and family.
Rinsing rice is a pain? I find it very therapeutic. Three rinses where the discarded water goes from cloudy to clear. Admittedly a bit wasteful in water-starved Oz, but it puts me in an Asian frame of mind when commencing cooking an Asian dinner.
We all find weird things therapeutic don’t we Jack 😂 it’s totally not necessary here, save yourself the washing up and the water! N x
Nagi, if we cool jasmine rice with an electric rice cooker, how should we adjust the recipe? Thank you so much!
Hi Lori – let me get back to you with the exact amount of water needed here! N x
I’d also like to know, please
I’d like to know this too please Nagi.
Yes I would be interested in the ratio for rice cooker too, I love my rice cooker and rarely cook rice any other way, but sometimes the jasmine rice is a bit “soft and gluggy” rather than fluffy
A super-yummy trick I use with Jasmine rice is to cook it in a tin of coconut cream. It turns out just like the local Thai restaurant’s coconut rice.
Hi Josh, yes I have a recipe for that too 😉 N x
Does the no rinsing of the rice apply to all types or just jasmine rice?
By the way, I love all your delicious recipes
Hi Liza, Depends on the recipe it’s used in but generally I never rinse my rice! N x