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
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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!!
This is my absolute go to recipe for jasmine rice…perfect every time, as is the recipe for basmati rice. Thank you so much !
Finally, I have rice that is fluffy! Thank you so much Nagi 🙂
Followed this recipe exactly and the rice was perfect! Thank you, Nagi!
I am so happy you liked it Julie! N x
Followed this receipe to a tea and the rice was crunchy and not cooked 🙄 should of known better than to follow a recipe that boasts about being perfect
PP it would be almost impossible for rice to still be crunchy after being boiled for 12 minutes, and stood for 10, unless it’s burned? Could you comment step by step what you did, I’m sure you may have missed something. Maybe the community can help troubleshoot?
Wow, sounds like the issue is with the person who cooked it not the recipe! This turns out perfectly every time I make it.
Great recipes, thank you for posting
Thank you. Looking forward to healthy, fast, creative and simple recipes. God bless you. 💕
Absolutely perfect. Followed the instructions to the letter and had perfectly cooked, light, fluffy jasmine rice.
Thank you for making the process so simple.
I just wanted to thank the author of this recipe. I love this recipe. I always used to mess up rice, and now as long as I follow this the rice comes out perfect. Thank you so much
Rinsing the rice, IS advised as it removes a lot of the LEAD content of the rice. Yes, Lead!
It’s not a bullshit idea and “greatly reduces” the amount of lead a person can consume. It’s not just for being clean and tidy. Universities around the world have looked into this subject matter.
Perfect rice! Thank you.
Woah… I was today years old when I finally learned to cook jasmine rice properly. I thought it was a lost cause for me until now.. who knew 🤷♀️
Glad I could help!! N x
I thought I was brought up better than this! This really and truly is my best outcome with Jasmine rice. I’m proud to join the legion of gratitude!
Thank you! Finally, perfect jasmine rice!
WOW. I’ve been using this recipe for several months now and just had to come back to say how amazing it is! It comes our perfect every single time. Thank you so much for this!
Turned out fantastic.
How long would the cook time and stand time be if I doubled the recipe?
Thanks!
Thank you for this. My jasmine rice came out perfectly, better than when I tried it in my Ninja Foodi cooker. 🙂
I’ve used your method several times, and it always comes out perfect! Thank you! I like to add fresh ginger, garlic, and lime to mine!
Was perfect!
Wow!!! Each grain of rice was perfectly cooked! I made the unwashed version. This will be my go whenever I make jasmine rice.
My mind is blown. I didn’t realise I was making mushy rice for literal decades. This came out so perfectly. Thank you once again! xx
Thank you! Just did 3 batches for fried rice! PERFECT!
Keeping this one.
Can regular long grained white rice be used?
The most delicious rice I’ve ever had — no salt, no butter, no oil. Every grain separate. I was amazed, I felt like I’d never really tasted rice before. I used 2 burners, the first very hot for the rapid simmer and the second very low for the gentle simmer. It worked perfectly. I followed instructions exactly, changing/adding nothing (and you know how hard that is for me, Nagi!) so thanks again, Nagi, for a precise, well-thought-out recipe! It’s one for the cookbook.