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That said, the general ratio of 2:1 water to rice will get you close if you're using the regular rice method (though I've found you usually don't need quite the full two parts of water, but it depends on the relative humidity/aridity of where you're cooking as well as the snugness of your pot and lid). If you're buying a reputable brand, you don't actually need to do it unless you're worried about stickiness. If you want fluffier rice, rinse it first. If you want it a lil stickier, don't rinse it. I generally never rinse my rice when I cook it. I tend to like basmati rice because I love the flavor over plain long-grain white rice, though jasmine rice can also be good depending on what you're doing with it. Also, the shorter the grain, the stickier the rice will be. Most of this advice is for long-grain rice. Short grain rice tends to take a lil less time and water to cook, be it brown or white.
This is the most basic/standard method for rice cooking:
Place your measured rice and cold water in a pot with a secure lid. Bring the water and rice to a boil with the lid off, then turn the heat down to a bare simmer (just enough to keep it moving, but no more than that), and put the lid on and keep it there. Let it simmer for about 12 minutes for white rice, about 40-45 minutes for brown rice, and maybe an hour for wild rice. Check it for doneness. If it's done and there's still a lot of excess moisture (though there really shouldn't be if you followed the ratio and process properly), dump it off and return the lid. Turn the heat off and let it steam with the lid on until the rest of the water's absorbed into the rice. Fluff with a fork and season accordingly.
If you wanna get a lil exotic, you can use other liquids to bring more flavor to your rice, like chicken stock or coconut milk. You can also add herbs or spices.
The pasta method:
This is the base method that ol boy was referring to with the bag. Basically you just cook your rice in way more water than it needs, just like you'd cook pasta. Then strain and spread it out so the excess moisture dissipates. This is good if you want particularly separated/fluffy rice. It takes a lot of the nutrients away, tho. I've only done rice this way once for culinary school. A lot of institutions do rice this way since it's a pretty easy/foolproof method and keeps the grains separate, which can be good depending on what your end use is.
The pilaf method:
This is one of my favorites. Heat your pot, add a fat of your choice (I usually use butter, but you could use coconut oil, bacon drippings, olive oil, or whatever trips your fancy), maybe some aromatics like onion, shallots, garlic, fennel if you're fancy, cook them til they're translucent, add your rice, coat it and let it toast for a minute or two, maybe add other veggies and herbs and spices, add your liquid of choice, and cover and cook like the standard rice method. You can use about the same ratios of water to rice as well.
I'd tell you about risotto, but I don't think you're quite ready for that yet. lol __________________________
Just tryna do the best that I can with what it is I have...
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