HOW TO COOK RICE | CARA MASAK NASI

Nasi! Nasi! Nasi! 

That's rice in Indonesian :) 

I don't even remember the time when I didn't eat rice, my whole live I've always eaten rice. Mam told me when I was able to eat solid food, she prepares rice with a side of soup so it would be easier for me to chew and swallow. 

Pap taught me how to cook rice. I was helping Mam cooking and she told me to prepare some rice. I was 8 years old and I did not know how to do it. I guess preparing rice was probably the first thing I learnt to cook. We do it in a rice cooker though, so does that count as learning how to cook? :P

"Pap, how do I do this?" 

He came over and helped me. He took a few cups of rice from the bag and put it in the rice cooker bowl and went to the sink. I followed him, "Wash the rice until you can see the water is clear and then drain," he explained to me. 

Usually in a rice cooker bowl there are guiding lines inside the bowl on how much water you need that corresponds to how many cups of rice you are cooking. Pap did not follow those guiding lines. Instead, he showed me another, more traditional way on how to measure how much water you need. 

He tap the bottom of the bowl to level the rice inside. 

"Look here, gradually add in the water, put your index finger straight up so it lightly touches the rice and stop when the water reaches the first line of your finger." 

I think this was the way my Oma taught him how to do it :) I've seen my tantes do it the same way :) Tante, by the way is Dutch for aunt. We use a few dutch words to call family members Opa & Oma, Tante & Oom. 

I still cook rice that way to this day, measure the water with my finger. However, I modified the amount of water a little bit. The way Pap taught me gives a more softer and fluffier rice, I prefer my rice to be on the dryer side. Al dente if you can say so :) When I was cooking the rice in the photos, I use cups to measure the amount of water. 

How to Cook Rice | Cara Masak Nasi:

Serves 2 people (20 minutes)

Tools

• 1 medium saucepan with a lid

Ingredients

• 200 gr long grain rice / pandan rice 
• 225 ml water
• a few pandan leaves (optional)

Method

• Wash the rice under running water for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain and put in the pan. Add the water (if you have pandan leaves and/or you want to add salt, you can add them now). Put the lid on the pan. 
• Cook the rice with high heat until the water is boiled, about 3 minutes. Decrease the heat to the lowest and let cook for another 10 minutes. During this time, if the water is boiled and starts to spill out of the pan, just remove the lid for a few seconds and let the bubbles to decrease and return the lid back to the pan. 
• After 10 minutes, the rice should absorb all the water. Turn off the heat and let it steam for another 5 - 8 minutes.
• Your rice is ready to eat! Enjoy!

Notes

• Like I said, I like my rice to be on the dryer side, if you would like to have the rice to be softer and fluffier, add about 75 - 100 ml of the cooking water. 
• I never really put salt in the rice when I cook it but you can add about 1 teaspoon of salt to add some flavor. 
• I haven't use rice cooker for a while but I think the recipe measurements should hold.