Follow the below recipe, and you’ll have delicious sticky rice in no time!
If you’ve ever had delicious sticky rice, you may be wondering how to make it at home for yourself. A side of sticky rice can make or break a homemade meal, but it requires the right know-how and methods. Making sticky rice at home, without the use of a rice cooker, is easy enough. Just Follow the below recipe, and you’ll have delicious sticky rice in no time!
Purchasing Rice
You may see sticky rice at Asian grocers, including Lotte Plaza Market. Sometimes called glutinous or sweet rice, the grains stick together, making them perfect for chopsticks. Thai sticky rice has longer grains than Japanese or Chinese sticky rice, and it’s what we’re going to use for this recipe, so if you use something else, just remember your mileage may vary.
Measuring & Soaking
We’re going to be using 3½ cups of water per 2 cups of rice for this recipe. Take two cups of rice, place it in a pot, then add that water and let everything soak for at least thirty minutes but up to six hours. This helps soften the outer shell of your rice.
What Cooking Method Should You Use?
Once your rice is finished soaking, you can add 3/4 a teaspoon of salt and stir it up. This then leads you to the cooking process, where you have two options:
- Stovetop: to cook your rice on your stove, place the pot on a burner, and set the heat to high. When the water begins to bubble at a gentle boil, you can then turn the heat down to medium-low and bring it all to a simmer.
- Steamer: drain off all your soaking water and then put your rice in a banana leaf-line colander or a steamer. Cover it up and steam over high heat for between 30 to 45 minutes, or until your rice is soft and even translucent.
Simmering and Checking Rice
If you leave your rice to simmer, just make sure you place a lid on with enough room for some of the steam to escape. Let that rice simmer for 10 minutes and then use a fork to check if the water has been absorbed. If so, turn the heat off, but if not, let it cook until all of the water is absorbed. If you steamed your rice, simply leave the pot on the burner after the water is absorbed, and the heat is off, but place the lid on tightly and let it sit for an additional ten or more minutes. That leftover heat will finish cooking your rice for you, but you can also use this method to keep your rice warm for up to 2 hours.
Serve Your Rice
Sticky rice is the perfect accompaniment for stir fries or saucy dishes like curries, but it’s also perfect on its own. Just remember that if you let the rice sit, it can become even stickier. Sticky rice is also used in delicious desserts like mango sticky rice, so let your imagination run wild.
Get All Your Asian Groceries at Lotte Plaza Market
Lotte Plaza Market is your one-stop-shop for all of your Korean and Asian grocery needs. With more than 10 locations in Maryland and Virginia, this growing market is always expanding and opening new markets to serve our customers better. Since we opened in 1976, our goal has always been to provide the best customer service and groceries to our customers. For answers to all of your questions, please email us at LottePlaza.com.