Ancient Chinese Secret

“I like rice. Rice is great if you’re hungry and want 2,000 of something.” – Mitch Hedberg, American stand-up comedian

For as long as I can remember, my Mom has cooked rice in a rice cooker – not a stovetop pot that the parents of so many of my non-Asian friends seemed to favour.

The biggest advantage of a rice cooker is that you can literally set it and forget it. When the rice is ready, the rice cooker will automatically turn itself off. It is a foolproof method for cooking rice, provided that you have added the correct amount of water.

Unlike my husband Alan (who is of Scottish and Kiwi descent), my Mom has never used a measuring cup for water. Here is the trick that she has passed down to me…

1. Rinse and drain the uncooked rice. Put it in the rice cooker pot.
2. Add a splash of water to the pot and shake it a bit to ensure the uncooked rice is spread out evenly at the bottom of the pot.
3. Put your middle finger into the pot until your finger just barely touches the rice.
4. Keep adding water until the water level rises to the first line/crease of your middle finger.

Voilà! You’ve added just enough water to ensure perfectly cooked rice!

I prefer to make the rice in our household, for the sanity of both me and Alan, who insists on doing everything with engineering precision…

Alan:      (Washes some rice and puts it in the rice cooker pot. Starts to make a racket by rustling                            around in the kitchen drawers.)
Lisa:       (Annoyed by the noise…) What are you doing?
Alan:      I’m looking for the measuring cup.
Lisa:       Why?
Alan:      Because I’m making rice.
Lisa:       (Sacrilegiously…) How many times have I told you that you don’t need a measuring cup? Why                  don’t you just use your finger?!
Alan:      (In frustration…) Because I don’t have a Chinese finger!