How to Cook Perfect Rice

We eat a lot of rice at my house. (We also eat a lot of pizza and Mexican food, but that doesn't pertain to this blog post).

For the past few months, I've been cooking bad rice.

It came out too sticky.

Too soft.

Too mushy.

I was following the instructions, but something wasn't right.

Brian would always look hesitantly into the pot, forcing me to proclaim "I'm no chef," and then we would both reluctantly pile a heap of mushy rice onto our plates.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to turn to Google for help, but that's exactly what I did.

I learned four easy steps to making perfect rice, and I'm happy to say it worked like a charm!

Four Steps to Perfectly Cooked Rice:

1. Thoroughly rinse the rice before cooking. Apparently this is an important step. Who knew, right?

2. Use less water than instructed. The typically suggested ratio is 1 cup rice: 2 cups water; however, you should use a 1 cup rice: 1 3/4 cup water for the best results.

3. Add rice and water to pot. Once boiling, turn heat to low, cover the pot, and don't interrupt the rice until it's done! It's okay to quickly lift the lid and peek....once!

4. Once the water has been absorbed (it took about 15-20 minutes), remove pot from stove. Leave covered and let rest for five minutes before fluffing it gently with a fork.

*Butter and salt are optional (but usually a good decision!).

Perhaps you already follow these steps, and I'm the only one that has been clueless all this time. Or perhaps, like me, your rice never turned out perfectly. If you've been in my shoes, I hope you'll find this blog post helpful!