Rice is the staple food in most houses today. If you home-cook your meals, there is a probability that you eat jasmine rice at least once a week.
Jasmine rice comes with a lot of nutritional benefits that do amazing things to the body, they provide the body with the much-needed energy it requires to function healthily.
Unfortunately, most people don’t know how easy it is to prepare or heat their jasmine rice using a microwave. A microwave is less messy than other methods of cooking and this article will be discussing how to microwave Jasmine rice.
Basically, microwaving Jasmine rice can easily be done by washing some jasmine rice and putting it in a microwave-safe bowl, adding enough water and cooking in the microwave.
It only takes a couple of minutes which is much faster than using a stove or an oven. A microwave oven will do a great job of cooking your rice.
Also Read: Best 900 Watt Microwave Oven
How to Microwave Jasmine Rice?
Jasmine Rice is a variety of rice that tends to get mushy really fast. If you put in too much water, it can get really soggy and sticky. So when you cook your jasmine rice in your microwave, ensure that you are constantly checking for texture.
Method 1
What You Need
- A microwave-safe bowl and its tight lidded cover
- Jasmine rice
- A few cups of water
Wash the Rice
- You can do this easily by pouring a few cups of water into a bowl, add the rice to the bowl.
- Wash the rice by rubbing in between your palm.
- Once the water is cloudy, strain it from the bowl and add more water
- Repeat the process till the water becomes less cloudy
- When you’re satisfied that it is properly washed, strain out the water, and set aside.
- Pour 1-1 1/2 cups of rice in your microwave-safe bowl.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the bowl, ensure that the water covers the rice.
- Put the bowl into the microwave oven and set the temperature to high.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes and check the texture, once it is properly cooked, strain out the water and serve.
Alternative Method
Boil the water before pouring in the rice. If you decide on this method by boiling the water before adding the rice, Â cooking time will be reduced to about 8 minutes and the rice is less likely to come out soggy.
This is what most people watch out for in jasmine rice.
If you are unsure about cooking time, set your microwave oven to 7 minutes, if it’s not cooked yet, add more water and set the timer again by adding 5 more minutes
Read more: Best 1000 Watt Microwave Ovens
How to Reheat Jasmine Rice in the Microwave?
Leftovers especially one as delicate as jasmine rice require a large amount of care to reheat because it can get soggy really fast. Also, the rice tends to be dryer and more sticky when stored. One of the purposes of reheating is to change this.
So how do you go about the reheating process to make it ready to eat?
What You Need
- Leftover jasmine rice
- Half a cup of water
- Microwave safe bowl
- Cling film
- Butter or oil (optional)
Procedure
- If your rice had been in the fridge or freezer, ensure you bring to room temperature before putting in the microwave
- Pour the rice in the microwave-safe bowl
- Add a few sprinkles of water and use a wooden spoon or fork to break up any clumped part of the rice.
- You can also decide to add a form of fat to the rice, i.e oil or butter, just a little. This helps to separate the rice and keep it from getting too soggy
- Cover with a cling film
- Cook for 2-4 minutes on medium heat
- Take it out and stir, if it’s not cooked all through, repeat the process.
- Once the rice is properly heated, take off the cling film, give the rice a light stir and serve
- Your leftover jasmine rice is ready to be eaten
Why Cooking Jasmine Rice in a Microwave is a Better Option to Other Cooking Alternatives
 It Saves Time
By now, most people already know that microwave ovens reduce cooking time drastically. Unlike other foods like pastries, which might never get crispy in a microwave, Jasmine Rice is one of the easiest meals to cook.
The procedure for cooking is the same one you will follow if you’re using other alternatives like a stove or an oven.
It Saves Energy
This is a product of reduced cooking time. The amount of energy that might have been consumed if you were using a convection oven or any other oven will be reduced by half or more.
Less Monitoring
If you were using a stove, you would have to be checking regularly for temperature, time, or if it might overflow. This is reduced to the barest minimum if you are cooking with your microwave oven.
Cooking Jasmine Rice Using a Microwave is Less Messy
If you are using a stove, the water in the rice might overflow occasionally making a mess of the stove.
This means you might have to wipe the stove when you take the rice down to avoid the liquid drying on the stove. If you are using a microwave, the jasmine rice is less likely to overflow and stain your microwave oven.
Automated Timing
Most times, you already set the timer to the perfect cooking time for when it will be cooked. All you need to do is to go and take it out when it is ready
A Microwave cooks Jasmine Rice exactly the way the stove would. There is zero difference between cooking your rice in the microwave and on a stove.
Read more: How to Soften White Sugar in the Microwave
Conclusion
In this article, we learned how to microwave jasmine rice perfectly. Once you have followed all instructions, your rice will be perfectly cooked.
The secret is to ensure that you do not put in too much water in the rice as it might get too soggy.
On the other hand, if you do not add a quantity of water that will be enough to cook the rice, it becomes undercooked and it might even burn because of the microwave timer.
Finally, preparing your jasmine rice using a microwave is really easy when you follow the above instructions.
FAQs:
1. How do I cook 1 cup of rice in the microwave?
Here are the steps on How to Cook Rice in the Microwave:
1. In a microwave-safe dish, combine rice and water. 1 cup rice Measure 1 cup rice into a microwave-safe dish—you'll want one that holds at least 1.5 quarts when cooking this amount of rice.
2. Microwave the rice.
3. Cover and re-microwave the rice.
4. Drain the Rice and Set it Aside.
2. What is the ratio of water to jasmine rice?
As written instructions on the package, typically 1-1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice.
Jasmine rice, named after the fragrant jasmine flower, is a bowl of long grain rice native to Thailand with a delicate floral and buttery aroma. The trick to perfectly cooking it is to use the correct ratio of water to rice.
3. How long do I cook rice in the microwave?
Microwave on high, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Microwave on medium-low, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Keep in mind that rice expands during cooking, so be sure to use a large enough container. At no point during the cooking process, stir the rice. Just before serving, season with salt and fluff with a fork.
4. Is Jasmine Rice healthier than white rice?
Yes and No.
Jasmine white rice is a variety of white rice. As is the case with all white rice, it is highly processed, resulting in the loss of fiber and numerous nutrients. However, whole-grain jasmine rice varieties ranging in color from brown to red to black may be a healthier alternative to white rice.
5. Do you need to rinse jasmine rice before cooking?
Yes you need to rinse jasmine rice before cooking.
Bear in mind that Jasmine rice DOES NOT NEED TO BE SOAKED PRIOR TO COOKING; it only requires a few rinses. Soaking it first will only make it soggy. For every 1 cup of rice you will only need 2/3 of a cup of water to cook it.