One of the fondest memories I have from my childhood is the memory of my Grandma’s cooking. She used to cook for us for hours in the kitchen when we visited her. It was the labor of love. She made lots of delicious meals, but in particular, the best Korean rice I had ever had in my life! Her rice was special. It was shinier and tastier than any other rice that I knew of. My Mom cooked rice at home everyday too, but it was different from Grandma’s rice.
Years later, I now know that the key to cooking the perfect rice is in the type of rice you use and its freshness. If the rice is less than a year old from the time of harvesting, it’s called Hapsahl, and it has the most amount of nutrients and tastes the best.
Aside from using the freshest rice possible, which type of rice should you use? There are many different types of rice and they are used in various cuisines around the world. They vary greatly in flavor, texture, and even in nutrition!
Short Grain White Rice
In Korean cuisine, short grain white rice is the most commonly used. It is very mild in flavor and very sticky. Among short grain variety of rice, different brands have slightly different flavor and texture as well. I like to use Kokuho Rose rice or Hitomebore rice. You can find these rice at Korean or Asian grocery stores, but you can also buy them online if buying offline is not an option for you (Or you just want to make your life easier!).
Medium Grain White Rice
Medium grain sushi rice or Calrose rice is also a great choice when cooking Korean food. While I have a hard time finding short grain rice at grocery stores near me, I can always find sushi rice at any grocery store I go to.
Brown Rice
While the white rice is most common, many people prefer using brown rice for its higher nutrition and fiber content. Just as with white rice, Koreans eat short or medium grain variety of brown rice. However, the brown rice is naturally a bit less sticky than the white rice. If you want your brown rice to be more sticky, you can mix in brown sweet rice (glutinous rice) in 1:1 ratio.
Now that we have discussed which type of rice to use, let’s talk about exactly HOW to prepare the rice. You can use a rice cooker, pressure cooker, instant pot, or stove top. Whichever cooking gadget you choose to use, the rice to water ratio is 1:1.25, unless you have fresh rice that is less than a year old. With the fresh rice, use about 1 to 1.1 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. Here is another tip: If you have the time to, it is best to soak the rice in water for 30 minutes before cooking.
Try using this recipe and let me know how it is! Also, subscribe via email or follow on Instagram to receive updates on most recent recipes!
Korean Sticky Rice
Ingredients
White Rice
- 2 Cups Short or medium grain rice white
- 2½ Cups Water
Brown Rice
- 1 Cup Short or medium grain rice brown
- 1 Cup Sweet rice brown
- 2½ Cups Water
Instructions
- Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear.
- Put the rice and water in a saucepan and let it soak for 30 minutes.
- Cook the rice on high with the lid on until the water starts to boil. Immediately lower the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes with the lid still on.
- Fluff the rice with a rice paddle.
