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How to Cook Rice in a Microwave
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Recently, my friend told me that as a noob cook, I should feature more back-to-basics cooking/kitchen tutorials which I totally agree. So let me start with a basic survival tutorial for cooking rice using a microwave. For those of us who cook rice regularly, we will most certainly have the trusty rice cooker which makes cooking rice a breeze. But there are people out there, especially those living overseas, who only have a microwave in their living quarters.
See Also: How to Make Grated Ginger Juice
After my friend told me how he cooked ALL his meals (including “steamed” rice) in a microwave oven when he was living abroad, I was inspired to try it out. The great news is that it is possible to cook moist and fluffy rice in a microwave and at almost half the cooking time. This tutorial is for those out there who are surviving only on a microwave, or those who are keen to explore more uses for their microwave oven.
Microwave Rice Cooker
If you cook rice in the microwave oven frequently, you can invest in an inexpensive microwave rice cooker (I got mine from Cold Storage). The design is similar to the traditional rice cooker in that it is tall, has a tight fitting lid and an inner ventilation vent. You can also use any microwave-safe casserole, but be sure that it is a tall one and keep a look out for water spillage which may occur during the cooking process.
My microwave rice cooker consists of an inner detachable ventilation lid and a rice paddle.
Water and Cooking Time Table
This is the water and cooking times which came with my microwave rice cooker and it worked for me one to two cup rice (on high power). Every microwave is different so do tweak the quantities and timings accordingly.
Rice Water Cooking Time
1 cup 1 1/2 cups 9-10 minutes
2 cups 3 cups 10-12 minutes
Printable Recipe & Measurements |
How to Cook Rice in a Microwave (Step-by-Step) |
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Rinse rice in water till the water runs clear/opaque (depending on your preference), discard water. |
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Measure and add water for cooking the rice. |
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Fit the lid on the cooker. For microwave rice cooker, it comes with an additional inner ventiliation lid which provide additional ventilation and prevent spillage. Microwave the casserole, lid on, on high power. For the timings, refer to the table above. |
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Let the cooker sit for a few minutes before opening. Be careful of hot steam when opening the lid. At first glance, the cooked rice on the top layer may look a tad dry, but don’t worry. |
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Stir and fluff the rice with a spatula or fork. You will find that the rice is moist, fluffy and evenly cooked, made entirely in a microwave oven! |
Useful tip! Survived on this when overseas!
Interesting! Wish I have known about cooking rice in a microwave when I was in college.
The rice looks perfectly cooked. Too bad, no microwave at home.
I didn’t invest on a rice cooker after I moved to KL so I usually just cook it on the stove in a saucepan. Quite fast too, but I think microwave is even faster!
Hahah my dad used the micro when our old rice cooker broke. But it wasn’t very yummy at all so I just assumed microwave = bad! Your version looks yummy (though I hope our family rice cooker will last a long time!)
I don’t know if you ever cooked rice on the stove top as well, but that can produce great results too. My friend’s dad is an amazing cook and he always just uses the stove top to make rice. (:
Anyway… I like the taking it back to basics idea and hope to see more!
I have cooked rice on the stove top before with great results (soft, fluffy rice) but lazy me uses the rice cooker for daily cooking, as it is next to almost no effort at all. Thanks and will feature more basic kitchen tutorials in future :)
Oh! I have never seen this gadget :) Indeed very useful since we all have microwave.
Thanks for the post and hope you are having a great week!
I’ve been searching high n low to find a good rice cooker…bt those that I bought cannt keep the rice moist after a few hours..always end up dry n hard n chao ta at the bottom..so I give up on rice cooker..just wondering is there a rice cooker that can keep rice moist after several hours on “keep warm” mode? If no, then I will switch to microwave or stove top methods. Thanks for this post, really came in time. :)
I’m using a zojirushi rice cooker. The rice do not become dry or chao ta at the bottom after keeping warm. The rice cooker is a bit more expensive than the basic keep warm/cook type, but well worth the investment in my opinion if you cook regularly. And I also like that it can cook porridge (takes longer than stove-top but I don’t have to eye-ball).
Hey! I went to purchase one straightaway after I saw this post and am trying this out tonight. It is inconvenient for me to cook with a rice cooker where I am living now.
But just wanted to add in that I went to Cold Storage NEX & NTUC NEX to find it… And everyone said it was OOS, and might be/most probably OOS elsewhere as well. So just letting everyone know that you can get one at ISETAN Nex at $19.00 but comes with more accessories like steaming basket, steaming basket prop and a measuring cup in addition to what this one has.
Just extra info.
Thanks for introducing this to me! Will see if the results are good tonight :D
Hi Fiona, thanks for sharing where you bought yours. The one you got sounds good with the extra accessories. Hope you had good results on your first attempt :)
I use rangemate for any microwave cooking. Haven’t tried cooking rice with it yet. :P I am inspired by your post to try it hehe
is this for instant rice or long cook rice ?
This tutorial is for non-instant/normal white rice.