White Rice

Method

1. prep4 min
   cold water, swirled and poured off three or four times
   rice rinsed until the water runs nearly clear. What you are washing away is loose surface starch broken off in milling — left on, it gelatinises into a paste between the grains and glues them together. This one step is most of the difference between separate grains and a clump
2. boil3 min
   heavy pan, lid off, full rolling boil
   rinsed rice + water (+ salt, + butter), brought up hard and uncovered. Starting from cold with the rice already in means the grains hydrate evenly on the way up, which is why this is more forgiving than adding rice to boiling water
3. simmer12 min
   lowest heat, tightly covered, not stirred or peeked at
   until the water is gone and the surface is pitted with small craters. The grains are absorbing water and their starch is gelatinising around 70-80°C; the lid keeps the steam in, which is what cooks the top layer. Stirring now drags starch off the grains and makes it sticky — there is no reason to touch it
4. rest10 min
   off the heat, still covered
   undisturbed. This is not idle time: moisture is still redistributing from the wet bottom grains to the drier top ones, and rice served straight from the heat is unevenly done in a way that ten minutes fixes for free
5. fold1 min
   fork, lifting rather than stirring
   the grains apart from the edge inward. A fork separates; a spoon compresses and crushes. If the bottom has caught slightly, leave it — scraping mixes scorched grains through the whole pot