A dedicated rice cooker is a great kitchen gadget if you use it a lot. If not it is like any other seldom used kitchen gadget: a money and space waster. If you cook rice only occasionally, you need to know how to do it on your stovetop. Chinese restaurants and cookbooks usually refer to plain white rice as steamed. Confusingly, it is sometimes known as boiled rice. In fact the Chinese method of cooking rice involves a stage of boiling, followed by a period of steaming. The English language lacked a term to express this exact cooking method, until some clever Dick coined the term 'absorption method' – not a description that rolls off the tongue. I call it boiled and steamed rice – not a pithy expression either but at least it is clear. The Chinese themselves don't seem to have a precise term for this cooking method. Zhu (mi) fan simply means to 'cook rice.'

Serves 4 (about 6 heaped bowls of rice)

Ingredients
2 cups rice
3 cups water

Method

1. Remove dust and impurities by rinsing rice in a couple of changes of water. Run your fingers through rice as you rinse.
2. Drain and place rice into a flat, heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid.
3. Add water.
4. Without lid, bring to a boil on a medium heat. Stir well.
5. Place lid on pot, and simmer on a very low heat for about 18 minutes.
6. Turn off heat and allow rice to rest for 15 minutes to complete water absorption process.
7. Mix rice to fluff it up, and serve in bowls.

Notes:
Never use a wok. Cooking time may vary depending on rice type. In general long grain rice needs a bit more water than short, and older rice may also need extra water. Never toss in oil, butter or salt, or any other additive. Do not remove the lid from the pot until the rice is ready to serve. Do not wash rice after cooking. Most American-grown rice is fortified with vitamins and minerals in the form of a powder coating, and should not be rinsed before cooking.