In Thailand and many other Asian countries it is quite normal to eat rice and rice products three times a day. In Thailand, most of this is consumed as steamed white rice.
The term steamed rice is a bit confusing as the rice is not cooked over steam. Instead, steamed white rice (ข้าวสวย or ข้าวเปล่า) is cooked in boiling water until all the water has been absorbed or evaporated.
As an alternative to steamed white rice, brown or red rice is available in most areas of Thailand, but you may need to cook it yourself. Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice and if you are moving to Thailand then you should consider buying a rice cooker. However, you may prefer the ease of eating out for every meal.
Sticky or glutinous rice (ข้าวเหนียว) is cooked in steam and this helps maintain the starchy sticky texture. Most people regard it as a fattening food but many slim Thai girls seem to manage on sticky rice and som-tam (ส้มตำ) as staple foods.
Sticky rice also goes very well with grilled pork and chicken but don’t get carried away as it has a tendency to cause constipation in many people. Not to worry, as the next bout of diarrhea is probably only round the corner.
Boiled rice (ข้าวต้ม) usually refers to rice soup and is not the boiled and drained rice that many people cook in the West. Boiled rice soup can be served plain but is usually mixed with meat or seafood. Chopped pork intestines are another common ingredient and they provide a similar texture to the soft rice. Thailand has very few vegetarians.
Most city people cook steamed rice in an electric rice cooker. This is by far the best and easiest way to cook steamed rice. A simple rice cooker has only one on/off switch but more advanced microprocessor controlled rice cookers have additional programs for boiled rice, cake, slow cooking, etc.
A rice cooker should turn itself off automatically when the water has evaporated. Apparently it does this by the sudden rise in temperature as water can only boil at 100 degrees. My rice cooker then switches itself into keep warm mode which keeps the rice hot and tasty all day long. For example, I can cook rice for breakfast and then eat hot rice again at lunchtime or in the early evening, all from the same batch. Surprisingly, it tastes just as good whenever it is served.
Although I don’t use many functions on my rice cooker, I do use steam, keep warm and slow cook options. I find the slow cook option handy when cooking stew. I never use the brown rice function even when cooking brown or wholemeal rice and to be honest I don’t know what it does. It may be beneficial for unmilled rice that has not been part-cooked.
I sometimes pre-soak rice in hot water before cooking as this seems to make it extra light and fluffy. I usually do this by adding hot water or by selecting the keep warm function.
In my experience, the Panasonic / National brand of rice cookers provide a decent quality cooker at a reasonable price. Mine is still going strong after several years of use even though customs or baggage handling did their best to destroy it. Some of the more upmarket Japanese rice cookers look interesting but they can be very expensive and I’m not sure they are worth the money.
