The Age-Old Knuckle Trick For Perfectly Cooked Rice Every Time

Open the pantry in any given home and it's highly likely you'll find a bag of rice sitting somewhere on the shelves. But although rice is so ubiquitous in cooking, it can easily be cooked poorly. It can either have too much water (causing it to be soggy and overcooked), or too little water (leaving it dry and crunchy). And while a bag of rice usually comes with cooking instructions with exact measurements to use, these instructions can still yield unsatisfactory results. But luckily, there's one measuring cup-free trick that's worked for generations.

The knuckle trick is one simple rice trick you'll wish you knew sooner. You simply pour the amount of rice you want to cook into a pot, then add in water until the water level comes just above the rice. Then, place your index finger into the pot, resting the fingertip just on top of the rice. Add more water until the water line reaches your first knuckle, and you're golden! You'll have the perfect amount of water needed to cook your rice.

For cooks who prefer to use exact measurements and always rely on measuring cups to get the job done, this trick may seem suspicious. How can you have a consistent result if everyone's hands and fingers are different sizes? Or what about cooking different amounts of rice?

Even though human hands are all sized differently, the distance between the fingertip and the first knuckle is relatively consistent. There will be slight differences, but on average, the length between the fingertip and first knuckle is typically one inch long. By using the knuckle trick, you're making sure there's enough water for the rice to absorb, but you're specifically measuring the amount of water that will naturally evaporate during the cooking process. This amount of to-be-evaporated water is consistent — no matter how much rice you're cooking — as long as you use the same cooking vessel each time. However, remember that there are many different types of rice out there, as well as different preparation methods. Some types of rice will take longer to cook than others, so adjust accordingly when using the knuckle trick to figure out how much water to use.

Now that you've perfected your rice-to-water cooking ratio, you can add a few other steps to your rice-making routine to ensure you have the fluffiest rice every time. One of the most common mistakes people make when cooking rice is not rinsing it beforehand. Rinsing rice helps remove the natural starches lingering on each grain. If you skip this step, your rice can turn out chewy and clumpy, regardless of if you cook it in the correct amount of water or not.

Just as a watched pot never boils, a removed lid and constantly stirred rice pot never fluffs. The phrase may not be as catchy, but the sentiment is true. Remove the lid too early and you allow all that steam to escape, leaving your rice to dry out more easily. You only need to give your rice a stir once it's fully cooked, fluffing up the grains with a fork. With these extra tips and the knuckle trick on your side, your rice game will be measuring tool-free, with a perfect, consistent result.