Cooking red rice

Wash the glutinous rice/red rice, drain thoroughly(an hour or so)and cook by steaming.

Please be gentle to mix the rice and beans.


Make sure to use muslin, a fine cotton cloth to hold the rice/beans, at the same time to prevent rice sticking in the steamer.

Top with boiling water from time to time, also checking whether it is cooked.


Red beans, soak overnight in water, boil the ff day in a fresh batch of water until soft, but not soggy.


When serving, lightly sprinkle with a mixture of fine salt and pan-roasted(few minutes only in a low fire) black sesame seeds.


In Japan, red rice is served during celebration, job promotion, new-born baby, passing the exam, etc.

The steam of the boiling water will cook the rice, takes time though but the result is worth it.


If a steamer is not available, improvised..seen those dimsum or mantou bamboo container with slotted bottom, find a big one at the market, its widely available and very cheap.

The rice taste better, and smell good too.



Put the above on top of a big pan/caressole and cover the rice with muslin during cooking, make sure boiling water does not reach the bottom of the steamer.

I usually use a big frying pan to hold the above steamer.


Good luck.

Wash the rice, measure water in the same proportion to the rice ( e.g. 1 cup of water to 1 cup of red rice). In a pot, bring the water to a boil, then add the rice. Stir once,half-cover. When the water is almost to be absorbed, lower the flame or heat-source to the lowest. Cover completely for about 15 to 20 minutes. You may try putting or covering the potcover with a wet towel during the last minutes of cooking time to prevent moisture from escaping. The result is a fluffy, or perfectly-sticky red rice for you to use further for your recipes. I hope it works for you.

Same as cooking plain rice. The thing is, glutinous rice absorbs water faster than plain rice. So if it is cooked in a open flame in the same way as plain rice, the red rice would be burned before it is done. So the best way is to stir it once ot twice during the boiling proces and prolong the cooking time under lowest possible heat. You can cook the red rice same way as plain rice in a rice cooker. It is ok to open the cooker top and stir the rice once when its boiling. Just let it stand in its "keep warm" setting for about 30 minutes for 5 cups of rice, and about an hour double that. Just prepare it ahead of time. Don't think its a waste of electricity as the longer "keep warm" standing of the rice allow it to be cooked thoroughly, avoiding that starchy uncooked centre of each grain.

If you want a much drier (less soggy, less soft) glutinous red rice. Simply lessen the amount of water (say 3/4 cup of water to a cup of glutinous rice). You can prolong the "keep warm" standing time a bit more.