Name: Steamed Rice with Corn
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 350 g Jasmine rice; 450 ml cold water; 1 fresh corn cob (or 1 cup frozen corn kernels); ½ to 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional)

Steamed Rice with Corn

If you live in an Asian household, chances are that you are eating rice every second day, if not every day. One of my favourite ways of getting vegetables into a meal is to steam the vegetables with the rice – it feels like a 2 for 1 deal! And a popular combination in our home is rice with corn.

Corn Rice Recipe

Whether you cook rice on the stove or with a rice cooker, you can easily add other ingredients to make a more interesting rice dish.

When I was a child, my mother often placed small sweet potatoes into the rice cooker to steam directly in the rice. Once cooked, the sweet potatoes would either be served whole, or mashed directly into the rice.

Here, I have taken the same concept but I have instead used fresh corn kernels which you can then mix directly into the rice, together with any flavourings like butter and soy sauce.

How to Steam Vegetables with Rice

As a general rule, when steaming vegetables with your rice:

the vegetables should be cut to a size that would cook tender within 30 minutes
add just enough vegetables to lightly cover the washed rice
reduce the water by 10% (because the vegetables will release some liquid during steaming)

In the recipe below, I have added fresh corn, but you can also add other types of vegetables, or even a combination of vegetables, such as:

carrots, thinly sliced
peas, fresh or frozen
sweet potato, diced small or use small whole sweet potatoes
broccoli, finely chopped or cut into small florets

How to Make Corn Rice

The steps below are how I cook Jasmine rice on the stove. Many recipes for cooking rice will instruct you to bring the pot of rice to a boil before turning the heat all the way down for the remainder of the cooking time. This method requires less time to cook the rice. However, it also requires you to be hovering by the stove to keep an eye on the pot. Also, if you’re a busy cook, it’s also easy to forget about the rice and only be reminded when you are hit with the unpleasant aroma of burnt rice.

Which is why I came up with my method below; once you put the pot on the stove, you can set a timer and not worry about the rice while you get on with other things.

I taught my 8 year old daughter how to cook rice on the stove using the recipe below, and she is always so happy and proud to reveal the pot of perfectly cooked rice each time!

Step 1

Measure the rice and place it into a fine sieve. If the sieve is too big, the grains of rice might fall out.

Step 2

Rinse the rice in the sieve under cold running water. Use your hands to move the grains around in the sieve. As the starch is being washed away, the water will appear milky and cloudy. Once the water starts looking clear, you can stop. This step should only take 1-2 minutes.

Step 3

Transfer the rinsed rice to a saucepan which has a tight-fitting lid.

Step 4

Use a sharp knife to slice the kernels off the corn cob, and place the kernels directly on top of the washed rice. You can also use frozen corn kernels instead of fresh corn; it’s important that you are using uncooked corn.

Step 5

Measure the water and pour this over the rice in the saucepan. However much water you would normally use to cook rice (whether on the stove or in a rice cooker), reduce this amount by 10%.

Step 6

Place the lid on the saucepan. Cook the rice over low to medium heat for 30 minutes. The water should not boil; it should just simmer gently.

After 30 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the rice to continue resting and steaming for about 10 minutes. Fluff the rice before serving.

Tips for Cooking Rice on the Stove

Rinse the rice. This step removes the excess starch and impurities on the grains of rice. If you don’t rinse the rice, you might end up with claggy rice. Some recipes tell you to skip this step, and they claim that it makes no difference to the finished dish. I disagree – rice connoiseurs (aka Asian mamas) will know 😉
Use a cast-iron pan. Cast-iron distributes the heat evenly, and it also retains heat better and for longer. With my method for cooking rice below, I have never had burnt rice when using a cast-iron pan.
Use a stainless steel pan with a tight-fitting lid. Before I converted to a cast-iron pan for cooking rice, I used an everyday stainless steel pan which did the job perfectly. Make sure you use one with a tight-fitting lid so that the steam does not escape. If your lid has a small vent to let the steam out, cover this vent with a damp cloth during cooking.
Use a glass lid. A glass lid will help you to see what is going on in the pan without having to remove the lid and let the steam escape. This is particularly helpful if you are new to making rice on the stove. Once you have cooked rice this way many times, you will begin to trust the process and a glass lid will not always be necessary.
Do not peek. If you don’t have a glass lid, resist the temptation to lift the lid to see how the rice is cooking. If you allow too much steam to escape, the rice can end up dry.
Experiment with the heat settings. Every stove is different! Also, what type of saucepan you use may also affect your cooking time. You may need to adjust your heat settings to find out what works best for you and your equipment. For cooking rice, aim for a setting where the water will gently simmer.
Experiment with the amount of water. The recommended ratio of rice to water is 1:1.25. However, this can change depending on your personal preference, as well as the type of rice that you are using. If you follow the recipe below and find that the rice is too moist or too dry for your liking, increase or decrease the water by 1 tablespoon the next time, and keep adjusting until you find the perfect ratio.

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