{"title":"How to Make Sticky Rice","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/cooking/how-to-make-sticky-rice","category":{"slug":"cooking","name":"Cooking"},"creator":{"name":"Pailin's Kitchen","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC27C_HWo-UmKkdWGsRJZ8EA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWyANJthkz4"},"tldr":"Sticky rice in under an hour using the hot-soak method. Skip the overnight planning, get tender, separate grains every time. Step-by-step photos.","totalDurationSeconds":670,"difficulty":"easy","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Bring water to a boil","text":"Sticky rice gets steamed, but the soak water needs to be hot. Fill a kettle or saucepan with plenty of water and set it on high heat to boil. You'll need enough hot water to cover the rice by about half an inch to an inch in step three.While the water comes up to temperature, you can start prepping the rice. Both can happen at the same time."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Wash the rice","text":"Put one cup of sticky rice into a large bowl and cover it with cold water. Scrub the grains hard with your hands - really agitate them so the loose starch on the surface gets released. The water should turn cloudy fast.Pour off the cloudy water and repeat the wash three or four more times until the water runs mostly clear. Drain the rice into a heat-proof bowl or leave it in the same one if it's heat-safe."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Pour boiling water over the rice","text":"Once the water is at a full boil, pour it directly over the washed rice. Stop when the water sits about half an inch to an inch above the grains. Don't overshoot - too much water dilutes the starch you want trapped inside each grain.Stir the rice with a spoon to break up any lumps that floated to the top so every grain gets the hot bath equally."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Soak for 20 minutes","text":"Set a timer for 20 minutes and walk away. This hot-soak shortcut replaces the traditional three-hour cold soak and gives you a better texture in a fraction of the time.Use the 20 minutes to set up your steamer. If you're cooking the rest of dinner, this is also a good time to prep the other dishes - sticky rice plays well with curries, grilled meats, and any spicy salad."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Prepare the steamer","text":"Any steaming setup works for sticky rice. A bamboo cone steamer is the traditional pick and the prettiest, but a basic metal steaming rack lined with a thin cloth works almost as well. Cheesecloth, a clean cotton tea towel, or unbleached muslin all do the job.Whichever you use, get it wet first. Run the bamboo basket under the tap or dip the cloth in water and wring it out lightly. Dry steamers cause the rice to stick."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Rinse and drain","text":"When the 20 minutes is up, pour the soaked rice into a fine mesh sieve and rinse it briefly with cold water. The starch that came out during the hot soak gets washed off here so the cooked grains stay separate.Shake the sieve well to drain off every drop of water. The rice should look plump and slightly translucent."},{"number":7,"title":"Step 7: Load rice into the steamer","text":"Spread the drained rice into the wet steamer. Pile it in a rough mound and then poke a hole down the middle with a finger or the handle of a spoon. The hole lets steam rise straight through the center, which keeps the thick middle section from staying raw.If you're using a flat rack instead of a basket, leave a couple of inches of bare rack around the edges of the rice for the same reason. Steam needs to come up around the pile too."},{"number":8,"title":"Step 8: Steam, flip, and finish","text":"Bring water to a boil in the bottom of the steamer pot. Set the loaded basket or rack on top and cover. Steam for about 20 minutes if you used a flat rack, or 35 minutes for a bamboo cone (the cone is taller and the steam takes longer to climb).Halfway through, flip the rice over to even out the cook. The trick is to lift the basket, hold it open over the pot, and toss with a quick wrist flick. For the last 10 minutes, break the rice up with a fork or spoon so the previously buried middle gets exposed to the steam too."}],"recipe":{"servings":"Makes 3 cups cooked (4 servings)","prepMinutes":25,"cookMinutes":25,"cuisine":"Thai","ingredients":[{"name":"glutinous (sweet) sticky rice","amount":"1 cup"},{"name":"boiling water","amount":"enough to cover rice by 1/2 inch"},{"name":"cold water","amount":"for rinsing"},{"name":"cheesecloth or thin cotton cloth","notes":"if using a metal steamer rack","amount":"1 piece, wet"}]},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-20T13:29:55.387Z","published":"2026-05-02T15:25:51.972Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}