Taiwanese Sticky Rice (Authentic Recipe) - Tiffy Cooks (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to sticky rice? ›

The Secrets to Perfect Sticky Rice

Soak the sticky rice for in enough water to cover the rice. This softens the grain and the extra water helps add that fluffy texture. Soaking for 4-24 hours is a good range. After soaking, add a little salt before cooking for taste, about 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon.

How to Make Sticky Rice. Soak rice for 15 minutes prior to cooking it for an additional 10 minutes. This rice requires a ratio of 1:1, meaning 1 cup of rice to every cup of 1 cup of water. It's as easy as that!

Combine 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan. Mix everything together with a spoon. This will be the seasoning for your sushi rice. It may also help your rice become a little more sticky.

According to the rice qualities, rice in Taiwan is divided into three major categories- japonica, indica and glutinous rice.

Sticky rice has an unusually high amount of amylopectin and is very low in amylose, helping the grains stick together as they cook. It's similar to sushi rice, but significantly stickier.

If your rice has absorbed too much liquid, the grains may have split and the starches may have given the rice a soft, gluey consistency. One way to fix that? Add even more liquid. Pour in some milk, a dash of vanilla, and spoonful of sugar, and suddenly your mushy rice is a rich rice pudding.

For the best texture, all types of sticky rice should be rinsed, then soaked before cooking: Rinsing helps remove dirt and dust from processing and shipping, while soaking brings some starches to the surface that give sticky rice it's desired texture.

What makes Chinese Rice Sticky? In Western cuisine we refer to sticky rice when we obtain a dish that has been overcooked because we have added too much liquid, but it turns out that the amount of starch present in the rice through amylose and amylopectin plays a determining role in the cooking process.

You need the proper kind of rice with short plump grains so it will leak starch and that will make it sticky. Then you have to cook it the right way with not too much water, so you don't pour the starch away with the excess water.

How do you increase the stickiness of rice? ›

Stickiness is found to increase with decreasing amylose content in the whole grain, and, in the leachate, with increasing total amount of amylopectin, the proportion of short amylopectin chains, and amylopectin molecular size.

Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵)

It is, however, considered the national dish of Taiwan (though its origins are Chinese), and given a distinctly Taiwanese spin with the addition of pickled mustard greens and the signature five-spice powder of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds.

Slurp up a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup

Today, niurou mian is Taiwan's de facto national dish (it has its own festival) and has even been credited with reversing the island's long-held taboo on eating beef.

Staple foods

Taiwanese cuisine is similar to Chinese cuisine, so meals tend to be based around white rice, while pork is the most commonly eaten meat. Since World War II, chicken has become very common. Shredded turkey served with gravy on white rice is a dish associated with the laid-back southern city of Chiayi.

Unwashed rice

If the grains aren't washed before cooking, the excess starch present in rice will make the rice sticky when it's in hot water. Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. You can also place rice and water in a bowl and change the water several times.

What makes it sticky? Unlike classic white or wholegrain rice, sticky rice has a much higher starch content containing unusually high amounts of amylopectin and a very low amount of amylose.