Best Way to Cook Sticky Rice in a Microwave

Traditionally Thais do not cook sticky rice in a microwave – heck most Thais do not even have a microwave at home. Not only that but the only way I knew how to cook Thai sticky rice until a few weeks ago, was by using a bamboo steamer and the method my grandma taught me.

My family now is my husband, three teenage boys and little Katie. Technology is all around and given that my husband and kids like to experiment, I was guided to try to find a way to cook sticky rice in the microwave.

To say I was sceptical would be a huge understatement! I thought the rice would turn out a terrible sticky mess at worst or not taste very good at best. I was very wrong!

If you are looking for a recipe or method to cook regular Jasmine Rice in a microwave then check out that post.

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The Problem with the Traditional Method

The problem with the traditional method is the time spent soaking and then steaming on the hot stove.

Now the steaming bit doesn’t take too long but 2-4 hours soaking the glutinous rice means you can’t just arrive home and whip up a quick stir fry with sticky rice.

Steaming over a saucepan is a good method and needs no microwave but if you have a microwave then it’s a great alternative method and quicker!

Stir-fries are great because they are quick but because the soak time means working out what to eat long before actually cooking it, they are normally served in our house with Jasmine Rice which cooks about as quickly as it takes to prepare and cook a stir fry.

Would cooking sticky rice in the microwave solve this time conundrum?

The Benefits of Microwave Sticky Rice

Let me tell you saving time is a huge benefit for ‘we that are tasked with cooking’. In amongst picking the kids up from school, teaching them and trying to get everything else done in the day, a few minutes saved is definitely worthwhile.

The benefits of this recipe for microwave sticky rice are a huge saving in overall time and a result that sacrifices very little in taste or texture. It really is amazing!

That breaks wide open the number of dishes you can cook and serve with sticky rice even if you are in a rush and have not prepared.

Those benefits are huge!

If you are thinking about cooking sticky rice in the microwave then I say go for it using this easy sticky rice microwave method.

How to Cook Sticky Rice in the Microwave

Washing and Soaking the Rice

First off you still need to wash the excess rice starch off your glutinous rice. So grab a large bowl and place in the amount of rice you want to cook.

Using plenty of tap water, cover the rice with plenty of water and swill it around to wash the grains. The water will cloud and you then need to drain it. Repeat the process several times until the water runs pretty clear and then roughly (but carefully) drain off the remaining washing water.

Now you may have thought this easy microwaved rice would need no soaking after me wittering on about how quick it is. Not to worry though we are only going to soak for 15 minutes. That’s an improvement on 2-4 hours, right?

Just put your rice into a heatproof bowl and pour on boiling water, enough to cover it by an inch or two. Move the bowl to an area where it can safely sit undisturbed for 15 minutes.

Getting Ready to Microwave

You will need to equip yourself with a microwave-safe bowl and lid – I use a plate for the lid because you do not want the lid too well-fitting. The idea is to trap most of the steam inside the bowl whilst letting a little steam escape to ensure no pressure build-up.

It is the same principle as using a fork to puncture those plastic covers they put on microwaveable ready meals before you press ‘start’. A practice that stops the container exploding food all over the inside of your microwave. THAT is not a time saver as most of us will no doubt have found out.

Drain off the water from your soaking glutinous rice and tip it into a sieve to flush through and rinse with running tap water. Give it a shake and transfer to your waiting microwave bowl and give it a jiggle to settle the rice evenly.

Pour in enough drinking water to reach to the same level as the top of the rice, put on your loosely fitting lit or upside-down plate and stick the whole shebang in the microwave.

I use an 850W microwave so if yours is lower powered you will need to extend the cooking times accordingly. To recalculate timings you can use our easy microwave timing conversion calculator.

Microwaving Sticky Rice – Two Steps

Now all you need to do is to microwave at full 850 Watt power for 7 minutes and wait for the timer to ‘ding’ and the microwave to stop waving.

Grab some protective cloths for your hands and remove the hot bowl from the microwave. Carefully take off the lid. The best way to remove the lid is to tilt it away from you so the steam does not all fly up in your face.

Take a fork and stir the rice about to mix the rice that was at the edges into the middle. After mixing the rice together, wet your hands under the tap and flick the water that is on them onto the top of the rice just sprinkling the excess water off your hands. Just the water on your wettened hands is enough.

Replace the lid on top of the bowl and put the whole thing back into the microwave.

Microwave for another 3 minutes.

When the timer goes off, remove the bowl and carefully remove the lid in the same was as before and taking care not to scald yourself.

Tip the rice out onto a flat surface and fluff it out with a fork to let any excess steam escape and stop the rice cooking further.

Gather the rice back up gently into your serving dish or individual rice baskets and cover with a damp cloth (muslin works well), until ready to eat. The damp cloth helps to stop the rice drying out.

Conclusion

Microwave sticky rice is great! It isn’t quite as perfect as the traditional method but to be honest it is so close that no one will know the difference.

And it is quick. In the time it takes to make your sticky rice you will be hard pushed to have cooked everything else so it is perfect if you ar in a rush.

The only downside I can think when compared to the bamboo steaming traditional method is that you do not have the delicious smell of rice cooking quite as strong throughout the house that makes you crazy hungry for it to be ready to eat.

It is a great method!

Microwave Sticky Rice Recipe

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