Cooking rice in a rice cooker is practical. However, there are other impacts, one of which is that the rice dries quickly and becomes crusty. This condition not only reduces the quality and deliciousness of the rice, but can also cause food waste, and make the process of cleaning the rice cooker more difficult.
The causes of rice becoming dry and crusty are very varied, starting from using poor quality rice or not measuring the right amount of water. Apart from that, using hot water when cooking rice also has the potential to dry out the rice quickly. As a result, this dry rice can become crusty and stick to the walls of the rice cooker.
To overcome this, some people usually use additional ingredients, such as cooking oil. Using cooking oil is considered to make rice fluffier and not dry. However, for some people, using cooking oil also makes the rice slippery and less enjoyable to eat.
Instead, you can use other ingredients as shown by Instagram user @ummubalqishaura. Through one of the uploaded videos, he admitted that he only relied on one kitchen ingredient to cook rice. Reported by BrilioFood from Instagram @ummubalqishaura on Monday (22/7), the kitchen ingredient in question is ice cubes.
Since it was uploaded on Thursday (18/7), this video about tricks for cooking rice has been watched more than 123 thousand times. It's not surprising that many other Instagram users were interested and also flooded the comments column. Most of these netizens admitted that they had just found out about this trick and wanted to try it straight away at home.
" MashaAllaah, I just found out, next time I want to try cooking rice with ice cubes, " said Instagram @fahrunnizarf.
" Wow, I've never tried it, if it can make it fluffier ," explained Instagram @ristianaoktaviani.
" I've tried this method... My rice is chewy, umm, " said Instagram @wandaawande.
 Instagram/@ummubalqishaura
How to use it is quite easy. First of all, wash the rice as usual. After that, pour water in a finger-sized amount. If so, put 3-4 small cups of ice cubes into it.
 Instagram/@ummubalqishaura
Next, close the rice cooker and cook the rice as usual. Then when it is cooked, open the rice cooker and the rice can be eaten with side dishes. The smoother texture makes the rice more palatable. On the other hand, pureed rice is also not easy to dry or crust when it is stored in the rice cooker. But not only that, the rice cooked with ice cubes is not mushy and anti-odor as well, you know.
 Instagram/@ummubalqishaura
Through this video, Instagram user @ummubalqishaura provided further explanation. According to him, the ice cubes will melt slowly. This then makes the cold water penetrate more evenly into the rice grains. This slower water absorption process then causes the starch in rice to release more amylose and amylopectin, which can make the rice fluffier and softer.