Successfully Cooking Rice

I posted about rice cooking methods a little while ago, with mixed success, but I think I've got it down now.  The secret?

Soak the rice overnight.

Delicious and sticky after steaming for 20 minutes

I had initially thought that I could measure hydration of the rice by how much it expanded, and since it's done expanding after about an hour or so I stopped soaking there.  But what a difference soaking overnight makes!

Soaking didn't seem to affect the millet much, which might be why Qimin Yaoshu says to steam it twice.  It's also probably why I didn't have as much trouble with millet wines.

Note how some grains are fluffy and some are still dark

I tried steaming a second time since I was steaming the millet anyway, and poured a little bit of cool water over the rice and millet before returning it to the steamer.  The rice was 100% cooked throughout, as was the millet, although the millet feels a bit dry to the touch.

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