Glutinous Rice / Sticky Rice (Khao Niew): Soaking and Steaming

Glutinous rice is the staple grain of Isaan (northeastern Thailand), northern Thailand, Laos, and much of inland mainland Southeast Asia. It is a different culinary tradition from the jasmine rice of central Thailand — and its manner of eating (pressed into balls with the right hand and used to scoop other dishes) reflects its different texture. Thompson covers glutinous rice extensively because its preparation method is so frequently misunderstood by cooks from outside the Isaan tradition.

Glutinous rice — called sticky rice (khao niew) in Isaan and northern Thai — is a different grain from jasmine rice, with a different starch structure (almost entirely amylopectin, the branching starch, rather than the amylose-amylopectin combination of other rices) that produces its characteristic cohesive, slightly chewy texture. Glutinous rice is not cooked by absorption — it is soaked overnight and then steamed. The soaking hydrates the grain sufficiently that steam alone can cook it without boiling water. Any attempt to cook glutinous rice by absorption produces an unevenly cooked, clumped, gluey result. The 8-hour soak is not optional.

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