Khao Suay: Jasmine Rice

Jasmine rice (khao hom mali — fragrant jasmine rice) is grown in the northeast Thai plains and is considered among the world's finest rice varieties. Its delicate floral aroma — from 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, the same compound that gives basmati and pandan leaf their fragrance — is volatile and must be preserved by correct storage and correct cooking. Thompson's *Thai Food* treats rice preparation with the same seriousness as any curry — which is appropriate.

Fragrant Thai jasmine rice cooked by absorption — the ratio of rice to water calibrated precisely, the heat sequence (high to bring to the boil, low to absorb) followed without variation, and the 10-minute post-cook rest observed without lifting the lid. Khao suay (beautiful rice) is not a minor preparation. It is the foundation of every Thai meal. Rice served incorrectly — sticky when it should be separate, dry when it should be yielding, flat when it should be fragrant — diminishes everything it accompanies.

Jasmine rice's primary aromatic compound — 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) — is also the primary aromatic of pandan leaf, basmati rice, and freshly baked bread (where it is produced by the Maillard reaction during crust formation). In jasmine rice, it is produced enzymatically during grain formation. As Segnit notes, rice and fish sauce is one of the most natural pairings in Southeast Asian cookery — the glutamates in fish sauce amplify the subtle sweetness of the rice, and the rice's starch neutralises the fish sauce's salt perception, producing a balanced combination that neither ingredient achieves alone.