The Best Quick and Easy Rice Cooker Sticky Rice (Xôi)

Sticky rice or xôi, pronounced "soy," is a staple at my house. My little boys are big fans of sticky rice. They will eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes for no reason at all. Because they love it so much, we have to cook this ALL THE TIME. This recipe is extremely simple but you will need an electric rice cooker (affliate). (I use the Zojirsuhi brand, and had this for about 10 years! It's still going strong!) This recipe calls for a big electric rice cooker, not the small ones. You can try with the smaller ones but I haven't tried so I don't know if it'll turn out right.

Sticky rice is eaten across many countries in Asia, especially in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. It serves as a side dish and is so versatile! My sons LOVE eating it as the main dish for breakfast with a sweet/salty sesame sprinkle. Traditionally, you would soak the grains for a few hours or overnight, steamed in a bamboo basket, then covered with a lid for 30 minutes, and lastly, flipped to perfection. We're going to cut all that out and just simply wash it, soak it and then let the rice cooker do its magic (turn it on to cook mode) and voila, sticky rice!

In this xôi recipe, we will do a 30-minute soak and then is cook in a rice cooker.

How to Make Xôi (Sticky Rice) with Photos:

Gather your ingredients: 2 cups of sweet rice (gạo nếp in Vietnamese), a pinch of salt and 2 drops of canola oil or neutral oil of your choice

Add running water from the sink to the pot above the level of the rice to wash the starch from the rice and dump out whitish water about three times, being careful to keep the rice in the pot. When the water is clearer, that's good enough - it doesn't need to be super clear. Don't worry if you don't manage to dump all the water out each time.

Add two cups of HOT water to the rice pot after the several rinses.

Here comes the hot water!

Water level will look like this. If you want to use a different amount of rice, as a general estimate, I use enough water to be about about ¾in higher than the rice level. When in doubt, add more water since it is easier to correct being overly moist than being overly dry, in my opinion.

Add a pinch of salt.

Add 2 drops of oil. If you end up adding a little more say 5 to 10 drops, it'll come out just fine. If it's a lot more, pour it out. The touch of oil helps keep the sticky rice moist for longer and keeps it from drying out as you store and eat it.

I usually give it a gentle stir to mix it some and let it sit either on the counter or I set the pot in the rice cooker and wait for 30 minutes to soak in the hot water added. DO NOT TURN IT ON! Pre-soaking it helps it cook at the right timing using the rice cooker's pre-set timer and should be perfect after 1 press of the cook feature.

After 30 minutes, turn it on! It'll go to cook!

Your rice cooker should produce well-done sticky rice in 15-20 minutes. It might be longer if your rice cooker has a longer cooking cycle or if you added a lot of water.

Stir up the rice and fluff it up to make sure all the grains are cooked evenly. Because we are using a rice cooker, we don't want the rice at the bottom of the pot to become overcooked and one grains on top to remain undercooked. If it's too wet, just give some time to steam longer and if it's a little dry due to things such as older rice grains, you can add just a little water to get it moist and stir it up, then let it steam a while longer such as another 10-15min on the "keep warm" setting.

It'll look like this. You can already eat the rice at this stage but I give it another 5 minutes on the warm setting. Do not turn it on to cook setting.

After 5 minutes it'll look like this: clumpy and sticky - ready to be eaten! It should be moist but not wet and soft all the way through. If the texture seems hard it is likely undercooked or dry due to not using enough water.

Steps to making Sticky rice:

1. Wash the 2 cups of sweet grain rice, make sure to wash off the starch and give it a good rinse until the water is clear
2. Fill the rice pot up with 2 cups of hot water (I use an electric kettle to heat my water up)
3. Add 2 drops of neutral oil
4. Add a pinch of salt
5. Set the rice pot in the rice cooker and the pot sit for 30 minutes (DO NOT TURN RICE COOKER ON!!)
6. Turn on rice cooker and let it cook after 30 minute soak completed
7. When the rice cooker switches to the warm setting, stir up the rice
8. Let it sit on the warm setting for an additional 5 minutes
9. Voila sweet rice is ready! Scoop the rice over and let it sit or you can take out to enjoy

What can I eat with sticky rice?

Use this in place of your normal rice dish. Whatever you'd eat with normal rice, you can eat with sticky rice. For breakfast my kids love to a combination of sesame, salt and sugar topping. It's our version of the everything-but-the-bagel seasoning, except its for sticky rice! Try it with savory foods such as fried chicken wings or asian-style sausages.

Do I need to pre-soak the sticky rice?

Yes, pre-soaking it will help it keep properly and help it come out moist and soft.

What happens if I didn't presoak the rice and just turned it on the cook?

Do not panic! This happens. It will need multiple cooking sessions to get it to cook appropriately. I've tried skipping the soak step and have to end up adding extra water and hitting the cook button for several more timed cycles. Fix overly wet rice by fluffing it up and turning the rice cooker back to "cook" setting until it is soft. Dryness is corrected by adding more water to the dry rice until it is slightly wet, but not overly saturated. I eye ball this so trust your instincts! And then turn back on the cooker.

What is the difference between sweet sticky rice and plain sticky rice?

Plain sticky rice is eaten with different savory foods while sweet sticky rice is typically eaten as a dessert. In Vietnamese cuisine, sweet sticky rice is eaten alone or with cha, a Vietnamese style pork sausage. Many people are familiar with the Thai version that is drizzled with coconut and eaten with mangos.

Can I use any rice to make sticky rice?

No, sticky rice is done with sweet grain rice. In Vietnamese, we call it gạo nếp. I use the Dragon Phoenix brand, but I don't see on Amazon.

What can I eat with my plain sticky rice?

Use this xôi in place of your rice dish. If you can eat rice with it, you can substitute this in its place. You can top with anything. My kids love sticky rice and love it with air fried chicken. If you're feeling like trying something new, these make a great pairing with xôi jeow mak len, Laos BBQ brisket, fried chicken, and papaya salad.

How do I store my sticky rice?

You can keep it in the pot, or take it out and keep it in the fridge. If keeping in the fridge, make sure you keep it from getting dry by wrapping in plastic wrap or a sealed container like a casserole dish with a lid to it.

How long does sticky rice last for?

In the refrigerator it should last up to 7 days. Discard if you see any mold growing on it! Mold can be green or white on steamed rice.

How to I reheat my rice?

Microwave it for 30 seconds to 1 minute. It should be squish and sticky. Start with 30 seconds and if it's hard microwave it again for an additional 15 seconds until its edible.

Recipes to eat with the sticky rice:

Easy Homemade Papaya Salad In Minutes