This savory coconut rice is tender, fluffy, and delicious. Mild coconut flavor with hints of ginger and garlic, it makes a perfect side dish to any main entree, especially a rich curry! When you're wanting something beyond usual plain rice, this is a delicious option!
Growing up in a Chinese household, rice was on the table at just about every meal...even at Christmas and Thanksgiving!
I still like having rice, but perhaps not as often as when I was a kid. And I also enjoy different ways of cooking up rice besides plain steamed.
Introducing this savory coconut rice! This rice is just as comforting as regular rice, but with some added flavor!
Ingredients
You don't need much to liven up plain rice! For this recipe, all you need is
- rice
- coconut milk
- coconut oil
- ginger
- garlic
- salt
What type of rice do I use?
I use a long-grain rice for this recipe like jasmine or basmati. You could make this with a short grain rice like pearl or Japanese rice, but I prefer the way long-grain rice cooks up fluffy as opposed to sticky.
Cooking Suggestion: I also like add a bit of wild rice to the mix sometimes to add some color and texture. It's totally optional and is just another way of fancying up plain rice!
How To Make the Coconut Rice
The first step is to rinse the rice to wash away excess starch and dirt. Rinsing the rice can be done using a colander or you can add water to the rice in the pot, swirl it around with your hands, drain, and repeat a couple more times until the water is mostly clear.
I prefer to use colander because then I know most of the water has drained away before I add the actual cooking liquid to the pot.
Transfer the rice to the pot and add the sliced ginger, sliced garlic, salt, water and coconut milk. Stir with a spoon, then gently shake the pot to level out the rice.
Rice Cooker Method:
Place the pot in your rice cooker and cook as you would plain rice.
Stovetop Method:
Place the pot, uncovered, over medium high heat. Once the liquid starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a lid. Let the rice cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove the lid and let it cook for another couple of minutes to cook off any remaining liquid.
Fluff the Rice
It may not seem like a big deal, but after the rice is cooked, it's important to "fluff" it using chopsticks, spoon, or rice paddle before serving it. Fluffing the rice helps separate the grains so that they dry out a bit and don't just stick and clump together.
What To Serve with Coconut Rice
As I mentioned, this savory coconut rice complements many different entrees. Some ideas are:
Looking for some more creative ways to cook rice? Consider these recipes:
- Rice Cooker Salmon and Egg Rice
- Rice Cooker Chinese Sticky Rice
- Chicken Rice Salad Medley
- Rice Crust Pizza
- Pepper Beef Rice Skillet
Simple plain cooked rice is always a good option, but with just a few extra minutes and ingredients, you can elevate your rice to something even more delicious and add extra flavor oomph to your meal! It's so easy that there's no reason not to try it!
~ Lisa.
Recipe
Savory Ginger Garlic Coconut Rice
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups uncooked long-grain rice (use a regular 1-cup measure, not the cup that comes with your rice cooker)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 4-5 slices ginger
- 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon wild rice (optional)
Optional Garnishings:
- Sesame seeds
- Chopped green onions
- Furikake
Equipment
Instructions
- Place the rice in a colander and rinse under cool water until the water mostly runs clear. If using wild rice, rinse it with the long-grain rice.
Rice Cooker:
- In rice cooker pot, combine rice with the coconut milk, water, ginger slices, garlic slices, coconut oil, and salt. Stir to combine and shake slightly to level out the rice.
- Cook the rice on the Normal or White Rice setting until done.
Stovetop:
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Cover the pot with the lid and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let cook for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove lid and let cook 2 more minutes to cook off any remaining liquid.
To serve:
- Remove ginger slices (if desired) and fluff rice with chopsticks.
Optional garnishes:
- Sesame seeds, chopped green onions, furikake.
Notes
- Use a real 1 cup measuring cup for the rice, NOT the plastic cup that comes with the rice cooker.
- Long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati rice work well with this recipe.
- Use of wild rice is completely optional.
- For a stronger coconut flavor, substitute the water with more coconut milk.
- Add more ginger or garlic for stronger flavors in the rice.
- For a variations to the rice, add cardamon pods, star anise, or turmeric.
- Goes great with curry, Asian flavors.
Thanks for stopping by! If you make this dish or any of my other recipes, I would love it if you could take the time to comment and rate it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
This post was originally published on April 22, 2018 and republished in March 2022 with an updated recipe, new photos, instructional photos, and writing.
Beth Mick says
The recipe intrigued me. I followed it exactly but rice was tough. I had to do 3 more tries, adding water each time. I think I added at least 1 additional cup. Once we got that figured out we were gold. Delicious combination and easy to throw together.
Hi Beth! That's strange that your rice came out tough, but I'm glad you tried again and got it to work! Thanks for trying my recipe!
Colleen says
Delicious flavour
Thanks, Colleen!