How to make turmeric rice

“How do you make that yellow rice?”

We have had a lot of questions about this, so here it is. The yellow rice is simple: add turmeric powder to whatever rice you like, then cook it exactly as you normally would.

About turmeric

In Japanese it is ukon, which may be the more familiar name here. Besides being essential for the appetising colour of a curry, it has a long-standing reputation for lowering cholesterol and for protecting the stomach and liver. Both SN1 and SN2 use it in their spice powder.

Which rice should I use?

Any rice will do, but a variety with enough aroma of its own to stand up to turmeric's earthy, grounded scent is the better match.

So rather than japonica rice (white or brown rice and the like), we recommend indica rice (basmati, jasmine and so on). Indica rice is easy to buy online, and plenty of supermarkets carry it now, so it has become quite easy to come by. Costco had jasmine rice as well.

Japonica rice, for its part, has spiced-rice recipes of its own that go well with spice curry, and I will share those when the chance comes. (Brown rice cooked with oolong tea and star anise is excellent too.)

How to make it

For every 2 go of rice (a go is the Japanese measure for rice, 180 ml, so this is about 360 ml or 300 g uncooked), dissolve 1 tsp of turmeric powder in the cooking water and cook the rice as usual.

If you double the rice, double the turmeric powder.

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Turmeric rice looks good, smells good and makes you hungry. Ladle over a spice curry made with your favourite recipe and enjoy. When you order online, write “turmeric please” in the notes field and we will include about 2 tsp of turmeric. A small thank-you to anyone who read this to the end.