In the early days of cooking for myself, I will admit to my relationship with cooking rice being a bit hit and miss — that is, until I got my first microwave.

It was an early Sanyo model and a hulking big thing that took up half the kitchen, but boy could it cook rice! I learnt to cook perfect rice with the cookbook that came with it and have never looked back — perfect rice every time.

So, if you’re a rice tragic, here’s how it’s done:

Empty one cup of long grain rice into a large microwave-safe bowl (a large microwave-specific rice cooker is perfect, but not necessary), add two cups of hot water, cover and cook on High for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium (50% power) and cook (covered) for a further 10 to 13 minutes (depending on your microwave) until all liquid is absorbed.

Fluff rice up with a fork and serve immediately. Serves four people.

The beauty of this method is that, besides its foolproof results, you can take the rice straight to the table to serve, so there’s only one dish to wash up — and no sticky saucepan to wash up!