How to avoid undercooked rice? ?

Buy a pot with a cover, or cover the pot with a plate, or foil, or anything heatproof that fits tightly enough so not too much steam escapes.

So here are ways to fix rice that has turned out less than perfectly: Problem: The rice is still very chewy or hard in the middle after the allotted time. Solution: Add just enough water to create a little steam, 1/4 cup or less. Put the lid on and cook the rice on very low heat for another 5 minutes.

To avoid the chances of undercooked rice, use appropriate size of pan. Also add adequate amount of water so that the rice gets more water to become soft and fluffy.

cook rice for 9 minutes  then rinse it in clean hotwater then strain , chinese use a medium grain rice and you use long grain , wrong type or rice .dont forget to rinse the rice first of all the junk when milling it . no decent chinese resturaunt uses long grain rice .

People always stress over making rice. I know a chef that cannot cook rice if his life depended on it. The two of us sat in his kitchen for an entire day making rice and sometimes purposefully ruining it. 

The tricks are to use a bit more liquid than required and Covering it. 

For using water, say one cup rice to two cups water. For chicken stock, use 2 1/4 cups stock. 

I often make 20+Lbs at a time. So I would do a two to one ratio-boil the water, add the rice, cover, and stir on occasion. When the rice starts to absorb the water, cover and turn off the heat, allowing the rice to further absorb the water till it is All absorbed. 

You say you have no pot covers. Almost anything can be used as a cover-even a cookie sheet. 

Lack of a lid makes steaming the rice kind of difficult.

In all honesty though, if you eat rice fairly often, it might be a good idea to simply invest in a rice cooker. At that point all you do is measure the rice and the water, turn it on, and it does the rest.

I have always found, that to guarantee 'perfect' rice, you do need a lid on the saucepan, and you just need to use twice as much water (or stock) to rice .. by volume.

So .. pour the rice into the saucepan, having measured it out in a measuring jug.

Pour over twice as much BOILING water .. put the lid on .. and cook over a LOW heat for 15-20 minutes (until all the liquid has been absorbed).

Keep checking it to see if the water needs 'topping up' .. but don't stir it too much, unless you want 'sticky' rice.

If you cook it without a lid the liquid just 'boils away' as steam before the rice has cooked.

If you don't have a lid then put a frying pan (or even a plate) on top of the saucepan to hold the steam in .. a frying pan is better because it has a handle.

Use  a plate or a tray in place of a pot cover.

Go buy a pot cover, you don't have 5 usd to spare? 

1 cup rice thoroughly rinsed.

1.5 cups water

1/2 tsp salt optional

Add all to an appropriately sized pot - not too big is the key

Place pot over medium heat stir a few times at first to distribute the salt if using.

Let come to a boil uncovered, turn down heat to a simmer

When little bubbles are coming out just below the rice surface cover the pot and turn the heat as low as you can and don't touch it for 20-minutes. DO NOT PEEK

Turn off heat and let it rest another 5-10 minutes. Still NO PEEKING

Done, not to wet not to crunchy.

No pot covers forget it. Rice is based on using a lit and trapped moisture .

Boil the water, then add rice so only an inch of water or so is above, reduce to low. Wait until you Smell the rice or see it done. A clear lid is the best. I even leave an air gap.

Or bake the rice and cover it with tin foil. Finger high water. Add butter or onions.