RE the rice. I rinse all rice (even the stuff that says you don't need to) well in cold water before boiling, Do this by whisking it vigorously around in a pan of cold water with a fork or whisk, emptying the water and repeating a couple of times.
Then replace the cold water with boiled water bring it back to the boil and simmer on v low light for about 9 min. Then take a little on a fork put it under a trickle of cold water to cool it and sample it, do this every minute till it is as soft as you like it.
It never goes stoggy with this method :)