I've made this 4 times now and have found that if I add the sugar it just doesn't taste right for my palette, so I do not add that, anymore.
The key (I believe) is NOT to overcook it, as you so rightly emphasize.
Also, I have been tending to add too much food coloring (it doesn't take a lot) so that's also something I need to be careful off.
It's an OUTSTANDING recipe. I'd been trying to get rice right for over twenty years, and it seemed that no matter what I did I ended up with a bowl of stodgy, sticky rice.
Thanks for sharing.