How to rinse rice

Content

Steps
Part 1 of 2: Washing the Rice
Part 2 of 2: When to rinse the rice
Tips
Warnings
What do you need

Rice is the most popular cereal in the world and can be used in a wide variety of dishes. Rice is washed and cooked differently in different cultures. In most Asian countries where rice is the staple food, rinsing the rice thoroughly is an integral part of the cooking process. In most Western countries, rice is not washed as thoroughly and is much easier to treat as lumpy and sticky rice. Either way, it is helpful to rinse the rice at least once. In this article, you will learn how to do it right.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Washing the Rice

1 Transfer the rice to a bowl. Use a bowl large enough to mix the rice comfortably. You can use a special rice colander with very small holes, from which water flows out very slowly.
2 Cover the rice with water. Pour tap water into a bowl of rice so that it completely covers the rice. The volume of water should be about three times the volume of rice.
3 Stir the rice with clean hands. As you stir the rice, the individual grains will rub against each other and the starch will be scraped off. Do not press or rub too hard to prevent the seeds from breaking.
4 Tilt the bowl to drain the starch and water. Since rice is heavier than water, it will be at the bottom of the bowl, and you can safely drain the muddy water and all unnecessary that floated to the surface. Drain off the water, holding it to the edge with the palm of your hand to prevent the rice from leaking.
- If the water looks dirty, milky white or cloudy, add water and rinse the rice again.
- If there is no dirt or impurities in the rice rinse water, then you can save this starchy water for cooking various dishes. For example, it is useful as a thickener in sauces.
5 Beat the rice carefully. At this point, many Western chefs tend to move on to cooking rice. However, in Japan and other countries in Asia, much attention is paid to cleaning rice to obtain the perfect airy texture. The next step in the rice washing process is to "polish" the rice grains together. Bend your fingers into a weak fist and gently "beat" the rice. Rotate and move your fist to move the rice around the bowl, making the grains grind together.
6 Repeat the procedure. After polishing the rice like this, add more water, stir the rice and drain. Beat and stir the rice a few more times by adding and pouring out until the drained water is crystal clear. Depending on what kind of rice you are working with and how it was processed, you may need from a couple of bowls of water to a few minutes of rinsing.
7 Soak the rice if desired. Transfer the wet rice to a colander and drain. Leave the rice to soak for at least 30 minutes, if time permits. Soaking the rice will saturate it with water and the finished rice will have a smoother texture.
- Soaking the rice helps to shorten the cooking time. How much time you can save on this depends on the type of rice used and the steeping time, so you can experiment here.
- Aromatic rice varieties such as basmati and jasmine are beneficial to soak for other reasons. The fact is that the aromatic components are destroyed during cooking, so the less you cook such rice, the more aromatic the finished dish will turn out.

Part 2 of 2: When to rinse the rice

1 Washing effect for starch. One of the main purposes of rinsing rice is to remove the starch that is on the surface of the grains. If the rice is not rinsed before boiling, the grains of rice will clump together, leaving the finished dish with a lumpy and sticky texture. If you are steaming rice, rinse it first to remove the starch so the rice will be light and lump-free. If you are making a dish that requires glutinous rice, such as risotto or rice pudding, then you will need this starch. For such dishes, the rice does not need to be rinsed as thoroughly.
- Short-grain rice is more likely to stick together, while long-grain rice, such as basmati, is usually dry with split grains after boiling.
- If you are cooking risotto or pudding but the rice is dirty, rinse it well and add a couple of tablespoons of rice flour when cooking. This will return the washed starch back to the rice.
2 Washing out dirt. As a rule, good quality rice sold in stores is clean and contains almost no dirt or impurities. But lower quality rice can contain dirt, insects, pebbles, pesticide residues, and many other impurities. Sometimes unscrupulous producers add talcum powder on top to improve the appearance of the rice. This kind of rice is edible, but it needs to be washed very thoroughly.
- Often, rice sold in large bags in the markets contains these impurities.
3 Conservation of nutrients in fortified rice. The fortified rice is thoroughly washed and then covered with a vitamin and nutrient powder. If you rinse such rice, most of the beneficial ingredients will be lost.
- Fortified rice is free of dirt, but it still contains starch on its surface.
- Fortified rice typically contains a warning not to rinse it.
4 Be aware of the arsenic content and the risks to children. Rice, more than other crops, accumulates arsenic, which is naturally found in water and soil. If rice is the main food of a pregnant woman or baby, it can negatively affect the development of the baby. Doctors recommend feeding children a variety of grains (not just rice) to reduce this risk. Even thorough rinsing will only slightly reduce the arsenic content of the rice. Arsenic is much more effective in removing boiling rice in a large amount of water (in a ratio of 1: 6 to 1:10), and then draining excess water.

Tips

Although long grain rice (such as basmati) rarely sticks together, recipes that require long grain rice suggest that after boiling, you should get dry, completely separated grains of rice. It is for this reason that some cooks rinse long grain rice for several minutes until the water is completely clear. Short grain rice is more sticky and is expected to be lumpy when cooked, so rinsing it a couple of times is sufficient.
In recent years, rice that does not need to be washed, or "mussenmai", has appeared in Japan and many other countries. This rice has had its sticky shell removed and therefore does not need to be washed.
Rice can be rinsed beforehand, then spread out on a clean towel and allowed to dry.

Warnings

In Japan (and probably in other regions with a high consumption of rice), large amounts of water after washing the rice are drained into the sewer system. This leads to dangerous algae blooms, as this water contains many nutrients.Some local authorities are urging people to switch to no-rinse rice, or not to drain the rice water down the drain, but use it to water the plants.