By Aaron Hutcherson
Growing up, my mother never rinsed rice. She would measure it out with a coffee mug, pour in twice that amount of water, and then place it on the stove to cook. The result was soft clumps of rice, which hold a place in my heart and bring comfort when I’m in need.
That said, a pot of white rice is often judged on how separate the grains are, so if light, fluffy rice is what you seek, rinsing is key.
“This is an important step,” my colleague Becky Krystal wrote in her guide to making a better pot of rice. The journey that rice has taken from the paddy to your pantry is a long one, with the grains rubbing together all the while. That friction creates the starchy dust that coats the rice, and it’s that starch that is responsible for the grains clumping together and sometimes giving the finished pot a gummy texture. Rinsing or washing rice removes that excess starch, resulting in grains that are more separate when cooked.
There’s the added benefit that rinsing rice before cooking can reduce the level of arsenic, but FDA research shows that the impact is minimal on the cooked grain.
That advice applies primarily to your standard pot of long-grain white rice. For different types of rice, and depending on the dish you’re making, the need to rinse and the benefits of doing so varies.
“Some people make a case against rinsing enriched rices, which have been coated with a powder to provide extra nutrients,” Becky wrote. But according to “Seductions of Rice: A Cookbook,” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, “Since in North America we have access to a wide range of vegetables and other foods, the loss is not critical.”
When it comes to rice dishes that call for the grains to stick together more, such as rice pudding or risotto made with arborio rice, the advice is split. According to America’s Test Kitchen editor in chief Dan Souza, “You want to avoid [rinsing] if you’re making something like risotto or rice pudding. We found that rinsing compromises that desirable creamy consistency.”
Is there an easy way to make risotto? Yes, in an Instant Pot.
Cookbook author and food writer Nik Sharma tells The Post “it depends.” He does rinse rice when making pudding, but not for risotto. And in his column for Food52 on the science of rinsing and the use of short-grain rice to make kanji/congee, he wrote: “While the starch dust might help thicken your soup, the rice should still be washed before cooking to remove any dirt, chemicals, and bugs that might be present. The innate properties of sticky rice (low percentage of amylose, higher amount of amylopectin) thicken the liquid with ease, so losing any of that starch dust during washing is not a concern.”
My verdict? I likely won’t rinse when making dishes where a creamier consistency is key, but the choice is up to you.
(washingtonpost)