"[Basmati] rice, that comes from the northern part of India and all the way through to Afghanistan, is a very long-grain rice and long-grain rice absorbs a lot of water," says Tan. "So that's why [South Asian people] always tend to wash the rice first and then, after that, it soaks [in order] for the rice to expand."
Rinsing rice before cooking is an Asian practice to remove dirt, dust and excess starch; but it's actually optional. However, we recommend cooking with a little less water if you rinse, because, without the starch to absorb the bit of extra water, your white rice may turn out too mushy.
If you do not rinse the rice, residual starch from the grains will gelatinized during the cooking process and create cooked grains to be of sticky texture. The rice will look more like risotto than the fluffy rice that are served at restaurants.
Rinse basmati rice very well before cooking.
This will help remove starch from the surface of the grains. Starch is what makes cooked rice sticky and gummy, so for fluffy rice, it is important to remove the starch.
This friction between the dry grains of rice creates starch dust that coats the grains. If the grains aren't washed before cooking, this residual starch will gelatinize in the hot cooking water and make the cooked grains of rice stick to each other.
Save the disappointment and let me show you how to cook the perfect jasmine rice, every single time! First, make sure that you rinse the uncooked rice 3-4 times until the water runs clear. This is crucial to get rid of excess starch that makes it soggy.
When cooking, rinsed rice bubbles a little versus unwashed rice which bubbles a lot. Once cooked, unwashed rice comes out with big, sticky clumps. Washed rice grains separate more easily. Unwashed rice has a gluey texture while washed rice is fluffier, more al dente.
You do not need to wash the rice until the water runs clear, like sushi rice, but you should wash it a couple of times either in a fine-mesh sieve or filling a pot with cold water, stirring the rice with your hands, then draining and repeating.
Soak the rice for just 30 minutes before cooking. This helps the rice absorb some water and helps the grains relax. This produces softer grains. Use the soaking water for cooking: You don't need to discard the liquid in which you soaked the rice before cooking.
Most types of rice, particularly white rice, have a high glycemic index, basmati rice is much lower on the scale. With a glycemic index between 50 and 58, basmati rice is a low to medium glycemic index food. If you have diabetes, small portions of basmati rice can be a part of your healthy diet.
Why wash rice? Because Japanese rice contains much higher starch and protein than other varieties, it needs washing to remove the excess. The stickiness of rice (from the starch) is important to hold the cooked grains together so that they can be eaten with chopsticks, but if it's too sticky it becomes chewy.
Japanese rice has a unique flavor that is different from other types of rice. Japanese rice is sweeter than other types of rice due to the way it is grown and milled. Japanese rice is also stickier than other types of rice, which gives it a chewy texture.
It depends on what you're making
"They don't really wash their rice because what they want to do is retain the [starch] that is essential in making sure the dish ends up tasting creamy. "Whereas in Asian cultures, the tendency is always to wash the rice," Tan says.
*(Tip: there's no need to wash Australian rice before cooking to remove foreign matter.) Place a tight-fitting lid on the pan, turn the heat right down and simmer for 17 minutes. (Note: do not lift the lid, or the steam that is cooking the rice will escape.) Turn the heat off.
Yes, in Japan rice is generally washed before cooking, although the English word “wash” doesn't begin to convey the energy you're supposed to expend. To give you a better idea, the verb in Japanese is togu, the same word used for honing a knife against a whetstone.
Back home in the Philippines, we used to wash rice 2-3 times to remove the impurities like small pebbles, dirt and rice husks. With the rice here in the US, however, that is not necessary. One washing is enough since you will hardly find any dirt or husks.
Click here for part I and part II.) After buying good rice and rinsing the rice properly, we need to soak the rice in water. The reason is to make evenly cooked rice and to make each rice grain sticky and resilient (“gelatinization”).
For some varieties of Persian rice, soaking improves the texture of the cooked rice by increasing the expansion of the grains. #4 Bring water to boil in a non-stick pot, then add a pinch of salt to the boiling water.
Long grain - There's a few different types of long-grain rice, such as plain white or brown long-grain rice, basmati rice, and jasmine rice. Long-grain rice tends to be less starchy so it results in a fluffy rice that doesn't stick together. Basmati rice is fluffier, lighter, and more aromatic than plain white rice.
Remember to soak
I would recommend soaking them for up to 30 minutes. This will kick start the water absorption process, meaning less time on the hob! Rinsing your rice before you cook it will remove the thin layer of starch that naturally occurs, preventing your rice from sticking together once cooked!
Always soak your Basmati rice for 15 - 30 minutes before cooking to achieve the best results.
Musenmai (無洗米), or no-wash rice, is white rice which has been further processed to remove a sticky coating called the hada nuka (肌糠), or skin bran, which is normally removed by rinsing the rice prior to cooking for better taste and aroma.
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.)
Mexican rice is prepared by rinsing and briefly soaking medium grained white rice and then toasting the rice in a heavy saucepan with fat, such as lard or cooking oil.