Do you wash rice before cooking?

[HotChocolatemarshmallows]

I never have and been eating it for years! Do you?

What on earth for? Half a cup of rice per person to one cup of cold tap water. Bring to the boil. Once boiling pop a lid on and reduce the heat to a simmer. Watch through the lid and once there's no water it's done. Fluff up with a fork. Perfect every time

I bought a rice maker after catching dh washing it under the hot tap

I don't understand your thought process there

I soak mine in cold water for a few minutes and then give it a good rinse to reduce the starch.

I don't think rinsing helps with reducing arsenic levels, it's taken up within the rice grains during the growth process so isn't something that can be rinsed off.

Food Standards Agency position on arsenic in rice.

Rinse in cold water to get rid of the starch - when the water runs off clear. Plus you can get little stones in it sometimes, so its good to have a sift through.

I parboil then steam it.

God no. I use the microwave stuff

But how many people per packet does it feed?

Yes 3 times at least, the more it is washed then the fluffier it gets when cooked apparently.

Yes. Always have (was taught to cook rice this way). I rinse till the water is clear to remove the starch.

Apparently it does reduce arsenic to rinse and also drain rather than absorb the water.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-38910848

They showed on a bbc health programme (trust me I’m a doctor I think?) that the best way to reduce arsenic levels is to soak the rice and then rinse. Rinsing alone does still remove some.

Depends if it says to on the packet

The South Asian way is - you rinse it until it’s clear and then soak it and rinse again before cooking. Once cooked you tip off the water as you would pasta. It’s the only way to make sure you don’t injest lots of arsenic.

Definitely. Always. I soak it for at least 20 mins and then rinse once or twice

That's how its done in the ME too. rinse - soak - rinse off

@Sjl479 we clearly came across the same programme. That article I linked relates to that show.

I stand corrected. The Trust Me I'm a Doctor link contained a graph that showed that soaking overnight reduced the amount of arsenic by about 80% compared to uncooked rice:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2F1MDzyW55pg97Tdpp7gqLN/should-i-be-concerned-about-arsenic-in-my-rice

However, as I'm not organised enough to soak rice overnight, and the risk is probably quite minimal for people who don't eat rice as a staple part of their diet (remember that in some parts of the world, much of what they eat will be rice, along with smaller amounts of veg, eggs, meat etc) I'm probably going to stick with my current method - soak for a bit and then boil in plenty of water, but not 5 x, and then drain and rinse.

But then there are some parts of the world where the staple is rice at least twice a day, and they seem to not be dropping like flies.

Yes, otherwise it's a gloopy mess. I use a rice cooker

I soak for an hour too, I was taught by friends who come from a part of the world who know about these things

My Indonesian friend was horrified when she once saw me cooking rice & not rinsing. She then explained lectured me on the perils of eating rice that hasn’t been rinsed thoroughly & soaked & then rinsed. We hardly eat rice now as I can’t be bothered
I’m lazy with the faff

Rinsing in Indonesia is probably a lot more important seeing as the average Indonesian eats about 20 times as much rice as the average British person:

www.helgilibrary.com/indicators/rice-consumption-per-capita/

Yes. Basmati rice, rinsed under the cold tap, then boiled in a pan full of water. That's how we like our rice.

The UK eats a lot more rice per portion though. In India / Bangladesh / Pakistan rice is a tiny part of a home cooked meal. The average takeaway portion here is probably equivalent to three proper home cooked Indian ones - so yes even people who don’t eat it often need to wash and treat rice properly.

You haven’t been to a Persian restaurant! Huge portions of rice.

I never did but my in laws are Indian and they were appalled! You are supposed to. Rice had naturally occurring arsenic in it and debris. Also if you don't wash it its more likely to clump together. Washing it removes some of the starchy coating.

Yes I do, but this is a recent thing as I heard a good chef recommending to wash it.

It does make a difference to the rice. Also the absorption method makes a difference too.

50g = 100ml water. Into boiling water then simmer with lid on for 10 mins. Turn off the heat but leave lid on for 5 minutes.

Fluff the rice and you have perfect rice.

Oh and a good dose of salt into the water.

Yes rinse until the water is clear. No idea why, my mum is Chinese and this is how I was taught to prepare rice. She’s big on telling me what to do, less so on explanations