Food preparation, AIBU?

[LDNmummy]

Ok so following on from my kind of controversial dining table thread ...

Some thing I just thought of and wondered what other people's opinions are including:

Do you wash rice before cooking? I was taught to wash rice at least twice before cooking to get rid of dirt and dust etc. but I have met a few people who don't and just cook it straight from the packet. I even asked them about it and they said that washing was only to get rid of starch as far as they knew and not necessary. I don't judge, each to their own and all that, but I wouldn't eat their food as it is unhygienic IMO. Obviously pre washed rice (if that exists) is a different issue.

Another thing I have noticed is when people cut and prepare onions but leave that ligh brown coloured layer of chewy onion skin behind and add to to the food. It is the layer that looks almost like the white and edible part of the onion, but it has a slight tinge of brown and is chewy and papery like the skin of the onion. Surely you should not add that bit to the onion you cook? Again I don't judge and would eat food with it in as I don't think this is at all the same as not washing rice, just that I end up having to pull it out of my mouth mid chew as it is too papery and chewy to break down and swallow IYSWIM.

I know this is random, I was just sitting here and thought of it after washing some rice and thought I would ask. In all fairness I am a very fussy cook and wash between handling everything so maybe I am being OTT. But the rice thing especially I do find a bit yuck.

Plus I wanted to start a thread not about politics or benefits or NoTW as it is starting to fry my brain.

Mud is one thing, but aren't the best mushrooms grown on horseshit?

Umm... I know this is a painting but It was the only pic I coud find to explain the onion thing.

www.artisticrealism.com/paintings/yellow-onion-half-peeled-oil-painting.jpg

Under the obviously brown layer is another layer which looks translucent like the edible part of the onion but is brown tinged at the top and bottom ends. This bit has a chewier texture and is not edible really but I see loads of people add it to the onion they use to cook.

Angry I do think the Spanish girl was a bit bonkers as I lived with a Spanish girl for a year and she ate salad everyday but never washed it in Milton. I might have to ask her about that though, you never know, It might be true. Thats a bit too much for me though

I don't think I am too OCD about food generally - just have a weird thing about mushrooms. However, I will quite happily eat fruit that has not been washed. No sense to it really.

I wash rice, or at least I thought I did until I cooked rice with a Persian friend of mine. She insisted that the rice had to sit in the saucepan under the tap and be rinsed until the water ran completely clear. It takes ages, but I do that nearly every time now. I still can't make it taste as perfect as she does though

"And I think you are quite OCD'ish and have a bit of an odd relationship to food.
Does that sound like a fair analysis ?"

Actually no I don't think this is a fair analysis. I actually love food, most of my disposable income goes on eating out and buying all sorts of yummy foods from aorund the world as me and my DH both find this a big part of our lives. I come froma culture where food is a big deal in the sense that it is even a way of showing care and love to someone to cook for them. I even eat fish eyes (only from roasted or fried fish though and this is very common in my mums country).

I do not have 'a bit of an odd relationship with food', I love and enjoy food.

I do however think rice should be washed and am fussy about mud on mushrooms. That doesn't mean I wouldn't eat an unwashed grape once in a while.

Washing salad in milton?? My xsil will only eat store brought veg as she says everything else will be contaminated with cat/dog poo so might suggest that to her! She also told her DC they could survive perfectly well living off of eggs alone so i think her and the spanish lass fall squarely in the bonkers camp.

I dont wash rice or eat brown oniony bits

Xoh does have an obsession for mushroom washing though. Says as a child he caught worms from eating muddy ones I dont like them washed as they go slimy so i throw the muddy ones in when he is not looking compromise with a wipe by wet kitchen roll

Not eating someone's food just because they don't rinse rice does make it sound like you have an odd relationship with food or have OCD tendencies to be honest... as this thread shows its not actually normal to rinse rice other than to remove starch ...

Well it is normal to wash rice in my culture, but I noticed it is not something everyone I know does so I wanted to ask.

It may come across that way but no one from my country would think it normal to not wash rice.

I hate when people take something and make it something its not.

And I think it is unhygienic, that is how I was raised. Would you eat something you thought was not hygienic?

It is normal to wash rice for reasons of hygiene. Just not the stuff you get in British supermarkets in 2011.

If I'm cooking basmati I soak it for a good half hour and rinse in the pan under the tap until the water is no longer cloudy. Then cook it (starting with the fresh, cold water). Once it reaches the boil I stir it once and let it simmer - it shouldn't take more than about 7 minutes from reaching the boil to cook.

Obviously I wouldn't rinse Arborio/Carnaroli/Bomba or Thai rice.

I do whatever it says on the packet regarding rice. YABU to say that the rice is unhygienic if not rinsed - it is being sterilised in boiling water ffs! If it's good enough for babies bottles it's good enough for rice imo.
YANBU about the chewy bits of onion. They make me retch.

LOL that you have found a painting of the icky bit of onion!

LDNmummy
If you think it is unhygenic because that was how you were raised and nothing is going to change your opinion then why bother posting? Doesn't matter does it?

Commercially bought mushrooms are grown in sterile peat - so it's not a problem if you don't wash them.

My mum washes everything: potatoes, carrots, spinich, whole poultry,,mince. I wash nothing. My food tastes nicer than hers.

I always wash rice, but not for hygiene reasons. That had never occurred to me. I just do it to get rid of the starch. I do equal parts rice and cold water. Stick a lid on and bring it to the boil, once it's boiling I switch is right down to the lowest setting and let it cook for another 5 or so minutes until all the water has evaporated. Never take the lid off and just set it to one side to continue steaming. You should have fluffy rice!
Never wash mushrooms either - only wipe with kitchen towel or a little brush I have. Washing them is not good as they go all mushy.

I wash rice until the water is pretty much clear, I use basmati which is a lot more starchy than easy cook [tastes better too!]

Thats just how ive always done it, if you dont wash it properly it will be sticky and clump. If you use easy cook that is less likely to happen, we used to call easy cook rice 'beginners rice' because it was hard to mess up.

LDNmummy I know what you mean about the last papery bit on an onion, I ALWAYS get rid of that bit but I have eaten food where the cook hasnt-not nice!

agree about never washing mushrooms, ruins the flavour. Just wipe over with kitchen roll. The only veg I'm fussy about are leeks which have half the garden in them. The rest we just eat, and nobody died yet!

Sorry OP but you sound like a complete nightmare. Have never washed rice in my life - never. And I don't know who on earth eats this 'onion skin' that seems to be troubling you so much. Nobody I know and that's for sure. Wash mushrooms? You have to be joking? If there's a bit of compost on just brush it off. Or don't. Either way you won't die.

'It is unhygienic, that is how I was raised'.

I'd begin to question things.

MilyP - What is the harm in asking the question exactly? It may be that I learn something new. I noticed something and was curious so thought I would ask. And where did I say that nothing would change my mind because that is how I was raised exactly?

BornInAfrica - You sound very narrow minded to say that because I do things differently I am a nightmare. And as for the onion thing, one or two posters have mentioned that they know what I mean (see AmberLeaf's post above yours). Fair enough if you do things differently, in my home and my culture If I served people unwashed rice they would question my hygiene so it is seen as a matter of course and not a nightmare at all. I am open minded enough to not assume negative things about people who do things differently to myself, part of the reason I asked about this to begin with.

pointydog - This is not just how I was raised personally but is a rule across my culture when it comes to food preparation. Why should I question it exactly?

Yes, to washing rice, yes, to getting rid of onion skin.

Many people have said washing rice has nothing to do with hygiene but you persist in saying you think it is unhygienic. Why bother asking us?

Oh and in my family home, rice was washed too. I don't. It's ok to question things from your culture.