Do You Need To Wash Rice Before Cooking? Here’s The Science (www.iflscience.com)

submitted 11 months ago by hi_its_me@lemmy.world to c/cooking@lemmy.world

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I found this article pretty interesting… it seems to contradict the current cooking zeitgeist

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[-] the_q@lemmy.world 41 points 11 months ago

I 100% don't believe this article.

[-] Grass@sh.itjust.works 21 points 11 months ago

Me too. There is always rice sludge on the lid of the rice cooker and dribbled down the sides if I don't do at least one rinse. Definitely better texture too.

The washing away of some(...) microplastics and arsenic sounds nice, and I'm not concerned over the loss of whatever trace minerals white rice would even have.

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[-] Dakkaface@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

I believe the article, in the very narrow thing it actually claims, which is that the starches that come off of rice in washing don't matter much in how sticky the rice is. That's mostly down to what kind of rice you're using. Short grain is stickier, longer grains are not.

I'm still 100% going to wash my rice because I don't want to deal with the cleanup on that extra starch, it gets everywhere. And while I haven't had bugs in my rice for a while, it happens sometimes.

[-] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

the starches that come off of rice in washing don't matter much in how sticky the rice is.

100% blatant bullshit, painfully obvious to everyone who's ever cooked rice and tried to cut that specific corner.

[-] hi_its_me@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The article does seem to accurately portray the findings of the peer reviewed research that it links to. Not saying that it’s infallible, but probably worth considering.

[-] Addition@sh.itjust.works 28 points 11 months ago

Don't wash your rice for any kind of flavor reasons. Wash your rice because there might be bugs in it.

[-] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 14 points 11 months ago

Cook the bugs and eat them.

[-] Addition@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago

Mmmmm crunchy

[-] elbarto777@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Extra protein!

[-] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Tbf, there's also bugs in your flour. And dirt in your salt and sugar.

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Arguably salt is dirt. You mine it out of the ground afterall (unless it's sea salt).

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[-] CryptidBestiary@lemmy.world 26 points 11 months ago

I've eaten rice all my life and was taught to wash rice before cooking it. I've seen and eaten the starchiness that happens when not washing it and the difference is very noticeable. Rice was very gooey and starchy when not washed, versus a nice firm and chewy rice you would get from a restaurant when you do wash. Also washing it can clean out any bugs or dirt. It just made sense imo

[-] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 19 points 11 months ago

These comments are interesting. I have never washed rice, nor even considered it. Now I want to try it out and see what difference I can experience!

[-] filcuk@lemmy.zip 4 points 11 months ago

Some places mandate added minerals, which will wash off on rinse. Check the packaging.
Not that it's mission critical if you find washed rice better.

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[-] deeply_moving_queef@lemmy.ml 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

tldr; no

(Yes if you’re a clean freak)

[-] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 59 points 11 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

[removed by mod]

[-] shadmere@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago

Yeah, the study said it has no effect on the stickiness of the rice.

Which is bizarre, because I've...seen it. Like repeatedly. And it's not a subtle difference. When I am lazy and don't wash my rice, it comes out MUCH gooier. It's not terrible but it's significantly different than when I wash it well.

Is this going to make me buy a second rice cooker to compare side by side? Ugh.

[-] tburkhol@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

The popular press report says that washing doesn't make a difference. The actual, paywalled study says they did find a highly significant interaction between washing and type of rice, which is a level of statistical sophistication that a food writer might not grasp. In fact, even the scientific authors seem not to have commented much on the interaction.

In their data, it looks like washing 0-amylose glutinous rice makes it more sticky, while washing medium-grain 21% amylose rice even just 3 times makes it less sticky, and that 13% amylose Jasmine rice is just kind of all over the place or not systematically influenced by washing. They didn't do a big table of adjusted post hocs, so it's difficult to tell which specific groups are different from which others.

They also cooked the rices differently, using 1:1.3 rice:water for the glutinous and 1:1.6 for the medium and Jasmine, which obviously might confound their observations.

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

I've seen it, too. When I want fluffy individual grains, I rinse the rice first. If I want sticky rice, I don't rinse it. And it works for all different kinds of rice.

There's going to be powdered starch on the outside of the grains of rice. If you rinsed it and then added something like corn starch to the water you'd end up with sticky rice.

[-] mnoram@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

But if you read the article you'd have seen that prewashing to remove starch makes no difference. That's literally the point of this article.

"Culinary experts claim pre-washing rice reduces the amount of starch coming from the rice grains. ... Contrary to what chefs will tell you, this study showed the washing process had no effect on the stickiness (or hardness) of the rice."

And traditionally it was washed for cleanliness. The new wash to remove starch is a modern concept some people clearly started to say to sound smart with no evidence or science and it took off. Read the article

[-] morbidcactus@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 months ago

Prefacing this with this is my anecdotal experience, while the results are the same I find it much easier to clean up if I prewash the rice first. I don't bother presoaking most of the time although some recipes call for it. I pretty much only have basmati and jasmine rice on hand so maybe it also depends on the variety?

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

This was the question in the article. They did a test of unwashed, washed 3 times, and washed 10 times, then compared the rice. The scientists found no difference between the samples. They further speculate that the stickyness level of the rice has to do with the starches that leech from inside the rice.

The article goes on to talk about how, depending on how (and where) the rice is processed, you may want to rinse rice to remove bits of husk, dust, pebbles, and possibly arsenic or microplastics.

Now, having said all of that, take the results of the study with a grain of salt. Washing 3 times isn't going to do much of anything, and 10 times doesn't actually tell us that they washed the rice properly. As soon as the starch is wet, it's sticky. You really have to rinse and agitate the rice, and wash until the water runs clear. Maybe that also leeches some of the more available starch from inside the rice, but the difference is noticeable to anyone who cooks rice on a regular basis. So I'm not going to question the suggested mechanism of action, but I know how to make rice that is and isn't sticky.

[-] PlantJam@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Yeah, this really sounds like some scientists that don't know how to wash rice.

[-] bread_is_life@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

Im glad they mentioned the debris. My mom always told me they (family when they were in Vietnam) used to wash rice because of the pebbles, dust and bugs that may get into it. The water makes the bugs move which made it easier to pick out. She does it now because of the dust or whatever that may be on it. Never heard of the starch thing until watching youtube videos.

Still going to wash my rice though. Its better this way.

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[-] Purple_drink@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

The article says washing doesn't have an effect on the starch content (at least any starch that contributes to stickiness)

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[-] hi_its_me@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Thanks deeply_moving_queef

[-] deeply_moving_queef@lemmy.ml 3 points 11 months ago

💨

[-] 8bitguy@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

TL; DR,

Only if you're concerned about removing dust, insects, little stones, bits of husk left from the rice hulling process, arsenic, and 20-40% of microplastics. The amount of those things is influenced by the region in which it's produced. Stickiness reduction from washing is nominal due to there being two different types of starch. The kind on the surface is different than the variety inside the grain, which is what affects the stickiness.

Not part of the article:

If you're interested in less sticky rice, try toasting it first. It's a game changer.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/toasted-rice-recipe-2104154

I've never bothered rinsing, but probably will now because of microplastics and arsenic. I've never seen impurities like what are listed, but I only buy rice produced in California.

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[-] newtraditionalists@kbin.social 11 points 11 months ago

Interesting. Though anybody literate in the scientific method knows that one study doesn't mean much. Whether it's placebo or not, I notice a difference in the finished product when I wash rice, so I will continue to do so.

[-] donuts@kbin.social 11 points 11 months ago

This can't be right. They must have something off with their method.

You can even see murky, starchy white water drain out of the bowl the first couple of times you rinse and stir the uncooked rice. If that's not starch then what is it? The water will come out visibly cleaner with each round of rinsing and stirring.

Sure it could be placebo but I definitely feel that I can tell the difference between unwashed and washed rice.

[-] tburkhol@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Argument goes that the easily removed starch is all very short chain polymers, where the stickyness is more due to medium chain and highly branched molecules. I would honestly not be surprised if some of the cloudy water was also talc or other inorganic anti-clumping agents.

The type of rice you're cooking is also very important.

[-] jcdenton@lemy.lol 11 points 11 months ago

Not reading because yes you should

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 5 points 11 months ago

Unless you're using Minute Rice (which is already pre-washed before it goes in the box): Yes.

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this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023

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