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Strategies for effectively and rapidly cleaning rice of starch

I would let rice cool down before frying it. I know rice 'can be' dangerous but I've been eating fried rice made with yesterdays leftovers for many years and it's yet to kill me. If it's all clumpy then you've boiled it wrong. Try putting a drop of oil in the pan and quickly scooting the dry rice around in it as you heat the pan before adding boiling water to stop it clumping. Works best with the absorption method described by Cid above.
 
I put the rice in a pan. Pour in warm water. Scrunch it through my hands a few times then drain. Repeat a couple of times.

Or use brown short grain and don't bother to rinse.

American long grain rice is not good for you. It makes sliced white bread look nutritious by comparison.
 
I only ever steam rice now, no rinsing or soaking or other messing about, just chuck it in the tray with an equal volume of water, then in the steamer for 20 minutes. Always perfect and fluffy. I only use basmati or jasmine rice though, I tried steaming brown rice once and it didn't work at all.
 
Cid said:
No, I was taking the piss. You are doing something wrong though, I usually use the quimcunx method, or rinse 4 times or so. Leaving it to soak for half an hour may help, but iirc that's mainly to reduce cooking times so that fragrance of things like basmati is preserved. Other thing to do is absorption cook rather than boil loose (i.e 1:1.5 rice:water, simmer until water is fully absorbed and rice is nice and fluffy). What kind of rice do you use?
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I was taught to cook rice like that by a Lebanese guy. But proportions 1:2, bring to boil then simmer til the water has gone.
 
Manter said:
I was taught to cook rice like that by a Lebanese guy. But proportions 1:2, bring to boil then simmer til the water has gone.
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My Gambian ex used the same method. Her rice was always perfect. She did wash it though. Never said how long for though. :mad:
 
Citizen66 said:
So does the *Never Ever Reheat Rice* rule not count when frying it? I know there's a way to cool it properly if you plan on reheating it. That's why I always fry rice when warm straight after boiling.

Why is something so simple so complicated? :D
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The rule isn't "never ever reheat rice" it's just about being careful how you cool it the first time around and how well you reheat it.

I am shit at cooking white rice tbh. :oops:

Unless you're making fried rice really often, have you thought about those microwave pouches of precooked rice?
Dunno if they would work but they do lots of different types of rice and they are often on special in the supermarket.
 
I think I need to invest in some kind of steaming method if it doesn't involve this washing rigmarole! :D

But is starch bad for you? :hmm:
 
Manter said:
I don't think I have ever washed rice. Except 'abroad' when it had weevils in it
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Do you rinse it after you boil it then or not at all? I do find it problematic if I don't wash it at all ... maybe I buy overly starchy rice? It's something that has always confused me to get right.
 
Citizen66 said:
Do you rinse it after you boil it then or not at all? I do find it problematic if I don't wash it at all ... maybe I buy overly starchy rice? It's something that has always confused me to get right.
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If it's too starchy I think I have cooked it too long tbh. If you cook it a bit less it holds together better. Which is probably not scientific or proper culinary stuff (@ms_t is probably cringing) but seems to work
 
This get proportions right and do absorption. Trick is not to stir it after you turn it down to simmer
 
I do the 1:2 rice:water algorithm DON'T STIR or mess with the water in any way. Add a bit of salt. Washing it can be the only thing I do wrong.
 
To Serve Two (greedy children or very polite adults)

  1. One level ramekin (your receptacle may vary) of any rice. Rinse the rice if you wish
  2. Boil kettle
  3. Tip ramekin (receptacle) of rice into saucepan with a touch of oil and put on full heat
  4. Stir rice until it starts to 'crackle'
  5. Add one and half ramekin (receptacle) of boiled water from the kettle and stir in
  6. Turn the heat down to the lowest you can (for electric, number one is fine) and put the lid on
  7. If the rice is white, leave the rice between 10-12 minutes. If you have a glass lid, you can tip the pan to check if the water has evaporated. Otherwise, there is no harm in quickly removing the lid to check
  8. If the rice is brown, I find that (on an electric hob) between 12-15 minutes is usually fine
  9. Once you're happy that the water has evaporated, take the pan off the hob, fork through the rice and put the lid back on for a further 5 minutes
  10. After the 5 minutes is up, your rice is ready to serve
This has worked every single time for the ten years since I've been doing it this way. (Courtesy of somebody off Urban, I hasten to add!)
 
But rice is starch. Or at least 85% of uncooked white rice is. If you washed away the starch there'd be nothing left. If it's sticky and clumping together it's because it's overcooked though properly cooked rice will clump a little anyway.
 
Citizen66 said:
Do you rinse it after you boil it then or not at all? I do find it problematic if I don't wash it at all ... maybe I buy overly starchy rice? It's something that has always confused me to get right.
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Tilda basmati is fine.
 
maomao said:
But rice is starch. Or at least 85% of uncooked white rice is. If you washed away the starch there'd be nothing left. If it's sticky and clumping together it's because it's overcooked though properly cooked rice will clump a little anyway.
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That's what I was thinking too. :)
 
The important thing is to rinse with hot water, not just water from the cold tap.

There's nothing wrong with sticky rice anyway.
 
Cid said:
Also for proper egg fried rice beat the egg then stir it into the cooled rice, coating all the grains.
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Um, no. That's improper egg fried rice. For proper egg fried rice you fry the egg first then add the rice.
 
A Goan friend of mine sweats up an onion in the pan before she does the Basmati 1:2 business. I can't ever make mine as nice but it's almost always half as good.

I second using yesterday's for frying and view using the wooden spatula to break up clumps as part of the whole deal. I'll be coating it in eggs first instead of dumping it in, as per a tip above next time :thumbs:

Edit: or not, Bi0boy :mad:
 
bi0boy said:
Um, no. That's improper egg fried rice. For proper egg fried rice you fry the egg first then add the rice.
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Beat the egg first to make a little omelette then chuck in the rice. I've occasionally had the completely coated in rice kind in the UK but the normal Chinese version is a broken up omelette fried with the rice.
 
bi0boy said:
Um, no. That's improper egg fried rice. For proper egg fried rice you fry the egg first then add the rice.
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Yeah, a friend who spent a lot of time in China told me, am starting to doubt him though. It is a very good technique mind you.

bi0boy said:
The important thing is to rinse with hot water, not just water from the cold tap.

There's nothing wrong with sticky rice anyway.
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This I disagree with. Warm water yes, but hot seems unnecessary. Sticky rice is fine, but not if you don't want sticky rice for a particular recipe.
 
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