It is quite possible that you are not in the habit of washing rice before cooking it. In fact, it is quite common for in Europe we never wash the rice and, although it may not seem like it, it has nothing to do with unhygienic work.
The funny thing is that in Asia, especially in Japan, it is customary to wash the rice that is used to make sushi. So much so that it is done conscientiously, leaving the water with which we have washed these grains practically transparent.
Of course it also has to do with that rice is especially glutinous —it tends to stick more— and too thick rice would make it difficult to prepare nigiri, among other recipes.
However, even if it is to make white rice or Cuban rice, we could also wash the rice that we are going to cook and our most homemade dishes will thank you for a simple matter: subtract starch.
Starch is the number one enemy of loose rice and this is the reason why they ball up and stick together. And this is the reason why we recommend that you wash them beforehand.
Just once or twice seeing how the washing water is relatively white. From there we can now make our rice as we thought to do it and we will make it looser.
But there is no need to throw away that washing water either, especially depending on the recipe that we are going to prepare. As with the water used to cook pasta, taking advantage of the fact that it has taken this starch will help us thicken stews or sauces without, for example, having to resort to flour or excessively concentrating the flavors by reducing the sauce.
In fact It is not the only solution for water from washing riceas it can also be reused to wash dishes, since the very starch that accumulates facilitates the dragging of dirt or grease that may adhere to the dishes.
BUZIFU 3 Pieces Stainless Steel Strainers, Microperforated Rice Strainer with Handles and Base, Pasta Drainers, for Washing Fruit Vegetables Meat Fish, Easy to Stack (16.5/22.5/25.5 cm)
As the last solution, the water from washing the rice can also pass to a better life for water our plantsso we don’t need to throw this water after cooking, but it has more lives than we think.
Images | iStock Larisa Stefanuyk / iStock AtnoYdur / iStock DragonImages
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