Rice

[Athenaeus]

Do you rinse the rice before cooking and it and if yes why? I have heard that some cooks soak it as well...

Also, I always toast it --even basmati rice-- and always with butter. Some people claim that one should never use butter to toast rice but olive oil.

What do you think?

[phatch]

Rinsing depends on where you live and what rice you buy. I've tried rinsing the brands I generally buy and have had poor success. Seems the rice in my area is already pretty clean of excess starch.

I toast depending on the dish and my mood. I've used lots of different fats, whatever I feel is most appropriate to the dish. Mostly I use butter, olive oil and canola oil. BUt those are my three primary cooking fats in general.

Phil

[Anneke]

I rinse for cleanliness, not for starch. The way rice is processed/dried, you don't want to know the kind of crud that gets in there! Anyone who lives in a culture where they grow the rice will probably agree with me. I got this advice from my Indian friends.

Arborio/carnaroli being the exception.

Soaking depends on the kind of rice. You get better results from sushi rice if you soak it. Basmati also does in theory, but I don't find that skipping this step makes much of a difference. It probably also varies according to the quality and the brand of the rice in question.

[shroomgirl]

Like Anneke wrote, I soak sushi rice for 20+ minutes prior to cooking. CArnoli/arborio are sauted in olive oil for risotto, pilaf is also browned but as a whole I don't saute the rice....last week I picked up petite rice, have not tried it yet....black rice is super to make coconut pudding with....

[Anneke]

Shroom, how do you make your coconut rice pudding? I've tried several techniques/recipes, and haven't found one that I liked. I need to work on my ratios...

[Athenaeus]

Originally Posted by Anneke

I rinse for cleanliness, not for starch.

I agree although I rinse it for the starch as well but this last one is just a matter of taste. I have never soaked rice unless I use it to stuff vegetables where I find that it makes a difference in the way the liquids are absorbed. I will give it a try with basmati.

[shroomgirl]

coconut milk, salt, sugar, vanilla bean....no recipe

[Anneke]

..I was afraid you'd say that...

[Zukerig]

My repeated experience with Basmati rice over the past 20 years, is that it must be picked over first in order to remove grit, pebbles, or unhulled bits of rice and then washed to rinse off the starch. Before cooking, I always soak Basmati for 20-25 minutes in double its bulk of cold water.

I've made many types of rice pudding: Some of my favourites would include Mango-Risotto; Baked Basmati w/ Raspberry Syrup; and the not-too-sweet Black Sticky-Rice pudding known as Kow Neuw Dum Peiak, served w/ coconut sauce & fresh lychees.