Question about Jasmine rice

rinse it before you cook it - try two good rinses and it will come out much better looking.

I have never rinsed the rice after cooking it - but I always rinse it 5 or 6 times (until the water is clear) before I cook it. 

Also, I'd love to hear from anyone that wnats to share their method for "perfect", fluffy basmati rice... :)

Depends on the source of the rice. Packed in US I don't rinse before cooking. Packed outside, I usually rinse before.

I wouldn't rinse afterward. And jasmine rice is traditionally served a little sticky. It's a chopstick culture afterall.
 

I never, never wash Basmati rice before and no rinsing afterward....you want to keep the integrity of the butter smell it naturally has and a little stickiness is good...when Im cooking I add a little olive oil and a chicken cube ... add some roasted pine nuts on top after its served...

Jasmine and basmati are similar but are not the same rices. 

A pantry can only hold so much and there are only so many different rices you can use.  We don't use Thai Jasmine too often, but when we do I usually don't rinse it.  More often than not I use it as the foundation for eating food on rice in a bowl -- Chinese style with sticks -- and it's nice to have it clumpy.

I'm not an expert on Thailand, Thai food or Thai culture, but when I do see Thai people eating rice it's more often with a spoon than sticks.

We usually do rinse basmati which I often use as for pilau or pilaf -- and for those we especially like to mix an aged Indian basmati like Zebra (which we hold for an extra year few months), with a fresh, inexpensive American type like Faraon or Texmati.  For things like arroz con pollo, I'll up the percentage of the American type; but for a regular side dish -- more aged Indian.

BDL

I rinse a few times, then soak for 30 min. before cooking  Perfect basmati.  I also prefer imported Indian basmati.

EDIT - SORRY-- I somehow mixed up that this ? was for jasmine and not basmati.

Ahh - JASMINE - yes, rinse prior (until water goes clear), and not after.  

i leave it as it is . it tastes good~

I'm surprised that many people don't wash their rice before cooking it...I've been cooking thai and indian for many years and  have never 

heard any cooks say to not wash it first?

You usually do so for cleanliness.

Fortified rice should not be rinsed as you wash off all the added vitamins and minerals. I don't think most here are buying fortified rice.

When I cooked for a boarding school that had mostly Asian students, one of the mothers showed us how to prepare the jasmine rice. She told us to "scratch" the rice. We would put the rice in a shallow pan with some water and run our finger tips through it much like scratching a person's back. We would do this with 3-4 changes of water. The water would never be clear, but at first the starch would look like milk. Then we filled the pan with water so it stood about 3/4" above the rice. We cooked it in a steamer for 20 min. but you can also cover it and put it in the oven. It will still be plenty sticky, but not gloppy. Too much water is what will really ruin it.

Well, since everyone is putting in their 2 cents:

I don't rinse jasmine rice.  It's the only rice I eat anymore, and I don't rinse it. 

I use organic rice.  Not worried about trace amounts of dirt or insects (extra protein ).

I rinse other rices though, for starchy reasons.

I don't really see an excess amount of starch given out from this rice compared to others.  It always flakes nicely for me.

And day-old cooked jasmine rice separates just by staring at it (for fried rice).

Perhaps your rice to water ratio is off?  Well, we all have our ratios.  Mine is 2:3.  Boil until you see air vents.  Cover and LOW heat for 12 minutes.  Depends on the age of the rice, but that's what I use.

Oh, and I should note that I have rinsed the heck out of jasmine rice before cooking in the past before deciding that it is unnecessary.  I can't see a difference.