To wash rice or not

[georgevan]

I just read that washing rice strips away the nutrients. I always washed my rice but am wondering now if I should in the future. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[taxlady]

If you are using enriched white rice, you can rinse off the nutrients that have been dusted onto the rice. It should say on the package not to wash the rice.

I use brown rice, usually brown basmati rice. I wash my rice. I don't lose nutrients that way. I wash it because I get a small band of cooked on scum in the pot if I don't wash it first. i figure that grey scum is dirt.

 

[georgevan]

II use white bistami

 

[blissful]

How to Cook Rice to Lower Arsenic Levels | NutritionFacts.org

Boiling rice like pasta reduces arsenic levels, but how much nutrition is lost?

nutritionfacts.org

The above video talks about washing white and brown rice, it also talks about cooking methods for white and brown rice. Talks about vitamins and arsenic.
Buy rice that is not grown in soil with arsenic. California rice, Lundburg rice, are good bets.

 

[dragnlaw]

Lol, bliss, I've never seen a bag of rice that says "not grown in soil with arsenic"

 

[Badjak]

I sometimes wash rice and sometimes I don't.
Weevils can be a problem. If they are there, I wash.

 

[GotGarlic]

I never rinse rice because I like sticky rice.

 

[caseydog]

I rinse my rice. It is Texas rice, so it's going to kill me soon... or at least that's what "they" say.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Like GG, I like sticky rice. But yes, I do sometimes rinse rice before cooking. Depends on my mood and what I want it for.

 

[Linda0818]

I never wash my rice. No reason other than I just don't care to take the extra step.

 

[caseydog]

Like GG, I like sticky rice. But yes, I do sometimes rinse rice before cooking. Depends on my mood and what I want it for.

I generally don't make sticky rice, but I can't stand "al dente" rice. The Texas long grain rice I use is hard to make sticky, unless you cook it badly... which I've done from time to time.

CD

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I rinse my rice. It is Texas rice, so it's going to kill me soon... or at least that's what "they" say.

CD

R.I.P. Casey Dog.

White rice I rinse until the water runs clear. Brown rice, no. In most cases, I prefer brown rice.

If I want sticky rice I will use rice that comes out sticky, such as Cal Rose.

 

[CharlieD]

I think it depends on what the end result you are looking for. That is why there so many different kids of rice too.

 

[Evets]

I'm glad to see the article on arsenic in this thread. I generally avoid rice because it contains this poisonous toxin. Brown rice contains more arsenic than white rice. Rinsing does remove about 10% of the arsenic.

 

[Badjak]

I'm glad to see the article on arsenic in this thread. I generally avoid rice because it contains this poisonous toxin. Brown rice contains more arsenic than white rice. Rinsing does remove about 10% of the arsenic.

So why are Asians still alive?

 

[medtran49]

Depends. On the rare occasions that we've bought the huge bags of rice in the Asian markets, I sure do wash the rice and pick through it. If I buy US packaged rice, I generally don't now unless there is a whole lot of starch dust. I used to have to wash even the rice like Uncle Ben's, called something else now to be PC, because Craig didn't like sticky rice at all. Now though, he eats pretty much whatever I put in front of him.

 

[caseydog]

So why are Asians still alive?

It is a regional thing. Rice is a major crop in SE Texas, and has higher levels of arsenic than rice grown in other areas. I don't recall the reason right now. Do a search, because I do remember reading it on some web site some time back.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

I remember reading the ingredients on a bottle of carbonated mineral water... and it also had arsenic.
and according to the American Cancer Society...
The highest levels of arsenic (in all forms) in foods can be found in seafood, rice, rice cereal (and other rice products), mushrooms, and poultry, although many other foods, including some fruit juices, can also contain arsenic.

 

[taxlady]

The US South has high levels of arsenic in their rice because the land was used for growing cotton before. Arsenic is not allowed on food crops, but it was allowed on cotton crops. The growers didn't decide to clean up the soil. They decided to grow rice that can tolerate the arsenic. As I understand it, there has been a lot of research and plant breeding to come up with that rice that tolerates arsenic.

The natural levels of arsenic in the soil varies all over the planet. Some comes from pollution, but some is naturally occurring.

 

[caseydog]

The US South has high levels of arsenic in their rice because the land was used for growing cotton before. Arsenic is not allowed on food crops, but it was allowed on cotton crops. The growers didn't decide to clean up the soil. They decided to grow rice that can tolerate the arsenic. As I understand it, there has been a lot of research and plant breeding to come up with that rice that tolerates arsenic.

The natural levels of arsenic in the soil varies all over the planet. Some comes from pollution, but some is naturally occurring.

That sounds like what I read once. My house is built on what was once cotton fields, and then corn fields (livestock feed corn, not something you would want to eat).

CD