Noodle advice

[cifer6425]

hello everyone. i am new to the board and just wanted to say hi. i also need other opinions on a subject.

ok the wife and i have been having this discussion for a while.
i was taught when you cook your paste for spaghetti, to rinse the noodles. before serving. this gets rids of the starchy taste.

my wife does not rinse the noodles and says the starch helps the sauce to stick to the spaghetti noodles.

do you you rinse or not?

thank you all for your help

 

[buckytom]

hiya cifer,

my dw and i have the same battle; she rinses, i don't. i think it washes away flavor, she says it reduces calories.
i don't know about the technicalities of the starch/sticky thing with sauce, but it would seem wet noodles would absorb sauce less. (although, wet noodles can be fun with the right person, especially lasagna)

another conundrum: you are "supposed" to toss your pasta with the sauce to let it soak in, but i actually like the starchy contrast of a few pieces of un-sauced pasta on the edges of my dish. kinda like eating chinese food the right way. the rice is served on the side, not buried under the entree. the starch, in this case rice, contrasts or offsets the flavors of the main dish. it's sort of a baseline component of the "symphony" of the tastes of the meal.

 

[Barbara L]

I was taught to rinse spaghetti, but I usually don't. I haven't really noticed much difference either way, as far as the sauce sticking.

another conundrum: you are "supposed" to toss your pasta with the sauce to let it soak in, but i actually like the starchy contrast of a few pieces of un-sauced pasta on the edges of my dish. kinda like eating chinese food the right way. the rice is served on the side, not buried under the entree. the starch, in this case rice, contrasts or offsets the flavors of the main dish. it's sort of a baseline component of the "symphony" of the tastes of the meal.

I like to put my spaghetti on my plate, then spoon the meat sauce on top of it. I don't stir it up. You mentioned rice, bucktom. When I eat chop suey or chow mein, I do it the same way. I spoon the sauce over the top of my rice, but I don't stir it. That way I get sauce and noodles/rice in the same bite, but it isn't just a mixed up glop.

Barbara

 

[cifer6425]

thanks for all the advice. and truth be told, i cant really tell a differance between hers and mine. but you know some people will argue just to argue, thats us.

 

[buckytom]

i see what you mean barbara, i guess that the whole idea is the controlled ingestion of the saucy dish, the starchy base, and the mix thereof. again, a symphony...

 

[*Christina*]

I dont rinse it either but probably I should bcos it does taste better and it is same for the rice too

 

[SillyWabbit]

It is true that the starch helps the sauce cling to the pasta. Italians don't rinse their pasta. The only time pasta should be rinsed is for pasta salad.

 

[GB]

I don't rinse. I find the starch does help thicken the sauce and helps hold the sauce on the noodles. Like you said though, if you have tried it and can't tell the difference then whatever way you like is the right way

 

[thumpershere2]

I don't rinse, only if I use it in a cold salad.

 

[gwkr36a]

It is true that Italians (of which I am one) do not rinse our pasta. however when I worked for a catering company whch sometimes fed upwards of 6000 people on a weekend, we precooked our pasta usually (Mostacolli/penne) the day before until it
was almost done and then quickly put in in an ice bath of water and let it dry.
When we had to serve it we had a pot of boiling salted water on the stove with a strainer and could have the pasta ready this way in about 30 seconds as needed.

 

[kadesma]

My mm-i-l was Italian and never rinsed her pasta..But, one thing she did do was as she was cooking it, she would add some of that hot pasta water to her red sauce ..It seemd to just make the sauce. I now do the same thing..It thins but doesn't make the sauce runny, know what I mean?

kadesma

 

[nytxn]

The ONLY time I rinse is to make a cold pasta salad, and I rinse it in... I know it will be hard to believe, but just try... "Cold" water.



The only reason I rinse it is to cool off the pasta.



Otherwise, I leave it the way it came out of the pot.

 

[kitchenelf]

The only time I rinse my pasta (in cold water) is when I am making a pasta salad - especially mayo based!!!! If you don't rinse it you will be doubling the dressing ingredients. But most pasta salads I rinse.

A hot dish however is a totally different thing. You want the red sauce or the white sauce or the clam sauce to stick to the noodle.

There is a place for rinsing and not rinsing.

 

[kitchenelf]

It is true that Italians (of which I am one) do not rinse our pasta. however when I worked for a catering company whch sometimes fed upwards of 6000 people on a weekend, we precooked our pasta usually (Mostacolli/penne) the day before until it
was almost done and then quickly put in in an ice bath of water and let it dry.
When we had to serve it we had a pot of boiling salted water on the stove with a strainer and could have the pasta ready this way in about 30 seconds as needed.

And the rinsing in cold water also prevented it from being a gloppy mess - can you imagine trying to pry that stuff apart the next day???? lol AND getting it off your hands???

 

[gwkr36a]

And the rinsing in cold water also prevented it from being a gloppy mess - can you imagine trying to pry that stuff apart the next day???? lol AND getting it off your hands???

It was also important to stop the cooking process right away
so when it was finally served it tasted like it was just cooked.

 

[jennyema]

Technically, your wife is right

Rinsing pasta will prevent the sauce from sticking and also water down the sauce.

 

[kitchenelf]

It was also important to stop the cooking process right away
so when it was finally served it tasted like it was just cooked.

yes, it is amazing how even after reheating pasta cooked this way it still has a fresh bite.

 

[htc]

I don't rinse pasta, but do rinse Asian noodles. If you don't rinse Asian noodles, they won't turn out right.

 

[pdswife]

I do rinse mine.. and then I toss it in a little olive oil.
After I put it on the plate I put the sauce on top.

 

[Robo410]

I do not rinse. My Swedish mama never rinsed! I dress (sauce) my pasta as soon as it comes out of the pot. If I am doing the old Italo-American way of big mound of pasta and seperate huge bowl of red gravy (sause) and meat balls, then I would put a drizzle of evoo over the pasta to keep it from sticking.