Hello, I have a question: Do you wash /rinse whole grains before cooking them? My seeds ,such as rise, peas, quinoa seem to be clean and well sorted, but, wanted to know your ways
Thanks!
Welcome, Donald!
Yes. I rinse quickly, once, to get rid of the dust if there’s any.
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Rice: always. White rice usually gets 4-5 rinses until the water runs clear; brown rice, maybe 2 rinses.
Dried legumes: probably I usually give them a dedicated rinse step, but it is less important because they always have to soak in water anyway before cooking. So discarding the soaking water essentially functions as a rinse.
Quinoa: I think I usually rinse it? But the kind of quinoa I cook most frequently, for it not to come out bitter, needs to be cooked like pasta (boil, then discard cooking water) rather than like rice (boil, then steam with the small amount of cooking water remaining, which gets absorbed into the food). So discarding the cooking water functions as a sort of rinse also.
Welcome, Donald.
I rinse my brown rice once. In one of the batch years ago, the bag had a lot of small rocks, so I think they just store the grains on the floor back at the factory, hence the rinse. But generally I don’t rinse much because it washes away some of the nutrients in the grain.
Quinoa, none for me. But that’s because I am lazy and I have a hard time pouring away the water without also pouring away the quinoa. But my brand comes pre-washed, and it looks fairly clean so I just take their word for it.
I don’t think you necessarily have to wash peas and quinoa, but I do soak them in water for a while before cooking to speed it up.
You absolutely should wash your rice, not because it’s dirty but to get rid of the starch on the outside of it which makes it sticky. I always rinse my rice 3x with water prior to cooking.
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I wash everything.
Quinoa in a fine mesh strainer so I don’t lose half the quinoa down the drain, though.
I also soak any legumes / peas / lentils and throw out the soaking water.
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For rice, it depends.
For risotto rice, I try to keep washing to a minimum as starch is necessary for that sticky and creamy property.
For Asian rice like jasmin or Japanese round rice (sushi rice), I wash until the water is clear, usually 4 to 5 times, .
Other grains, I’m lazy, not really. Seeds, I soak like @Saregama and throw out the water.
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Welcome @Donald280!
Quinoa: I always rinse thoroughly to remove that substance that leads to a soapy taste if cooked unrinsed
Dried beans / legumes / farro / wheatberries: I always rinse to remove dust/dirt and look for pebbles
Rice: I always thoroughly rinse and I cook on a pot on the stove. I parboil in a large volume of water, dump off as much water as possible and then add the correct proportion of water and proceed to cook. This removes much of the arsenic found in many rice varieties that I enjoy, particularly brown rice. I probably should soak overnight but I don’t.
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Seems I do the same with a lot of folks on the board. I usually will do a quick rinse for most grains. I do have a special colander like device that works for most small grains. If it’s too small, then I just do a general quick soak and empty as much water as I can without losing too much product.
Rice is always rinsed when eaten plain in a bowl or for fried rice (which is 98% of the time). I find un-rinsed, plain rice to have an unpleasant taste. Rice that is used for sometime else (e.g., thrown into soup, making yellow rice, etc.).
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When we bought a wok it came with a rice colander. Small wholes for rinsing. We use it for all grains, seeds, legume.
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