Save Rice-Rinsing Water To Add Flavor And Thicken Non-Meat Broths

To rinse rice or not to rinse rice? It's a surprisingly divisive question, but the answer is clear: You should absolutely rinse rice before cooking it. Sure, you may lose a small amount of protein from the external layer, but unless you are making something like risotto or rice pudding where a sticky texture is desirable, a good rinse will do wonders for the texture of your rice. There's only one problem with rinsing rice: It sends a lot of valuable water down the drain that could be used for other purposes.

Rice-rinsing water is a surprisingly effective substitute for dish soap; in fact, many brands of dish soap in Korea include rice water as an ingredient. However, it should be noted that this doesn't work well with very greasy plates, and of course you need to thoroughly rinse it off after, just as you would with commercial dish soap. Soaking plastic containers in rice water can also remove lingering food odors. Other people also swear by rice water as a natural fertilizer for watering house plants. But perhaps the most enticing potential of rice-rinsing water is the fact that you can use it to make more meals, specifically broths. Here's how it works.

Similar to the way you can use leftover pasta water to thicken sauces, you can use rice-rinsing water to thicken vegetable and fish-based soups. When you make bone broth (also known as stock), the collagen present in the cartilage attached to the bones, something we'd typically refer to as gristle, breaks down and the proteins therein rearrange themselves into the structure of animal gelatin. This thickens the stock, creating a smooth and silky texture. It really does wonders for your soup, but unfortunately you cannot get the same effect from non-meat broths, namely vegetable stock and seafood stocks — unless, that is, you add some rice-rinsing water.

The very same starch that you want to wash off of rice to prevent it from being too sticky is a positive thing in the context of broth. As we touched on with pasta water, that residual starch will naturally thicken the liquid, saving your broth from having a thin and watery consistency. Rice water is commonly used in doenjang jjigae, a Korean stew made with fermented soybean paste and anchovies. In addition to improving the texture of broths, rice-rinsing water can also add a subtle nutty flavor to round out the dish.

Not only should you be rinsing your rice, but you should be rinsing it multiple times. Add the rice to a bowl and cover it with water. Then get in there with your hands and swirl the rice around to help slough off the outer layer. When the water becomes cloudy, drain the rice and repeat the process with a fresh bowl of water. Repeat this process until the rice no longer clouds the water, which should take around three to four rinsing cycles. Of course, you should save the water from each cycle, but here's the important part: You should only make broths with water from the third rinse or later.

The reason that water from the first and second rinsing cycle is not suitable for cooking connects us back to one of the main reasons we need to rinse rice in the first place. The surface of rice grains can sometimes contain very trace amounts of dust, dirt, and more importantly, potentially harmful contaminants. Polluted groundwater can often end up in rice paddies, exposing the grains to substances like lead, cadmium, and even arsenic. Fortunately, these remain confined to the surface layer of each grain, and wash away with the starch. Water from the first two rinsing cycles can contain these concerning elements, so it is best to use that for purposes other than food, such as polishing glass. Water from the third and fourth rinses? That's the good stuff.