Things you should know by now, but only just discovered

Put... Put ALL of those on your ice cream!

The word "schlock" derives from the American Yiddish schlak, which in turn derives from the German Schlacke (dregs, scum, dross).

I figured it was Yiddish, and probably derived from German, but did not expect the smelting angle, the original usage of the German word. Rather onomatopoeic.

Tons of fascinating info and a plea for tolerance and understanding.

And why should I trust some random YouTube chef over Uncle Roger?

I've always washed rice. Picked it up from my mom, I guess. Since her parents were from Ohio, I suspect there was no rice-washing in my grandma's kitchen. I suspect my mom was told about it by a fellow who was a frequent bridge partner of my dad when I was young. That guy was a Taiwanese chef, and my dad always used to brag about how he had the inside track on the best Chinese restaurants everywhere they played bridge. Possibly embarassing to his bridge partner considering Taiwanese politics in the 1970s.

It’s a very sensible fact based take. Why folks wash rice, why it’s good for some reasons bad for others, why it, and other styles of cooking rice, suit some styles cooking and recipes but not others. The guy has a fantastic no nonsense delivery as well.

Also Uncle Roger is a comedian.

Ah. Sounds like a chap I should get to know.

His schtick is watching cooking videos, mostly of white people making Chinese food, and then howling with an outrageous Engrish accent about all the things they're doing wrong.

He loooooves Gordon Ramsay though.

He also does standup in the UK. Haven't seen his standup.

The takeaway from the rice video is: washing rice makes it less sticky, so it comes out fluffier. Some recipes, however, depend on the stickiness of the loose starch, and you don't want to wash the rice for those recipes. (Italian risotto was one example.)

Nutrients are frequently added to rice in the US, so you may not want to wash it if you need the supplementation. (if you're eating a LOT of rice, you probably want the supplements.)

Washing also reduces pesticides, but not arsenic.

If you want to reduce arsenic (particularly bad in Midwest US rice), boiling it like pasta, and pouring off the water into a mesh colander will cut the arsenic load by 25-40%. Not stated in the video, but my own personal opinion: you're probably better off just not eating the rice. I've read that Calrose rice from California is typically arsenic-free. I don't remember the source, but I trusted it. Costco often carries Calrose.

Consumer reports recommends White Basmati or Sushi rice from Pakistan, India or California for the least arsenic.

I always wash rice, except for things that rely on the starch, like risotto or congee. Even brown rice; most cookbooks I have say there's no need to rinse brown rice, but the rice cooker gets really filthy if I don't.

My mom never rinsed rice, but she grew up in the South, and she only used converted rice, which is parboiled so very little starch comes out during the cooking process. When I started cooking on my own, though, I mostly made Thai, Chinese, and Indian food for well over a decade, and those cuisines always rinse rice; oftentimes they'll presoak the rice, too (Thai jasmine, before steaming, and Indian basmati), but the times I presoaked basmati I didn't really notice a difference, which may have more to do with how old the basmati is by the time it gets to me.

If people prefer sticky, gloppy, unrinsed rice, more power to them; I'm more likely to judge them based on how annoyingly, egocentrically judgmental they are than on the quality of their rice.

(Unless I have to eat their rice.)

Robear wrote:

Consumer reports recommends White Basmati or Sushi rice from Pakistan, India or California for the least arsenic.

The kind I currently have is Khazana Basmati rice from northern India. I haven't tested it for arsenic, obviously, but it tastes good, and Costco almost always has it. It comes in burlap bags, but the burlap has plastic inside, so the burlap seems kind of pointless.

It's long-grain rice, which can be a little weird until you get used to it. But yummy! I really like basmati rice.

Previously, I didn't wash rice. Then I married a Japanese woman who nearly slapped me when I didn't. Now I always wash the rice.

I'm always fascinated to see how rice washing is addressed in cookbooks. It's such a strongly cultural thing. Cookbooks for East Asian cuisine will by and large tell you that you should always, always, always wash your rice unless you're making a handful of specific global dishes. Cookbooks for African cuisine will typically tell you to never, never, ever wash your rice unless you're making a handful of specific global dishes. Indian cookbooks will generally make a point of saying that it doesn't matter.

Personally, whether I do or not depends on what I'm making and how I'm making it. In the last year or so, I've taken to cooking plain rices with the pasta method, which makes washing completely irrelevant. It obviously doesn't work for pilafs and things, but it's the most foolproof way to make plain rice that I've found.

How do you wash rice?

Get a high-sided plastic container, usually round. Put the rice in, add cold water, and swirl the rice around until the water is cloudy. Pour off the water (hence the high sides), add more clean water, and do it several times until the water is clear.

At least, that's what I recall.

I wash each individual grain of rice with a tiny brush. It's time consuming, but worth it.

You never know if you'll find one with an inscription.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

How do you wash rice?

Most of our rice is cooked in our Zojirushi rice-cooker, which has a nice high-sided bowl. As Robear said, you just put the rice in, put some water into the bowl, swish it around, and then pour out the now-opaque liquid. Generally about three rounds of rinsing will clear the water and then you just cook it normally.

I watched that video about rice washing, and found it all very interesting. Then I told my wife about it and she already knew literally everything in the video. Even the bit about rice for sake brewing being washed so much that half the rice gets worn away.

So if anyone ever asks how dumb I am, "tried to tell a Japanese woman about rice" is the correct answer.

fenomas wrote:

I watched that video about rice washing, and found it all very interesting. Then I told my wife about it and she already knew literally everything in the video. Even the bit about rice for sake brewing being washed so much that half the rice gets worn away.

So if anyone ever asks how dumb I am, "tried to tell a Japanese woman about rice" is the correct answer.

Baka desu!

NAAANIIIIII???

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/2nniggqwpzr21.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/PBoyLqL.png)

fenomas wrote:

So if anyone ever asks how dumb I am, "tried to tell a Japanese woman about rice" is the correct answer.

A classic case of ricesplaining.

I've been feeding my family a lot more Kroger brand Thai Jasmine Rice and I never wash my rice. Should I be concerned about arsenic? I didn't know that was a thing.

I love that we suddenly have a string of Japanese language jokes

「どうしてハワイ人は歯医者に行かないの? 」

「歯はいいから!」

and

パンダの好きな餌は?

パンだ。

(I googled them. I only had one semester of Japanese in college before the professor threw me out because I was not a business student...)

物が勃っているのを物語っている。

Aside: today's useful Japanese vocabulary is: 下ネタ (shimo-neta) "dirty jokes, off-color humor"

One of the many things I find delightful about Japanese culture is how similar the humour is to British humour. There's a great appreciation for witty banter, but also a real appreciation of absurdist humour.

My wife and I will be moving near her family in the Yokohama region at some point in the reasonably near future. I casually mentioned yesterday--mostly as a joke--that I'd love to buy a bit of land in Hokkaido as a summer retreat. Weirdly, my wife was entirely onboard with that, which is odd for such a city girl.

Crazy! Depending on where in Yokohama, you may wind up right near my patch (middle of Kawasaki).

Japanese humor is great, though the comedy can be a bit lacking. The big thing I miss is satire, especially political satire, which weirdly is, like almost entirely not a thing. No idea why, breaks the wa I guess.

But the surrealist JP comedy is great. Have you seen "Rahmens"?