Do you good gentlemen wash your rice before cooking it? I haven't been doing so recently. What difference does it make to the rice?

The insects add flavor.

wash it atleast once, yo.
it does effect the taste slightly.
also what >2 said

what? Wash rice? What type of rice are we talking about?

I've never washed rice

All sorts of rice, but I only really use rice that comes in large 25 lb bags. I wash rice using cold water, replacing the water at least times. Usually when you add water and some agitation, the water appears off color and somewhat white. It makes you think what's in there considering it should take more than that just to breakdown starch. Maybe it's bleaching agents or other stuff. But considering that it's just for show, it shouldn't really be eaten.

>>5 Yeah, that definitely happens to me when I wash rice. It appears like that even after a few changes of water.

the ppl in the west dosent really have the same rise as you japanse have :) we dont have to wash it at all (not as tasty maybe but what tha heck) well atleast it like that in sweden

>>7
Lär dig mer om olika rissorter. :-p Förbehandlat snabbris är inte den enda sorten vi har här, du vet :-p

(apologies to everyone else. rest assured that it's nothing important for ye to read)

Wash rice depending on what you would like to prepare.... Sticky Rice? Don't wash it. Otherwise, if you wash it it won't stick easily.

I am not asian so I will talk about what I know better: for Paella, wash it, but for rissotto, don't wash it.

Nr 8 basicly said. "dude learn more about diffrent types of rices, prewashed rice isent the only rice we have"

well yeah i know that, but im talking in basic (and no, not the PC program basic)

MORONS!

The reason you must wash rice is so you get all the starch out of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice#Cooking
"Rice may be soaked prior to cooking. Soaked rice cooks faster. For some varieties, soaking improves the texture of the cooked rice by increasing expansion of the grains."
Regarding the washing itself, rather than soaking: I've been taught that was to remove rice dust/flour (as in the result of rice grains rubbing against each other) to prevent the rice from sticking together too much. No idea how true that is.

When bleached (white) rice is sold in the US, it must have vitamins added to it to replace what was in the brown rice. The vitamins are added to the rice in powder form, mixed with a bit of starch to help them adhere to the rice grains and keep them from accumulating at the bottom of the bag.

We are taught that if we wash the rice before we cook it, it will take away the vitamins and the rice will be less nutritious.

We may examine rice to look for insects and dirt, but we are taught that we shouldn't wash it.