Pasta and Rice: Managing Starch

Rice and pasta release starch as they cook. Sometimes that starch is the enemy, making rice sticky and gluey; sometimes it is the point, making a risotto creamy and a pasta sauce cling. Knowing which you want decides how you cook them.

Fluffy rice

For separate grains of basmati or jasmine, rinse the rice in a sieve under the tap, or swish it in a bowl of water, until the water runs nearly clear. That washes off the loose starch on the surface.

The absorption method gives the most reliable result: a measured amount of water, a tight lid, the lowest heat, no peeking, and 10 minutes' rest off the heat before fluffing with a fork. The rest lets the moisture even out, so the bottom is not wet while the top is dry.

Soaking basmati for 20 minutes before cooking makes the grains longer and less likely to break.

Creamy risotto

For risotto, do not rinse: the surface starch is what makes it creamy. Carnaroli holds its shape best; Arborio is easier to find.

Toast the rice in the fat until the grains look translucent at the edges, then add hot stock a ladle at a time and stir often. Cold stock stops the cooking each time it goes in.

Take it off the heat while still a little loose, with a slight bite at the centre of the grain, then beat in cold butter and cheese and let it sit for 2 minutes. A good risotto flows like a slow wave when you shake the plate.

Pasta

Use plenty of water and salt it well, so it tastes like a mild broth: this is the only chance to season the pasta itself. Oil in the water does nothing but make the sauce slide off.

Cook it a minute short of the packet time, then finish it in the pan with the sauce for that last minute, so it absorbs flavour rather than water.

Keep a mugful of the cooking water before draining. Its starch makes a sauce glossy and helps it cling; add a splash and toss hard, and the sauce turns silky instead of oily. This is how a cacio e pepe or a carbonara comes together.

Leftover rice

Cooked rice can carry spores that survive cooking and grow at room temperature. Cool leftovers quickly, within an hour, keep them in the fridge, and eat them within a day, reheated only once and piping hot all through.

Day-old rice, cold and a little dry, is what makes the best fried rice.