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Hello! I'm fairly new to this site but wanted to know if any of you have heard of a way of cooking rice to remove the starch. A man I spoke to yesterday told me that he has a friend in the Middle East who soaks rice for two hours in a lot of water and keeps repeating this until the water is clear. Then he cooks it (one cup of rice in 6 cups of water) and rinses it. He claims that this gets rid of all the starch and it can be used on a low carb diet. Does this sound logical to any of you? Thanks!

Soaking and rinsing rice does remove some of the starch, but way too much will still be left. So, I'm afraid if you want to low carb seriously, rice needs to wait until you are in maintenance, and then can only be eaten occasionally in small quantities.

Cauliflower will never be rice, but I stir fry grated cauliflower to serve with curries and creamy dishes and it works well as a "rice substitute."

Rosebud

Rice is starch through and through..... rinsing may remove some of it that makes it "clump", but I doubt it removes enough to alter the carb count at all...

I agree with the cauliflower tip.

I'll grate raw cauliflower and use it as a fried rice, or in place of rice in some dishes.

Most things that used to have rice in them, or as a side I've found taste better without (though I miss sushi). Now when I think of having brown rice on the side it sounds tasteless and blah.

I copied this article from Reuters a couple of years ago. Since after soaking it has more fiber, maybe it has less starch? Even if not, I fix it this way because my family loves rice and I can have 1/4 cup or so.

minnat


Soaking Brown Rice Enriches
Nutritional Value

Soaking brown rice for a day before it is cooked may be an inexpensive and easy way to turbocharge the nutritional value of this staple food, Japanese scientists have found.

Soaking the rice stimulates the early stages of germination, when a tiny sprout, less than a millimeter tall, grows from the grain. "The birth of a sprout activates dormant enzymes in the brown rice all at once to supply the best nutrition to the growing sprout," Dr. Hiroshi Kayahara, a professor of bioscience and biotechnology at Shinshu University in Nagano, said in a statement.

Kayahara presented his group's research at the 2000 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies in Hawaii.

Sprouted rice contains more fiber, vitamins and minerals than non-germinated rice, Kasayara and his colleagues report. The germinated rice also contains triple the amount of lysine, an amino acid needed for the growth and repair of tissues, and 10 times more gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA), which can benefit the kidneys.

Within the sprouts, the research team also identified a chemical that blocks the action of prolylendopeptidase. This enzyme regulates activity in the central nervous system.

The researchers soaked the brown rice in warm water for 22 hours to make it sprout. The sprouted rice is not only enriched, it is also easier to cook because the hard outer husk has been softened, Kayahara noted, and it tastes sweeter. White rice will not sprout when soaked, he added.

Rice has been cultivated in warm climates for tens of thousands of years. The people of China, Indonesia and India--2.5 billion in all, or more than half of the world's population--rely on rice as a staple food, according to the Asia Rice Foundation.

In the next 20 years, the foundation reports, the number of people depending on rice will grow by 1.2 billion.

(Source: Reuters Health December 18,
2000)

What about true wild or brown rice? Isn't that suppose to be less carbs for those who are NOT on very low carb diets?

I heard wild and brown are the best for those on reduced carb diets. I think south beach recommends them as well.