# Noodle advice



## cifer6425 (Jul 12, 2005)

hello everyone.  i am new to the board and just wanted to say hi.   i also need other opinions  on a subject.  

ok the wife and i have been having this discussion for a while.  
 i was taught when you cook your paste for spaghetti, to rinse the noodles. before serving. this gets rids of the starchy taste. 

 my wife does not rinse the noodles and says the starch helps the sauce to stick to the spaghetti noodles.  

 do you you rinse or not?

thank you all for your help


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## buckytom (Jul 13, 2005)

hiya cifer,

my dw and i have the same battle; she rinses, i don't. i think it washes away flavor, she says it reduces calories.
i don't know about the technicalities of the starch/sticky thing with sauce, but it would seem wet noodles would absorb sauce less. (although, wet noodles can be fun  with the right person, especially lasagna)

another conundrum: you are "supposed" to toss your pasta with the sauce to let it soak in, but i actually like the starchy contrast of a few pieces of un-sauced pasta on the edges of my dish. kinda like eating chinese food the right way. the rice is served on the side, not buried under the entree. the starch, in this case rice, contrasts or offsets the flavors of the main dish. it's sort of a baseline component of the "symphony" of the tastes of the meal.


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## Barbara L (Jul 13, 2005)

I was taught to rinse spaghetti, but I usually don't. I haven't really noticed much difference either way, as far as the sauce sticking.


			
				buckytom said:
			
		

> another conundrum: you are "supposed" to toss your pasta with the sauce to let it soak in, but i actually like the starchy contrast of a few pieces of un-sauced pasta on the edges of my dish. kinda like eating chinese food the right way. the rice is served on the side, not buried under the entree. the starch, in this case rice, contrasts or offsets the flavors of the main dish. it's sort of a baseline component of the "symphony" of the tastes of the meal.


I like to put my spaghetti on my plate, then spoon the meat sauce on top of it.  I don't stir it up.  You mentioned rice, bucktom. When I eat chop suey or chow mein, I do it the same way.  I spoon the sauce over the top of my rice, but I don't stir it. That way I get sauce and noodles/rice in the same bite, but it isn't just a mixed up glop.

 Barbara


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## cifer6425 (Jul 13, 2005)

thanks for all the advice.  and truth be told, i cant really tell a differance between hers and mine.  but you know some people will argue just to argue, thats us.


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## buckytom (Jul 13, 2005)

i see what you mean barbara, i guess that the whole idea is the controlled ingestion of the saucy dish, the starchy base, and the mix thereof. again, a symphony...


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## *Christina* (Jul 13, 2005)

I dont rinse it either but probably I should bcos it does taste better and it is same for the rice too


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## SillyWabbit (Jul 13, 2005)

It is true that the starch helps the sauce cling to the pasta. Italians don't rinse their pasta. The only time pasta should be rinsed is for pasta salad.


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## GB (Jul 13, 2005)

I don't rinse. I find the starch does help thicken the sauce and helps hold the sauce on the noodles. Like you said though, if you have tried it and can't tell the difference then whatever way you like is the right way


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## thumpershere2 (Jul 13, 2005)

I don't rinse, only if I use it in a cold salad.


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## gwkr36a (Jul 13, 2005)

It is true that Italians (of which I am one) do not rinse our pasta. however when I worked for a catering company whch sometimes fed upwards of 6000 people on a weekend, we precooked our pasta usually (*Mostacolli/penne)* the day before until it
was almost done and then quickly put in in an ice bath of water and let it dry.
When we had to serve it we had a pot of boiling salted water on the stove with a strainer and could have the pasta ready this way in about 30 seconds as needed.


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## kadesma (Jul 13, 2005)

My mm-i-l was Italian and never rinsed her pasta..But, one thing she did do was as she was cooking it, she would add some of that  hot pasta water to her red sauce ..It seemd to just make the sauce. I now do the same thing..It thins but doesn't make the sauce runny, know what I mean?

kadesma


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## nytxn (Jul 13, 2005)

The ONLY time I rinse is to make a cold pasta salad, and I rinse it in... I know it will be hard to believe, but just try... "Cold" water. 



The _only_ reason I rinse it is to cool off the pasta.



Otherwise, I leave it the way it came out of the pot.


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## kitchenelf (Jul 13, 2005)

The only time I rinse my pasta (in cold water) is when I am making a pasta salad - especially mayo based!!!!  If you don't rinse it you will be doubling the dressing ingredients.  But most pasta salads I rinse.

A hot dish however is a totally different thing.  You want the red sauce or the white sauce or the clam sauce to stick to the noodle.  

There is a place for rinsing and not rinsing.


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## kitchenelf (Jul 13, 2005)

gwkr36a said:
			
		

> It is true that Italians (of which I am one) do not rinse our pasta. however when I worked for a catering company whch sometimes fed upwards of 6000 people on a weekend, we precooked our pasta usually (*Mostacolli/penne)* the day before until it
> was almost done and then quickly put in in an ice bath of water and let it dry.
> When we had to serve it we had a pot of boiling salted water on the stove with a strainer and could have the pasta ready this way in about 30 seconds as needed.



And the rinsing in cold water also prevented it from being a gloppy mess - can you imagine trying to pry that stuff apart the next day???? lol  AND getting it off your hands???


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## gwkr36a (Jul 13, 2005)

kitchenelf said:
			
		

> And the rinsing in cold water also prevented it from being a gloppy mess - can you imagine trying to pry that stuff apart the next day???? lol AND getting it off your hands???


 
It was also important to stop the cooking process right away
so when it was finally served it tasted like it was just cooked.


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## jennyema (Jul 13, 2005)

Technically, your wife is right  

Rinsing pasta will prevent the sauce from sticking and also water down the sauce.


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## kitchenelf (Jul 13, 2005)

gwkr36a said:
			
		

> It was also important to stop the cooking process right away
> so when it was finally served it tasted like it was just cooked.



yes, it is amazing how even after reheating pasta cooked this way it still has a fresh bite.


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## htc (Jul 13, 2005)

I don't rinse pasta, but do rinse Asian noodles. If you don't rinse Asian noodles, they won't turn out right.


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## pdswife (Jul 14, 2005)

I do rinse mine.. and then I toss it in a little olive oil.  
After I put it on the plate I put the sauce on top.


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## Robo410 (Jul 14, 2005)

I do not rinse. My Swedish mama never rinsed!  I dress (sauce) my pasta as soon as it comes out of the pot.  If I am doing the old Italo-American way of big mound of pasta and seperate huge bowl of red gravy (sause) and meat balls, then I would put a drizzle of evoo over the pasta to keep it from sticking.


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## lindatooo (Jul 14, 2005)

My Italian Dad never rinsed pasta.  What he did do was what he called "bless" the pasta with just a little sauce and toss it.  The big bowl of pasta was then served with the sauce on top.  Everyone loved his spagetti.  I serve it blessed with a ladle of sauce on top and parmesan.

As long as everyone wants more it's good!


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## cifer6425 (Jul 14, 2005)

thanks for the insight everyone!!


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## Barbara L (Jul 15, 2005)

Robo410 said:
			
		

> I do not rinse. My Swedish mama never rinsed!


LOL  My Swedish mama did rinse.  But I think she eventually stopped rinsing.  

 Barbara


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## luvs (Jul 15, 2005)

thumpershere2 said:
			
		

> I don't rinse, only if I use it in a cold salad.


 
same here.


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## IcyMist (Jul 15, 2005)

My mother will rinse sometimes and sometimes she doesn't.  But and that is a big BUTshe makes the worst pasta in the world.  Shhhh don't tell her I said that.  Mom will let the pasta sit in the boiling water after it is cooked.....actually way overcooked, until she is ready to get dinner on the table.  Have you ever had waterlogged pasta?  Ewwwwwwww  And then again when she doesn't rinse pasta it ends up becoming a big glob that you have to use 2 forks to pry it apart.  At least you don't have to worry about twirling the pasta on your fork.  It is one big glob on your plate.   Thank goodness her meat sauce is yummy.  My favorite way to eat her meat sauce is putting it on cuban bread, add a little cheese and put in oven for a short time.  YUM!!!!


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## Barbara L (Jul 15, 2005)

IcyMist,

I agree, ewwww!  lol

However (and this is going to sound really silly), sometimes when I eat someone's spaghetti, and some of the noodles are hopelessly stuck together--it makes me think of my favorite aunt (who died 3 1/2 years ago).  That is how her spaghetti turned out.  

 Barbara


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## jpmcgrew (Jul 17, 2005)

My mother used to rinse her pasta but that was in the old days when you couldnt get a decent pasta.I have found that the De Cecco and Barrila do not need rinsing and it doesnt stick together the next day either.


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