Should You Rinse Your Pasta After Cooking It?

Ah, to rinse or not to rinse—that is the question, a question that causes much debate. 

I've done my googling and here's what makes sense to me and what I'm going with. 

JOIN ME, MY PEOPLE.

Here is the rule: There are times when you should rinse, and there are times when you shouldn't rinse.

THE END.

Ha, ha. Just kidding.

OK.

Seriously.

If you've ever cooked pasta before, you probably noticed it was sticky after you dumped it in the colander to drain. (And if you're getting ready to cook pasta for the first time, take a close look at the pasta and even feel the pot—AFTER IT HAS COOLED OFF—because you'll feel a sticky residue.)

This is because of the starch.

So should you rinse off that starch—or not?

Well, Starch has a wicked crush on Mr. Sauce. Starch would like to get all good and cozy with Mr. Sauce. So you should leave Starch alone so she can work her magic with Marinara, Alfredo, Prego, and Ragu. 

Work with me here. I'm giving you a little story to help you remember.

So if you're going to sauce your pasta, do not rinse that sucker.

However, if you're making a cold pasta dish—pasta salad, people!—you WILL want to rinse the pasta. This will help stop the pasta from cooking, and it will remove the starch, which you want to do for pasta salad. Otherwise, your pasta will get all gummy and clumpy.

And two words that shouldn't be on a menu, even for an idiot cook like me, are gummy and clumpy.

Although they might make good names for cats.

Here, Gummy! Here, Clumpy!

#noihaventbeendrinking

Also! You should drain any pasta/noodles you plan on using in a stir fry. For the same reason. #youdontwanttogumitup

So, to recap:

• Feeling saucy? Do not rinse your pasta.
• Making pasta salad? Rinse.
• Using noodles in a stir-fry (meaning a wok)? Rinse.

You're welcome.

And you're welcome to disagree. But I need rules, and I need to start somewhere. So this is the somewhere I'm starting at.