Poll Results

Total votes: 1793

No, are you supposed to?: 447 (24.9%)
Yes, it cooks better that way: 388 (21.6%)
I don't cook rice: 352 (19.6%)
It depends what sort of rice/dish I'm making: 284 (15.8%)
No, I know the reasons for it but choose not to: 101 (5.6%)
No, I'm too lazy: 97 (5.4%)
Yes! Otherwise it's DIRTY! OMG!: 70 (3.9%)
Yes, I just always have, no idea why: 54 (3.0%)

I was inspired to ask this poll question by finding a recipe that instructed you to wash the rice before cooking it. Now, I've been cooking rice ever since my mother taught me how to do it 40 years ago, and I'd never before heard of washing it before cooking! I did some research and found opinion sharply divided on the Internet, between those saying you have to wash rice otherwise you'll die, those who say you should never wash rice because it ruins the dish you're cooking, and those who say it makes no difference so why bother?

A bit more research indicates that it does depend on what sort of rice you're using and what sort of dish you're cooking. Italians pointed out that risotto just doesn't work if you wash the rice - you wash out all of the essential starches that the dish needs. Whereas for some Asian dishes where you want the rice to separate into nice individual fluffy grains, washing the rice actually assists with making it so the rice doesn't clump.