Reserving the excess starch before toasting.I ran my rice grains under a cold tap in a metal strainer,
rubbing them and watching as a starchy, milky white liquid
collected underneath. I then cooked them just as I had
before (see here). What I ended up with was risotto with
very little creaminess at all.
Cooking a second batch of rinsed rice according to the
traditional method of stirring the entire time produced a
risotto that was no more creamy. This confirmed the fact
that, indeed, most of the starch that thickens a risotto resides
in fine particles on the surface of the rice from the very
beginning—stirring and jostling have little to do with its
release. Even cooking is the only reason to stir risotto, and
this fact handily provides us with the perfect solution for
getting great toasted flavor in addition to perfect creaminess:
simply remove the starch before toasting, then add it back
before hydrating.