COOKING TIP: All About Rice

ALL ABOUT RICE

Humans started eating rice over 5000 years ago. It has It is the second largest worldwide production after maize (corn). People all over the world eat it and in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America it is consider their premier nutritional source. Therefore, every cook, food lover and Foodie, should know something about it.

Rice is a whole grain containing bran, the germ and endosperm. If you remove the outer hull, the bran and the germ, you are left with a white kernel - white rice. Since much of the nutritional content of the white rice kernel is lost in the preparation process, vitamins are frequently added to make up for this loss. This gives you “enriched” white rice. Colored rice which has its inedible hull removed but retains both the bran and germ, while they take longer to cook, are more nutritious. See below.

Rice is frequently categorized by its size: long, medium or short.

Long grain rice is 3 - 4 times as long as its width. Examples are Jasmine and Basmati which are commonly used in Asian, Indian, and Latin American cooking. *

Medium grain rice kernels are shorter; 2 -3 length compared to width. Arborio, Carnaroli and Vialoni nana for Risotto, Bomba for Paella and sushi rice are examples of medium rice.

Short grained rice is squat, almost round and can be used interchangeably, with medium grains for risotto or rice pudding.

How rice differs in its texture when cooked is determined by the amounts of the two starches - amylose and amylopectin - that are contained in the rice.

Long grain rice has more amylose and, because of this, stays fluffy and separate when cooked.

 Medium and short grained rice are higher in the “sticky starch” amylopectin, so they cook up moist and clingy.

*Long grain white rice should be washed before cooking to remove excess starch on the outside of the kernels which will make the rice less sticky and give you fluffier and more individual kernels. However, if you are using vitamin/mineral added (enriched) rice (most U.S white rice) you may be washing some of the nutrients applied to the kernels. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

 OTHERS

Glutinous (Sweet or Sticky) rice contains only amylopectin and it cooks up super – sticky when cooked, often by steaming. Many Asian dishes, both sweet and savory call for this type of rice.

Wild rice is not a rice, but an aquatic grass largely grown in California and Minnesota which, as brown and other whole grain rice, is very nutritious.

Instant rice is a fully precooked and dehydrated rice that recooks very quickly.

Parboiled rice (e.g. Uncle Ben’s) is rice that has been soaked and steamed before the outer hull is removed. By this process nutrients, which otherwise would be lost, are absorbed and retained. The parboiling partially cooks the grains starch so that the cooked kernels are fluffy but firm

COLORED RICES

Brown rice undergoes minimal processing, thus, most of its nutrients; protein, fiber and healthy Bran are retained. Because of the oil in the bran, however, its shelf life compared to white rice - three to five years to forever - is only six months.

Black or Purple rice, which derive their color from several chemical substances in the inner portion of the bran, add protective antioxidant properties in addition to the other nutrients in their whole grain rice kernels.

Red rice is a special variety of rice, deriving its rich, red color due containing to color producing phytochemicals called anthocyanins. These pigment producing components add protective antioxidant and anticarcinogenic activities in addition to the nutrient contents of the whole grain rice kernel making red rice the most nutritious of all the different rice.