Foodie Facts: What You Should Know About Rice

Rice has crawled its way up into households and holds the record of the most eaten food in the world over. whether in parties or at every Sunday afternoon meal, you will find that rice can be served in multiple ways, mostly because it is an economical food and serve various purposes.

Fun Fact: Rice is generally classified as a grain, but in family meals it can be used as:

A cereal
A vegetable
As a substitute for potatoes
As a base for meat
In soups
A dessert
Puddings
Custards

Types

Now did you know rice comes in different lengths and kinds? Probably your answer would be a maybe. Let’s see them:

Long grain rice is named so because of its length. The grains are clear and translucent. The grains remain distinct and even after cooking.

Medium grain rice is less expensive than long grain rice and shorter. It requires a shorter growing season and produces a higher yield per acre. It is also easier to process than the long-grained variety.

Short grain rice is only one and a half to two times as long as it is wide. It is generally the least expensive of the three lengths.

Variety

With 5 different kinds of rice to select from, it is important to be able to tell between the different varieties in the market.

Brown rice is the whole, unpolished grain of rice with other the outer fibrous, inedible hull taken out. Brown rice requires a longer cooking time than white rice. It has a distinctive and chewy texture.

Regular white rice is rice from which has its inner and outer bran layers and hulls removed during its processing.

Parboiled rice has been cooked already using a particularly special steam pressure method. It is infused with natural vitamins and minerals the whole grain contains and requires longer cooking time than regular white rice.

Pre-cooked rice is completely cooked. This type needs only in boiling water to be ready for serving.

Fortified or Enriched rice is produced as a combination of highly fortified rice with ordinary milled rice. A coating of vitamins and minerals—thiamine, niacin, iron, and sometimes riboflavin—is used to fortify rice. This coating adheres to the rice and does not dissolve with ordinary washing or cooking.

Due to the fact that the B vitamins in powdered form are usually added to rice, much of the valuable nutrients are lost if the product is not handled properly.

So, don’t:

Wash rice before cooking, or rinse it after cooking.
Use too much water when cooking rice. Any water drained off means wasted food value. Too much water makes soggy rice.
Peek when cooking rice. Lifting the lid lets out steam and lowers the temperature.
Stir rice after it comes to a boil. This breaks up the grains; makes rice gummy.
Leave rice in a pan in which it is cooked for more than 5 to 10 minutes or the cooked rice will pack.