Grain reign: As food habits change, so does our taste for rice

By John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 03:00 p.m., May 6, 2008
Updated 06:43 p.m., May 6, 2008

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

Left to right, starting at the top: Arborio, Coral red jasmine, Basmati, Kalijira brown, Texmati, Black, Sweet brown, Wild "rice", Sushi, Long-grain white, Purple sticky

When we were growing up, our PB &Js were made on Wonder Bread. The squishy stuff was just fine because that was "bread" to us. But once we tasted baguettes, ciabatta and whole-grain rye, white bread tasted like, well, white bread. We couldn't go back.

Back in the day, if we ate mushrooms at all, we chose nice, plain white ones. Then someone sneaked morels onto our chicken and teased us with earthy crimini and portabello and umami-rich shiitake. Our fungus paradigm was permanently shifted.

And once upon a time, all we saw on our dinner plates were Minute Rice and Uncle Ben's Converted Rice (unless you count "the San Francisco treat.") In the '70s, brown rice was an interesting, earthy change in our diet.

However, our rice epiphany came when we discovered basmati, jasmine, black, red - a rice world beyond long-grain white, and tasted the globe's legendary dishes from biryani, risotto, pilaf and paella to feijoada, congee, nasi goreng, "dirty" rice and, especially, sushi.

Don't think we've forgotten our roots, folks. Simple, affordable, versatile white rice is still a perfect canvas for palate-rousers like chicken curry and carne asada. We still comfort ourselves with hot, buttered white rice.

It's just that we've finally grown up and learned to use our grains.

lehndorffj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5103

Black ("forbidden")

* Details: Dark grains that turn a nice shade of indigo when cooked, with a rich, nutty taste and chewy texture.

* Use for: Side dishes, puddings, sticky rice desserts or mixed into pilafs.

* Tip: Soak rice for 30 minutes before draining completely and cooking.

Arborio

* Details: Polished short- grained Italian-grown rice ideal for risotto because it develops a creamy "sauce" around the slightly chewy center and easily absorbs other flavors.

* Use for: Risotto, soups and rice puddings. (Many cooks swear by the similar - but pricier - carnaroli rice for risotto.) The May/June Cook's Illustrated chose Texas-grown RiceSelect Risotto Rice over Italian brands.

* Tip: Don't rinse before cooking.

Sweet brown

* Details: Also called glutinous rice and mochi, this short-grained rice has a mildly sweet flavor.

* Use for: Light Asian desserts, rice pudding, sometimes for sushi.

* Tip: Soak for 20 to 30 minutes in cold water before draining completely and cooking.

Wild "rice"

* Details: Wild rice is a grain, not a grass seed (like most rice), and the only native North American grain. The long, dark brown grains have a nutty flavor and chewy texture. Much commercial "wild" rice is actually cultivated on farms. The wild-gathered product is significantly tastier.

* Use for: Soups, poultry stuffing, rice salad; goes well with duck and game.

* Tip: Needs to be soaked for 15 to 30 minutes before draining and cooking. Cook with three parts water or broth to one part wild rice.

Coral red jasmine

* Details: Long-grain, polished rice with grains with a lovely, natural pinkish coral hue that is grown in Thailand's Surin region. * Use for: Any dish where you would choose jasmine or basmati rice in pilafs and as a side dish with spicy entrees.

* Tip: Rinse before using. Try sauteeing rice in sesame oil for 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat before placing in rice cooker with liquid.

Basmati rice

* Details: Exceptionally long grain rice mainly grown in India and Pakistan with an aroma reminiscent of popped popcorn. American-grown "basmati" often lacks that appetizing aroma. Grains stay separate after cooking.

* Use for: pilaf, biryani, side dishes.

* Tip: For more flavorful rice, substitute chicken broth for some or all of the cooking water.

Sushi

* Details: Polished, short-grain white rice whose starchiness makes it perfectly sticky for sushi and sushi rolls.

* Use for: Sushi, sushi rolls, side dish with Japanese fare. Easy to form into mounds and to pick up with chopsticks.

* Tip: A mixture of rice vinegar, sugar and salt is added as seasoning to sushi rice as it is cooling to give it the distinctive flavor.

Long-grain white

* Details: Classic "regular" long- cooking white rice called for in most recipes. Cooks up with fluffy separate grains.

* Use for: Everything including side dishes, stuffings, stir-frys and casseroles.

* Tip: Rinse once or twice before cooking. Always keep the lid on when cooking rice, whether stovetop or in a microwave or tabletop rice cooker. Never stir until ready to serve and then fluff with a fork.

Kalijira brown

Rare premium rice from Bangladesh and Bengal, India, that is long-grained but miniature in size. Sometimes referred to as "baby basmati," this wonderfully flavored rice is available at some supermarkets, natural foods stores and online.

* Use for: Side dish or make a pilaf with toasted almonds and dried apricots.

* Tip: The tiny grains cook much faster than their larger cousins.

Texmati

* Details: Long-grain, organic, basmati-style white rice grown in the U.S. that has a pleasant aroma and fluffy separate grains.

* Use for: Cooks and serves same as basmati and Jasmine.

* Tip: Keep covered while cooking to retain aroma, ideally in a rice cooker.

Purple sticky

* Details: Grown in Thailand and California, this rice has a slightly sweet taste, chewy-sticky texture and pretty indigo color when cooked.

* Use for: poultry stuffing, puddings, and sticky rice desserts with coconut and mango.

* Tip: Rinse rice thoroughly; soak overnight in plenty of cool water.

"Mile-high" means tweaking recipes to get perfect rice

Cooking rice at Denver's elevation is a lot like playing baseball here. For things to work out right, you have to make some adjustments. The thin air meant that hits flew farther than at sea level, but the Colorado Rockies realized the bigger culprit was low humidity. Because baseballs weighed less here, they now store them in a humidor.

I found out the hard way about boiling rice at altitude. The first times I made it, the result was crunchy, undercooked grains and occasionally burned pans. Over time I learned to tweak the standard rice method.

* Water boils at a lower temperature in Den- ver than in Boston and lower still in the mountains. So cooking time must be increased, sometimes significantly, for almost any rice recipe.

* You will almost always need to increase the amount of liquid (water or broth) used to boil rice. If you do not store your rice in an airtight container, it will dry out, meaning you'll add even more water to cook it.

A cup of standard long-grain white rice usually is made with 13/4 cups of water and cooked for 15 to 18 minutes at sea level. At Denver's altitude, increase the water to 2 cups, perhaps a little more, and cook for 20 minutes.

* The biggest secret to cooking better rice at altitude is to use a rice cooker. It's not impossible to make great basmati in a pot on the stove, it's just much easier to use a countertop or microwave rice cooker. High-tech rice makers such as the Zojirushi Zutto NS-DAC10 Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker retail for much more than $100, but major manufacturers offer perfectly functional home models for less than $20.

I put the rice and water into my cheap, simple Rival cooker and it boils the rice until the water is gone and then keeps it warm. If I taste the rice and it's not tender enough, I add a little more liquid and turn it back on. That's it.

* No matter the equipment, never lift the lid while the rice is cooking. All you're doing is losing the precious steam that tenderizes the rice.

* Many types of rice, particularly the chewier brown, red, black and wild varieties, benefit from soaking (for an hour or even overnight) and even from a good rinsing before cooking. It helps to get a little more moisture into the grains.

Word quiz feeds world one grain at a time

Drought in Australia, a plant disease in Vietnam and the economic downturn are among the factors contributing to a growing global rice shortage and a doubling of rice prices in the past five weeks. Rice riots have taken place in Haiti and Senegal, according to the Associated Press.

Shortage fears in the U.S. in April led to hoarding, prompting Sam's Club stores to limit shoppers to four bags of jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice per visit.

You can help. Numerous international hunger-relief organizations such as Stop Hunger Now welcome donations. One fun, educational option is playing the vocabulary quiz game at freerice.com.

FreeRice automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary prowess and gives you a score. For each word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program. It all adds up. More than 27 billion grains have been donated since the site began in October 2007. The rice is paid for by advertisers on the site.

Rice resources

Seductions of Rice (Artisan, 1998) by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid: The best comprehensive volume on all things rice that we've ever read.

Rice recipes and tips: foodnetwork.com/ food/mh_rice/0,1977,FOOD_11011,00.html