How Would You Like Your Rice Grain?And Do You Prefer Brown? Red? Wild? Or The Forbidden Rice?

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Hello Steemians! 👋

Welcome back to @joyrobinson’s series: “A Closer Look To The World Of Rice”.

In my previous post, we’ve talked about some interesting facts and the Biology of rice. Do you have an idea of how many cultivated rice varieties are there? Well, not that much 😉. Just more than forty thousand varieties said to exist but the exact figure is uncertain. Together with the wild rice species (90,000), they are stored at the International Rice Genebank maintained by IRRI ( International Rice Research Institute ) for studies and used by researchers all over the world.

For a rice lover like me, it would be interesting to know these 40,000 varieties but it will surely take us like forever. So in this post, I will showcase the most popular types of rice, their exact usage and differences. These varieties are classified in three groups -long, medium and short grain rice.

ClASSIFICATION

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• Long Grain: With firm and dry texture, long grains like American white grain, brown rice, Basmati rice, and Jasmine rice are best for side dishes, pilafs, and rice salad dishes.

• Medium Grain: Moist, tender and stick to each other when cooked. An example of medium grain rice is the Valenciana or Bomba Rice. The exact rice which is used for paella dishes.

• Short Grain: An oval or round shape, it’s the stickiest rice and contains the highest percentage of amylopectin. Popular examples of short grains are Risotto rice or Arborio rice which is used for the traditional Italian rice dish and Japanese sushi rice, easy to eat with chopsticks.

RICE VARIETIES

White Rice: Most people cook the white rice because it’s fluffier and cooks quickly. White rice contains the husk, bran layer then the germs and parasites removed through an extraction process and as a result of this, white rice contains lesser nutrients than the other varieties.

Source: Dr. Axe Rice Nutrition Facts Article

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Brown Rice: Brown rice is a whole grain rice with a nutty flavour and naturaly gluten free. It is more nutritious and considered the most sellable healthiest rice in the market.

Source: Dr. Axe Rice Nutrition Facts Article

Why is brown rice more nutritious than white rice? while the white one has a necessary extraction or milling process, brown rice in the other hand as a whole grain, only the outer hull has to be removed.

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Red Rice: Don’t confuse red rice from red yeast rice. Red rice has a natural red husk and nutty in flavor with higher nutrition values. The reason why red rice has red color? because it contains anthocyanins compounds which is also present in fruits like blueberries and other purple-redish vegtables. It’s natural red color doesn’t just give the rice a vibrant hue but it also carrying an anti-oxidant that counteracts free radicals.

Source: Health Benefits Times

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Wild Rice: Wild rice is gluten-free, with a nutty texture and contains anti-oxidants the same as Brown rice. Wondering why it’s called “wild rice”? Wild rice isn’t actually belong to the rice family. It is a species of a grass called ”Zizania”.

Source: Dr. Axe rice nutrition facts article

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Black Rice: Also called as ”Forbidden rice”, black rice nowadays starting to gain popularity since it was discovered that this rice contains more impressive health benefits compare to he other rice varieties. It is naturally color black because of anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant which is the reason Black rice contains the highest amount of antioxidants, protein and dietary fiber. Black rice is also rich in iron which can be difficult to achieved for plant based eaters who’s relying on grains. Aside from that, it also contains anti-inflammatory properties that can help to stop diabetes and cancer. (Now that’s a power rice!)

Source: Dr. Axe Rice Nutrition Facts Article

The most interesting part.
Why Is Black Rice Called “Forbidden Rice”?. Originated from China, Forbidden rice earned its name because for centuries (around 10,000 years) it was once reserved only for Chinese royalty and emperor to ensure his health and long life and you can tell the reasons why.

Sound like a very fancy rice, and yes it is!

I hope the forbidden, the wild and not so wild ones didn’t bore you! 😉

To be continued....

Have a joyful day Steemian!

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