Rice is a seed of the plant Oryza Sativa or Oryza Glaberrima depending on which rice you use. It is one of the most widely consumed foods and the third most grown agricultural commodity in the world (after sugar and maize.)
Rice is believed to have been domesticated first in China around 6000-12000 B.C. According to Chinese folklore one of the first mythological emperors taught the people how to cultivate rice and other herbs around 2500 B.C..
The only difference between white and brown rice is the skin of brown rice has has not been removed before the production process. While white rice’s skin is removed first, then the bran and germ are removed, and finally the rice is either polished or bleached.
In the world there are more than 40,000 varieties of rice, so selecting the right one might be hard. Luckily there are only about 10 different sorts of rice that are marketed and sold in the world.
The main method to distinguish different kinds of rice is looking at the kind of rice grain. There are three types of rice grain: short, medium and long.
Long grains are common in Asia and examples are Chinese rice and Basmati.
Medium grain rice is used more in European dishes, such as Risotto and Paella.
Short grain rice has high starch content making it the most sticky, and it is used for sushi.
Uncooked white rice has a shelf life of 8-10 years however uncooked brown rice can only stay on the shelf for 3-6 months.
Cooked rice should be cooled down and refrigerated as quickly as possible, ideally within 1½ hours.
Did your phone end up in the toilet late last night? Try drying your phone in a bowl of white or brown rice. Rice absorbs a lot of moisture and can possibly save your phone.
Try putting some rice in your salt shaker to make sure the salt doesn't start sticking together.
If you have some fruits that need to ripen quickly, put them in a container of rice to speed up the ripening process.
If you really want to make cooking rice easy for yourself, consider buying a rice cooker.
There are two easy methods of cooking rice successfully. One method is to cook the rice like pasta, in a lot of water and strain afterwards. The other easy method is using a set ratio of rice to water. In this case all the water will be absorbed by the rice.
The ratio that is ideal depends on the different kinds of rice, 1¾ cups of water to 1 cup of long grain rice. Brown rices usually requires a little more and short grained rice a little less. Remember this ratio is just a guideline, so you’ll need to get a feel of how much water is exactly needed for your kind of rice.
In some countries, rice is quickly fried in oil before boiling, think of risotto or saffron rice. This method makes the rice a bit less sticky.
Brown rice is the healthier version of white rice. White rice contains Vitamin B, zinc, phosphorus and several other essential minerals just like brown rice. Brown rice is better due to having a higher fiber content and having more of the above mentioned minerals.
If you want to maintain a high nutritional value of rice, you shouldn't wash the rice until the water is clear. Even though this makes cooking easier a lot of minerals and vitamins are lost due to this process.
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