Rice

What is rice? About the ingredient rice. Including 1,383 recipes with rice, nutrition data, and where to find it.

Contents

1. About
2. Nutrition facts
3. Where found
4. Food group
5. Weights & measures
6. Recipes1302
7. References
8. Related

About

Rice come in many varieties. The main distinction is between long- and short-grain rice.

The grains of long-grain rice (high amylose) tend to remain intact after cooking; short-grain rice (high amylopectin) becomes more sticky. Short-grain rice is used for sweet dishes, for risotto in Italy and many arrossos -as arròs negre, etc.- in Spain.

Rice is cooked by boiling or steaming, and absorbs water during cooking. It can be cooked in just as much water as it absorbs (the absorption method), or in a large quantity of water which is drained before serving (the rapid-boil method).

Electric rice cookers, popular in Asia and Latin America, simplify the process of cooking rice. Rice is often heated in oil before boiling, or oil is added to the water; this is thought to make the cooked rice less sticky.

Rice may be soaked prior to cooking, which saves energy, decreases cooking time, minimizes exposure to high temperature and thus decreases the stickiness of the rice. For some varieties, soaking improves the texture of the cooked rice by increasing expansion of the grains.

Instant rice differs from parboiled rice in that it is milled, fully cooked and then dried. There is also a significant degradation in taste and texture.

Recipes using rice

There are 1302 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 1,302 recipes

Created: March 8, 1999 Last updated: over 4 years ago