Healthy types of rice

Rice

Rice is a grain, used in many meals. This food is healthy, gluten free, and really low in cholesterol and sodium. Another bonus for this grain is the nutritional value, because a ½ of a cup of plain rice contains about 100 calories.

Rice grain contains several layers:

husk, which is usually removed because it is inediblebran layer, full of fibers and nutrientsendosperm andembryo

White rice is the rice grain without the husk or the bran layers, and sometimes even polished. The brown rice has intact all layers, except the inedible husk.

The rice may vary in color, shape and size. There is white, off white, red, brown, and even black rice. Some recipes demand a certain type of rice to be used. Short grain rice makes lumps when cooked and can absorb significant amount of fluids added to the meal. Long grain rice is known to be cooked individually and it is usually added to the meals to avoid stickiness.

When it comes to the size of the grain, the most common types are short, medium and long grain rice. These types of rice cook differently and produce more or less sticky mass when cooked.

Basmati Rice

This is a long grain rice, used cold in salads and other cold meals. When it’s cooked, basmati rice gets longer but not wider in size. This type of rice is known to maintain the softness even when it gets cold. It should be cooked with 1.5 to 2 times more water.

Long Grain White Rice

The grains of white rice are cooked separately and don’t create a sticky mass. This rice is used in most dishes which require “white” and neutrally flavored rice. To cook long grain white rice, add 2 times more liquid than rice.

Jasmine Rice

This is also long grain rice, but with a distinctive fragrance. It goes well with spicy food and Thai dishes. It should be cooked with less water and it needs about 2 times the amount of water to rice.

Whole Grain Brown Rice

Brown rice is much more nutritious than other types of rice, since its bran layer remains whole and undamaged. It does require more time to cook, have different texture and a distinctive flavor. Add 2 to 2.5 cups of water to every cup of brown rice you want to cook.

Arborio Rice

Arborio is a short grain rice. It has become famous because of the Italian dishes, especially risottos. Arborio gets creamy and sticky when cooked, and it can be used to make some rice desserts. The Italians recommend about 3 times more water to cook this type of rice.

Black Rice

Black or black Thai rice gets purple when cooked. It can be used to make breakfast, desserts or mixed with white rice and served as a side dish. It contains the bran, same as the brown rice, and it also takes time to be cooked properly. Cooks recommend soaking the rice overnight and then cooking it, in the same amount of water to rice.