Round and long grain, polished and steamed, red and black: you can find all kinds of rice in the store. But how to choose the right rice if you are buying it for a specific dish? Food.ru will tell you about the features of each type and help you make the right decision.
What kind of rice to cook for a side dish
For side dishes with meat and fish, it is better to choose healthy unpolished options: brown, brown, red, and black. During the production of such grain, the shell is not removed, which means that fiber and many nutrients are preserved. Brown, for example, is rich in B vitamins, red has a lot of PP, potassium, and zinc, and black has silicon, magnesium, phosphorus and other minerals. They can simply be boiled in salted water or stewed with vegetables – onions, carrots, celery.
If you don’t like the popular unpolished varieties today, take regular long-grain ones: for example, basmati or jasmine. They have a more familiar taste and go well with any meat, fish, or vegetable dishes. In addition, unlike round grains, they do not stick together when cooked: the side dish turns out crumbly.
Interesting fact: Parboiled rice is considered healthier than regular polished rice. The fact is that steam processes grains together with the husk and under pressure in combination with high temperature, many vitamins and minerals pass into deeper layers.
What to cook porridge from
Porridge, unlike a side dish, should be viscous, not crumbly. To achieve this, choose types with a high starch content. The best option is regular round grain. It is inexpensive and available in every store. In addition to whole grain, you can take crushed or opt for flakes.
Before cooking, sort and rinse the grains. One or two rinses are enough: do not try to achieve clear water, so as not to remove all the valuable starch.
Important: The ideal proportions of rice porridge are 1:4. If you like it thick, take three parts water, if you like it thin, take five to six parts.
Brown rice porridge is healthier, although it takes about an hour and a half to cook. Brown rice, unlike polished white rice, cooks very slowly, so it requires patience.
If desired, you can cook with long grain, but the taste and consistency will suffer. The main thing is not to choose steamed, it is not suitable for these purposes.
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Which option to choose for pilaf
In the homeland of the dish, in Central Asia, local varieties are traditionally used for its preparation:
- Devzira;
- Chungara;
- laser;
- dastar saryk.
All of them have a dense texture, do not boil over or lose their shape, and also quickly harden when cooled.
Interesting fact: It is believed that only devzira should be added to real Fergana pilaf: only in this case will the taste be authentic.
For those who just want to cook a good pilaf, without chasing rare products from Central Asia, we recommend paying attention to jasmine and basmati. In their properties, they are similar to rare “standard” rice and are sold in almost every supermarket.
Pilaf is often made from the simplest long-grain grain. Before putting it into the cauldron, it needs to be thoroughly rinsed until the water becomes clear. This will mean that all the starch has come out of the grain and the texture will be crumbly, not sticky.
If you don’t want to spend money on basmati or time washing regular basmati, choose steamed basmati: it definitely won’t stick together during cooking.
What to take for homemade rolls
True connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine know: that the base of all dishes must be sticky, hold its shape well, and not fall apart when you take it with two chopsticks. Therefore, you can immediately discard any unpolished types – brown, red, black – as well as steamed, sometimes called amber.
Another requirement is the grain shape. Round is considered the standard, and all rice grains should be the same size. Therefore, long-grain options, such as basmati, are also not suitable.
You can take regular round grain – but you need to know how to cook it correctly, and this is not an easy task. To make it easier to prepare sushi and rolls, choose Japanese varieties. As a rule, they are labeled: “For sushi” or “For Japanese cuisine”. These include:
- fushigon;
- koshi hikari;
- Akita Komachi;
- hakumai;
- nishiki;
- mochigome;
- urutiman;
- Ginshari.
Important: After cooking, don’t forget to add rice vinegar to the cereal – it will make the mixture even more sticky.
What variety is suitable for risotto
Despite the fact that risotto is similar to porridge in its viscous texture, it has one important feature: the grains in the finished dish do not boil over, but hold their shape well and even remain dense. This effect can only be achieved with the right rice.
Most often, cooks choose arborio – the most affordable and popular. In stores, you can also find it in packs labeled “For risotto”. Before buying, carefully evaluate the quality of the product – all grains should be the same size and remain whole.
Important: It is absolutely forbidden to rinse cereals for risotto.
In addition to Arborio, you can also use other Italian varieties: Carnaroli, Vialone, Baldo, and Roma. They are more expensive and harder to find outside of Italy, and this choice has little effect on texture and taste.
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