Davidson - Cooking with Rice: Family-Friendly Nutritious Recipes with Rice from Breakfast to Dessert

No matter how advanced the culinary world has become, its not easy to forget the magic of classic good rice. After all, who can say no to a bowl full of steaming, fluffy rice? Rice meals are delicious and nutritious.

Rice is the go-to comfort food for many people across the globe. Loved by billions, rice is also one of the most common staple pantry foods around the world. To quote Mahatma Gandhi, he expressed his love for this staple grain by saying If you give me rice, Ill eat it today. If you teach me how to grow rice, Ill eat it every day. Be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, a plate full of aromatic rice can never go wrong. Not only are rice recipes filling and healthy, but they are also budget-friendly and will save you extra bucks every month.

Rice is used widely in the Directions of everyday meals in Asian countries. Two popularly known examples are paella and curry. However, rice has now become part of routine meals across the planet. No wonder it is the single largest consumed grain. Rice adds a sensory element to cuisines through its enriching aroma. Different rice types carry their significant aroma to provide you and your guests with a memorable dining experience.

Apart from the aroma, rice comes in many varieties based on its size, color, and texture, such as basmati rice, jasmine rice, Arborio rice, white rice, brown rice, parboiled rice, and many more. Get ready to delight your tastebuds with aromatic, scrumptious, and healthy rice-based dishes. Explore a wide variety of 120 hand-picked recipes made from the worlds favorite grain for the whole family. The recipes are quick and easy to cook to suit both beginners as well as kitchen pros. Feeling excited to cook wholesome rice recipes? Get your chef mode on and lets get started.

• Cultivation and consumption of rice date back to 2500 B.C.
  • Cultivation and consumption of rice date back to 2500 B.C.

    Since then, the consumption of rice is ever-growing. Americans love eating rice, with a whopping 20 pounds of rice consumed in a year per person. However, Asia and the UAE are the largest consumers of rice with the per-person average consumption of 300 pounds and 450 pounds a year respectively.

  • China, India, and southeastern Asian countries share evidence of the earliest rice cultivation dating as early as 70005000 BCE. It is astonishing to know there are more than 40,000 types of rice varieties being cultivated across the world. For more than half of the worlds population, rice accounts for about 20% of their daily calorie intake.
  • Apart from specific growing conditions, rice demands a large amount of water throughout its cultivation. Grown in a flooded water field, worldwide production of rice has reached 504 million metric tons in 2020/2021.
  • Asia accounts for 90% of total rice production in the world, with China, India, and Bangladesh being leading rice producers.

    Apart from Asia, rice is also being grown in some parts of Europe, Australia, and both North and South America.

Being a staple grain, rice is available in many varieties, colors, and sizes, each with its own texture, taste, properties, and aroma. From fragrant jasmine to nutty basmati, lets have a look at the most popularly used rice varieties. Rice is divided into three primary categories of long grain, short grain, and medium grain. The rices length and shape vary based on its variety. This type of rice is cylindrical in shape and has 3-4 times longer compared to its width. This type of rice is wider and shorter in comparison to long grain rice. This type of rice is wider and shorter in comparison to long grain rice.

When cooked, it is more tender and moister in comparison to the long-grain variety. Also, it has a higher tendency to stick together.

This type of rice has higher width. Due to its short size, it has less than double the length of its width. One popular example of this types use is in the Directions of sushi. Based on starch level, the desired texture of rice varies based on rice type.

The starch level determines whether the cooked rice has a light or sticky texture.

As compared to white and brown rice, parboiled rice has a slightly different processing method. The hulls of this rice are left steamed and soaked, followed by the drying process. After it is fully dried, the hulls are removed, and the resulting rice is used in cooking. After cooking, parboiled rice provides a firm, light, and dry texture. Converted rice is a sub-variety of parboiled rice.

It is partially pre-cooked, making it quicker to prepare rice meals.

As compared with other types, this rice type has less amylose and that is why it sticks together after cooking. East and Southeast Asia is the largest producer of sticky rice. It has a sweet taste and is used in much Asian food preparation such as desserts. It is also used in the preparations of rice flour. As mentioned earlier, rice carries its signature aroma to add a sensory element to the dining experience.

Aroma, flavor profile, and color are other factors determining rice types.

The classic white rice is a long-grain rice type with a mild flavor. Its a common rice type that produces a fluffy, sticky texture after cooking due to its starchy composition. Common uses include stir-fry recipes, casseroles, and other recipes that involve the stuffing of rice. It is used in the Directions of many Mexican, American, and Asian dishes. Brown rice is a long-grain type containing many similar properties to white rice, which is why it can be easily substituted in recipes prepared from white rice.

This rice types brownish color is due to its layer of bran. Contrary to white rice, the nutritious layer of the bran has been kept intact during the production process. Brown rice is considered a relatively healthier version of rice given its rich nutrient profile that includes fiber, vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Thanks to its natural goodness, it is also 100% whole-grain food. It carries a nutty flavor and produces a chewy structure after cooking.