Rice is nice! As a dinner vegetable, a friendly base for foods you cream, a pudding for dessert.
And rice is the mainstay food for millions of people on the face of the earth.
Mounded and fluffy, each grain whole, separate and tender.
That is how rice should and could be if you prepare it properly.
Resist the extra stir or just one peek; and when stirring or fluffing, always use a fork to avoid crushing the grains.
Avoid over cooking; it produces a mush.
Do not buy just one kind of rice.
Enjoy them all! Regular Rice: The hull and bran have been removed by polishing.
Short grain rice is less expensive than long grain; it is used for casseroles, puddings and creamy desserts.
Long grain rice is a better all purpose rice and cooks fluffier, flakier and drier; it is used for curries, Chinese dishes and as a vegetable.
Processed (Converted) Rice: This type contains the vitamins found in the husk of brown rice but is polished like white rice.
It can be substituted for regular rice, but the cooking time is longer.
Precooked (Instant Rice): Commercially cooked, rinsed and dried.
It is good as part of a main dish and quick to fix at any time.
Brown Rice: A vitamin rich whole grain, with only the outer hull removed.
It has a nutty flavor and is used as a side dish.
Wild Rice: Long grained and dark greenish brown in color.
And not really rice but the seed of an aquatic grass.
Expensive, it is often sold combined with brown rice.