Food Info - Rice: Information on Rice (Types & Uses)
Source of Recipe
Marty Meitus, Scripps Howard News Service, 7/6/94.
While there are 40,000 varieties of rice worldwide, there are generally
three types of rice: long-grain, medium-grain and short-grain. Here are
the defining characteristics:
> Long-grain is four to five times longer than wide, and the grains cook
up separate and fluffy. Long-grain is an all-purpose rice, suitable for
everything from salads to stir-frys.
> Medium-grain is three times longer than wide and is moist and clingy.
Medium-grian is the rice generally associated with Asian cuisines.
> Short-grain, or "sushi," rice is almost round in shape and is even more
moist, clingy and tender than medium-grain. It's also good for desserts,
such as rice pudding.
Aromatic rices that have the fragrance or nuts or popcorn are popping up
at the supermarket. Here are some of the best-known types of aromatics,
from the USA Rice Council and "Rice: The Amazing Grain" by Marie Simmons
(Henry Holt):
> Basmati -- The word means "queen of fragrance." Basmati rice is grown
only in Indian and Pakistan. When cooked, basmati elongates rather than
widens, the opposite of U.S. long-grain rice. In texture, however, it's
closer to long-grain rice than to the softer-cooking rices.
> Texmati -- The closest U.S. version of basmati, a cross between American
long-grain and native basmati.
> Jasmine -- An aromatic long-grain rice, grown in Thailand, that cooks
like a medium-grain or soft-cooking rice. Because of the growing
popularity of Thai cusine, jasmine is receiving a lot of attention.
> Jasmati -- The newest aromatic on the market, this Texas-bred rice is a
cross between basmati and jasmine. It has the texture of jasmine, is
softer-cooking and has the nutty aroma of basmati.
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