Explain "rice" to me please

[pacanis]

A while back a few folks said they would have to give me the ins and outs of regular rice vs minute rice, my rice of choice. Never got the info.
So, this past weekend I made that Lazy Golumpki, which called for regular rice and specifically NOT minute rice. To be honest with you, I didn't notice any difference. Maybe the regular rice was smaller and not as plump as minute rice if anyting. Why could I not have used minute rice, even par-boiled like the recipe called for? What is it with regular rice and all this talk about cooking the perfect rice in the various rice cookers? I've never made a bad batch of minute rice just cooking it on the stovetop. Why does it seem to me that regular rice is not so forgiving, and if it isn't, why is it so popular here?

So, if you please, Regular rice v minute rice....

 

[Bilby]

is minute rice the microwave stuff?

 

[LadyCook61]

Minute rice is so highly processed that almost all the nutrients are removed.

 

[ChefJune]

Minute rice is so highly processed that almost all the nutrients are removed.

LC, that's the best and most succinct description I've ever seen!

 

[jennyema]

"Minute Rice" is a brand of precooked rice, meant to be a convenience food.

It has been parboiled, rinsed, dried and cracked so that all you have to rehydrate it.

This process does rob the rice of some nutrients. Kraft enriches it, so some food value is added back, but still, parcooked instant rice is very poor, nutrition wise.

That's because white rice is already robbed of nutrients by virtue of it being processed to remove the outer brown husk, where many of the nutrients and fiber lie.

When you take brown rice and process it to make white rice you lose lots of nutrition, when you take white rice and process it even further to make "Minute Rice" you lose even more.

From a nutritional standpoint, "Minute Rice" is not a very good choice. From a convenience standpoint it might make sense, except that it doesn't take that much more effort or time to make regular white rice. It does take more time to make brown rice, but that's because you have to cook through the husk -- which is the part that's so good for you.

So it's really a nutrition/convenience tradeoff.

 

[suziquzie]

Besides the nutritional standpoint, IMHO Minute Rice tastes funny....

 

[VeraBlue]

All the nutritents of rice are in the hull, and by the time manufacturers have stripped every every single iota of hull, all that's left is minute rice. The more hull, the longer it takes rice to cook. No hull = little time. No trace of anything resembling the hull, right down to it's skivvies = minute rice.

 

[B'sgirl]

Minute rice taste like dirt, IMO.

 

[Jeekinz]

I just lurnt something.

 

[pacanis]

Once in a while I will brown some pork chops, add some onions, chicken broth, cream of mushroom soup, milk and minute rice. The minute rice always absorbs some of the liquids out, which is what I want, and is always done perfect.
Could I do the same thing with white rice? Would I need to par-boil it to get it started, like that lazy golumpki recipe called for?

The only advantage I am seeing so far is it has more nutrients. And I don't really eat rice as a nutrient, I eat it along with other stuff. I don't pay attention to what I eat anyway, if it tastes good, I eat it. Regardless of nutrient content or lack of.
And I don't think minute rice tastes like dirt. I don't think it has much of a taste at all, which is why I only rarely eat it as a side and if I do, I load it up with butter.

I'm just not seeing anything that would sway me away from my big red box with the fluffy rice on the front of it...

 

[mcnerd]

If one wants true 'instant' rice that rehydrates in hot water -- and not boiled for 5 minutes as the commercial stuff requires -- do what the campers and hikers do.....dehydrate cooked rice and you lose nothing in way of nutrients.

 

[jennyema]

The only advantage I am seeing so far is it has more nutrients. And I don't really eat rice as a nutrient, I eat it along with other stuff. I don't pay attention to what I eat anyway, if it tastes good, I eat it. Regardless of nutrient content or lack of..

Then there's absolutely no reason not to use Minute Rice then.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Try some rice with some flavor, like basmati or jasmine, and you will never eat minute rice again. I would rather eat the red box than that rice.

 

[GB]

I used to use Minute rice. like you pacanis, I found it did not have bad flavor. It just did not taste like anything. It was fine for when I was using it as something to put chili on or other things that had tons of flavor. Eating it on its own us unsatisfying though.

Once I started using basmati and jasmine and other rices i could really taste the flavor of the rice. Now that I know the good stuff that is what I will stick with. If you are enjoying the minute rice and see no reason to switch then go for it. It is quick and easy to make and fills your belly. Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[pacanis]

I used to use Minute rice. like you pacanis, I found it did not have bad flavor. It just did not taste like anything. It was fine for when I was using it as something to put chili on or other things that had tons of flavor. Eating it on its own us unsatisfying though.

Once I started using basmati and jasmine and other rices i could really taste the flavor of the rice. Now that I know the good stuff that is what I will stick with. If you are enjoying the minute rice and see no reason to switch then go for it. It is quick and easy to make and fills your belly. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Ahhhh, so if I am merely switching from minute rice to plain white rice, then there really isn't an advantage, but if I switched to a flavored rice (which I didn't even know they had), then that is where I will notice a big difference. Am I reading that right?

 

[Andy M.]

I recommend you do a side by side taste test and decide for yourself.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, I'll have to boil some up, Andy.
The proof is in the pudding.....

 

[toni1948]

For economic reasons, I used regular rice because it was cheaper than trying to feed my family on Minute Rice. Plus, I like the flavor of white rice or brown rice without anything on it, and Minute Rice has no flavor at all.

 

[Andy M.]

Yeah, I'll have to boil some up, Andy.
The proof is in the pudding.....

I don't think you have to make pudding...

 

[jennyema]

If you are making a dish that has mushroom soup or another heavy sauce in it, I wouldn't bother with basmati or jasmine rice.

I'd use those with lighter sauces or on their own.