Enhance Your Rice Recipes with Jasmine Rice

Jasmine Rice is a great ingredient to add extra flavor to rice recipes without doing much tweaking.  Jasmine rice is an aromatic rice that can really enhance the flavor of a dish.  The aromatic aspect of this type of rice also makes it stand on it's own as a great side.  It does not make a good meal on its own only because it is only a grain and a meal should at least have some veggies, too.

Jasmine rice can be used in recipes you normally use white rice.  Once you try jasmine rice you may never go back to plain boring white rice, as it is cooked just as easy with a much better flavor profile.  However, not everyone will like the flavor of Jasmine rice.

Jasmine rice has a nutty aroma that makes it more flavorful than plain white rice, as smelling it a part of enjoying the taste of a dish.  The fact that is nutty is what can make some people not enjoy it.  However, even if you do not normally like nuts, you really should at least give it a fair chance and at least try it once.  You may be surprised you like it and get rid of the boring white rice in your kitchen.

Jasmine rice is not always the cheapest rice, but it is still often sold at a very affordable price, especially if you get the larger bags. Some grocery stores may have it in the Asian section as well as the rice section. Often times they put the expensive stuff in the Asian section and the cheaper (especially larger packages) are with the regular rice.

The price and brand can make a difference, especially if the rice is not from Thailand. Also, note that just because it is from Thailand doesn't mean it is the best variety, but if it says jasmine, aromatic, or scented it likely is fine. You may want to try several brands to find a favorite. Just do not say you did not like jasmine rice if the first one you try is not fragrant, as you have not had real jasmine rice, yet.

Some brands grown in the United States lack the fragrant qualities jasmine rice grown natively in Asian have. My favorite brand on the cheap at my local store is the O Organics brand, which comes in a convenient resealable bag. However, there are more traditional Thai brands that have better aroma quality.

If you have trouble finding a good brand at your normal grocery store, then you might want to look for an Asian or ethnic grocery store.  Also, you can get it in bulk at a reasonable price online, especially from Amazon, although Amazon sometimes varies their grocery offerings and might not always have the best options.