Rice Varieties

As a matter of fact there are over 40,000 varieties of rice. Out of these only a few are commonly grown and consumed worldwide and I am going to discuss these common ones in this article.

It is long grain rice with a beautiful fragrance. Traditionally it was grown in India, but now famous around the world.

Jasmine is excellent long-grain fragrant white rice. It has a slight jasmine aroma after cooking and are slightly stickier than Basmati. It is grown in Thailand and used throughout Southeast Asia.

Arborio is a short-grain rice that takes its name from the town of Arborio in the Po Valley of Northern Italy where it was originally grown. It is high in starch content and thus has a starchy taste of its own.

Glutinous rice, which is a short grain rice, is of two types:

• White Glutinous
• Black Glutinous

It has quite a few common names which are: sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal and pearl rice. They become very sticky upon cooking. It does not have gluten in it, but is called Glutinous because it becomes glue-like sticky after cooking.

It is not a separate variety of rice, but any rice, short-grain or long-grain, which is not polished or part is called brown rice. They are more nutritious than the white rice and are of two kinds:

Fully Unpolished - When the entire layer of bran is not removed.

Partially Unpolished - When bran is only partially removed.

• Uncooked rice should be stored in a cool dark place and must be kept tightly covered.
• Leftover cooked rice can be stored in refrigerator for up to two days. Make sure you have covered them.
• Leftover cooked rice can be stored for about two months if securely wrapped and placed in refrigerator.