Facts About Rice

What is rice?
Rice is an edible starchy cereal grain.

How does rice grow?
Rice is an annual plant that is harvested once a year. The cultivation of rice is suited for countries with low labor costs and high rainfall as it is very labor intensive and requires large amounts of water for cultivation. Small rice seedlings are hand planted into rice paddies that are then filled with water. The seeds draw nutrients from the paddies water, which is also the same water…

What are the nutritional facts of rice?
Rice is a complex carbohydrate that does not have sodium or cholesterol and barely any fat. Brown rice is the most nutritional of the many different forms. Brown rice retains the bran because it is not milled like white rice that loses a lot of nutrients in the milling process; however it tends to be enriched to replace those lost nutrients. Both brown and white rice are considered a good…

Interesting Facts about Rice
Rice is the second highest worldwide production after maize (corn). Since maize is mostly grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain for human consumption. There are more than 40,000 varieties of rice that grow on every continent except on Antarctica. Some research shows that rice may have been indigenous to India over 4,000 years ago and moved…

Types of Rice
Basmati: long grain with a unique flavor profile. Long Grain White: refined white rice with a neutral flavor. Abrorio: short grain white rice, which cooks up sticky. Jasmine: long grained variety of rice and it is ‘perfumy’, giving a natural fragrance to a meal. Whole Grain Brown: the rice has the bran part of the grain intact. Black Sticky: black sticky rice cooks with a dark…

Rice Folklore
The Chinese word for rice is the same word used for food. Young girls are told that they must eat all of the rice in their plate because otherwise each grain of rice represents each pock mark on the face of their future husband. In Thailand, you call your family to a meal by saying, “eat rice.” In Japan, the same word for cooked rice is for meal. The little rice grains are…