[upbeat music]
- [Amiel] This, my friends, is rice.
There are over 40,000 different
cultivated varieties out there.
Long grain, short grain, black rice,
glutenous rice, jasmine rice.
The list goes on and on and on.
Today we're looking at
just 12 types of rice.
We're only scratching the surface,
but we think these
represented diverse range
of different types that
will help us understand
what makes this grain such an important
and delicious part of so many cultures.
I'm Amiel Stanek and this
is "12 Types of Rice".
So, first things first,
let's cover some basics.
Every grain of rice is
enclosed in a tough outer hull
or husk that needs to be removed
before it can be consumed.
We can't digest husks,
but they're used for all kinds
of things like fertilizer,
insulation, fuel, and even in fireworks.
So, after the husk is removed,
the layer underneath is called the bran
and at this stage you're essentially left
with nutty, savory whole grain brown rice.
The bran layers of brown rice are full
of vitamins, minerals,
and all kinds of flavorful compounds,
but they also contain
oils that make brown rice
spoil faster than milled white rice
and make for a grain that
takes longer to cook.
Now, to get white rice, brown rice
has it's outer bran layers removed
which can be done painstakingly
by hand or more easily
with the help of a milling machine.
And, of course, we can't talk about rice
without mentioning grain size.
Rice comes in all kinds
of shapes and lengths,
but you're probably used
to seeing rice sold in three categories.
Long, short, and medium grain.
Long grain rice has milled
grains that are around three
to four times as long as they are wide.
These tend to stay separate,
light and fluffy when cooked.
Medium grain rice has
shorter, and wider kernels
which tend to be moister and
cling together more easily
when cooked and short grain
rice is, you guessed it,
shorter than the others with grains only
about twice as long as they are wide.
It tends to have an
appealingly sticker texture,
great for picking up
with hands or chopsticks.
All right, enough talking, let's eat.
First up, let's talk about black rice.
This one's really special.
There are many types of
black rice out there,
but this particular
one is beloved in China
where it's also known as
forbidden or emperor's rice
because in the Qing and Ming dynasties,
it was reserved exclusively for royalty.
This stuff is really remarkable.
It has a very fine, small kernel
and despite the name,
there's actually a lot
of color variation here.
We've got black but also
purplish and red grains as well.
That distinct black color
comes from the presence
of a pigment known as anthocyanin,
a powerful antioxidant also found
in blueberries and blackberries.
So, in addition to being
really, really cool-looking,
it's also very nutritious and
quite a bit more expensive
than normal white rice. I'm
really excited to take a look
at this under the microscope.
Just gotta find that
perfect grain, this one!
Whoa, this close up, it almost
looks like a coffee bean.
There's very little
exterior starch visible
and it looks really hard and dense.
Let's see how this rice
looks when it's cooked.
I feel like a little prince
with my bowl of forbidden rice.
It's amazing how the color
changed when it cooked.
It went from black to almost
purple-y as the grains burst
and while the whole thing
is actually pretty fluffy,
the grains are definitely sticky enough
that you could eat it with chopsticks.
Mm, oops, that was a big bite.
I'm a messy prince.
The flavor is out of control.
It has a really nutty,
almost caramel-y flavor
with a really appealing,
slightly crunchy texture
and ta-da!
So here we have a black rice congee
which is basically just rice cooked
with chicken broth and seasonings
until it forms an almost
oatmeal-like porridge
and in this case it's garnished
with some chicken, cilantro and chili oil.
It's thick, it's starchy
and it's definitely the kind of filling,
comforting meal you'd
want after a hard day
of being an emperor.
The meatiness of the broth really plays
off the nutty, caramel-y
flavor of the black rice.
Congee is often made with white rice,
and in that case it's kind
of a blank canvas for other flavors,
but the black rice brings so much
of it's own distinct flavor
to the table that this really stands out.
I'd take this over chicken
noodle soup any day.
Okay, next up, glutinous rice.
Also known as sticky rice
which is grown mainly
in southeast and East Asia.
It's called glutenous rice not because
it contains gluten or anything like that,
but because of a sticky,
almost glue-like texture
it has when it's cooked.
That characteristic
stickiness is due to the fact
that glutenous rice contains
very low levels of amylose
and very high levels of amylopectin.
Do I know what that means?
Not really.
It's amazing how different this feels
from other types of rice.
It has a super powdery quality to it
which is how you know it's gonna
be really starchy,
sticky when it's cooked.
Let's take a closer look.
Oh yeah, looking at it
under the microscope,
the grain is pretty much completely opaque
with none of that pearly
translucence we associate
with other types of rice.
It's completely matte like
it got dusted with chalk.
Let's take a look at it when it's cooked.
Oh, it's sticky all right.
Right away you can see that
it's almost formed into one, solid mass.
Sometimes when you order
this at a Thai restaurant,
it'll be brought to you packed tightly
into a steamy, plastic bag.
The really cool thing about glutenous rice
is how easy it is to eat with your hands.
Since the grains are so integrated,
you can kind of form it
into a edible utensil
that can be used to scoop
up all manner of saucy,
super flavorful things.
Mm, it's really chewy and has almost
a slightly sweet quality to
it, it's very satisfying.
You almost can't tell that
there are individual grains
of rice in your mouth, magic cloche time.
Behold, a big mountain
of cooked, glutenous rice
and a tomato-y, spicy
pork-based Thai sauce
called nam prik ong.
This sauce really packs a punch,
so it makes the most sense
when it's eaten with
this mild, starchy rice.
It's all about contrast.
Mm, so delicious, that
contrast is everything.
Tangy, pungent sauce, mellow chewy rice.
This is a super fun way to eat rice.
When you eat this way,
you actually end up eating way more rice
which is relatively cheap,
and way less protein which
is relatively expensive.
It's a great way to stretch
more expensive ingredients.
This, my friends, is jasmine rice.
And here we have another
incredible variety
of Southeast Asian rice.
It's fantastically aromatic and fluffy,
and, interestingly, while it's named after
the jasmine flower,
that comparison has to do
with it's bright, white color
rather than it's specific flavor.
While some kinds of rice are aged,
the delicate fragrance of this
type dissipates over time.
So new crop jasmine rice is
what connoisseurs are after.
Wow, even though raw
grain smell fantastic,
it's kind of like a pandan leaf
with an almost buttery,
popcorn-y thing going on.
Excited to see this one under the scope.
Long boy, very elegant, this one.
It's got a nice shine to it
and it has a kind of
groove running through it.
Let's take a look at it when it's cooked.
So you can definitely tell that
there's a nice amount of individuation.
The grains are ever so lightly
roughed up around the edges,
but still nice and fluffy, they
stick together just enough.
Mm, yeah, yum.
Really fragrant, kind of herbal and woodsy
and toasty all at the same time.
It's delicate though, not
so flavorful on it's own
that it would overpower big flavor
Southeast Asian curries and the like.
And under the cloche we have kao pad Thai.
Thai-style fried rice, what a treat.
Basically we've taken
leftover jasmine rice
which is dried out a bit in the fridge
and stir fried it with oil,
aromatics, and some curry paste.
The fact that the grains
are long and fluffy,
but not all stuck together makes jasmine
particularly good for frying in this way.
Mm, I love how chewy the
grains are and the way
that you get some little
clumps that kind of fall apart
in your mouth and even
though there's a lot
of added flavor here,
that aromatic jasmine quality
is still in the background.
I could eat this all day.
Next up, Carnaroli rice.
Let's hop a flight to Europe, shall we?
Hailing from the Pavia, Novara,
and Vercelli provinces of Northern Italy,
This is the king of
risotto rice varieties.
Holy risotto, these grains are huge!
And they almost look
flattened, they're so wide.
Let's take a closer look.
Under the microscope you can really tell
how starchy this type of rice is.
It's totally opaque and
almost fuzzy looking.
You can also see that it's
not super, super polished.
There's still a bit of bran left
which is gonna contribute good,
butty flavor to our risotto.
Wow, these cooked grains are gigantic.
They expanded in a really crazy
way when they were cooked.
Tasting it, the grains
have a kind of blown out,
really starchy, fuzzy texture
and mild, nutty flavor,
but they're still totally
intact, not mushy at all.
And that combo is what makes
carnaroli perfect for risotto.
The moment we've all been waiting for.
That's a bowl of rich,
starchy Italian comfort
if I ever did see one.
Making good risotto is a labor of love.
You sizzle the raw rice in hot fat
until the grains become
kind of translucent
and then gradually stir in a hot broth
until the whole thing develops
a porridge-y consistency.
As the grains absorb broth,
their starch enriches the liquid
and in the end you get al dente grains
of rice suspended in a
thick, soupy situation.
Oh, and cheese.
There's plenty of cheese in here.
Mm, it's like a savory rice pudding
and the interplay between
the still firm grains
and the rich, creamy situation
they're suspended in is really special.
Bomba's away.
Hailing from Eastern Spain,
we've got bomba rice.
The rice you want if you're making
a traditional Spanish paella.
These fat little grains
actually remind me a lot
of the carnaroli rice
we looked at earlier.
The grains are almost wider
than they are long and are
fairly opaque and dense-looking,
but definitely less starchy
than it's Italian cousin.
Huh, it looks almost fuzzy, doesn't it?
Also looks slightly less polished,
and I'm thinking that
a little residual bran
and germ will lend a bit of earthiness
to the cooked product.
I can't wait to try this one cooked.
Ta-da!
Guys, that's ice not rice, try again.
Okay, rice.
Right off the bat you can
tell that these cooked grains
are a lot bigger than the other cooked
short grains we've seen.
They definitely absorbed a ton of water,
and managed to burst and
fray a bit around the edges
while still maintaining their shape.
They're kind of these light,
fluffy rough rice pillows.
It's almost hard to get a bite the way
that they roll off the fork.
Mm, mellow, mild with a bit of grassiness
from that residual bran.
The grains feel kind of
weirdly huge in my mouth
compared with more common short
grain white rices, really cool.
Voila!
Paella time.
This is dish is an event.
You sizzle meats in a wide pan,
you add aromatics, you
add and toast your rice,
you add stock bit by bit by bit
until it's all absorbed
and the rice is cooked
and then you let a crispy crust,
also known as a socarrat,
form at the bottom before you serve it.
I can't wait to eat this.
Mm, it's amazing the way
that the grains puff up
and are infused with all
of those other flavors.
They're like little grain sponges
and the contrast between the tender grains
and the crunch of the crust
is the best part, this is amazing.
Okay, next up, rosematta rice.
This stunner comes from the
Kerala region of Southern India.
It's a unique type of parboiled rice.
Parboiling is a process
by which harvested rice,
husk and all, is soaked,
steamed and dried before
being processed further.
This makes it easier to
mill the rice by hand
and makes the grains glassier, harder,
and a lot more nutritious.
Let's get some of these
under the microscope.
Cool.
I'm not sure exactly
how these are polished,
but they're these kind
of stripes and speckles
of bran left on each grain
which is really gonna contribute
to the unique flavor of this rice.
Cloche encounters of the third kind.
So, you can see that the
rice lost a lot of the color
it had when it was raw,
but you can still see some
of these little bits of bran in there.
The texture's really amazing.
It just tumbles off the spoon
and you have these super individuated,
super firm grains that
don't stick together
and that's due to the way that
the parboiling process changes
the starches in the rice.
So, here we have a
Kerala-style kanji payar
which is a rice porridge
similar to East Asian congee.
What's interesting here is
that most congees use non-parboiled rice
that will kind of explode and dissolve,
but here you can still
see that there a lot
of individuated grains
that haven't totally burst
almost like in a risotto.
They actually took quite a while
to cook down to this consistency.
And we have some seasoned
mung beans on top
as a kind of garnish.
Mm, you definitely still
get some of that unique,
grassy flavor, but it's
a little bit more mellow
and it's really nicely backed
up by all those spices.
It's really nourishing and comforting.
Next up, Carolina gold rice.
Let's bring it on home
to one of North America's
most famous varieties of long grain rice.
Originally brought to this
continent from Africa,
it was a big part of
the Antebellum economy
of Georgia and the Carolinas.
It became nearly extinct
after The Great Depression,
but fortunately for us rice lovers,
it experienced a resurgence
in the mid-1980s.
This is really something.
This rice comes to us from the
southern heirloom grain
specialist over at Anson Mills,
and there's a lot of variation here
both in color and grain size.
And that's a little piece of
rock, let's get rid of that.
The grains are very
fragile and break easily
and for a long time the
intact grains were sorted out
and sold for a pretty penny.
While the broken grains, or middlins,
were enjoyed by everyday people,
let's take a closer look.
Ah, it's so wild to see these two grains,
one quote, unquote perfect grain
uniformly white and shiny and
the other brownish yellow.
It's clear that this is not
your average commodity
crop rice, really cool.
These grains are really
intact, very fluffy,
not blown out at all which is really nice,
but you also have some
broken grains in here
that add a little textural variation
and dare I say, intrigue?
Mm, tons of flavor here.
It has a sweet, almost piney taste
that is really, really
special, this is fun stuff.
Right here we have an
amazing, traditional,
southern rice preparation
called hoppin' John.
Carolina gold cooked with a bit of bacon
or salt pork to season
it and black eyed peas
or other small lagoons.
It's a traditional New Years day dish.
The bean symbolize coins,
prosperity for the coming year.
Mm, this is so satisfying and comforting.
The rice really loves smoke and pork fat
and the vegetal flavor of the beans
and that high toned, earthy,
almost juniper-like quality
still shines through.
Basmati time.
Beloved the world over,
this long grain rice
is native to the Indian subcontinent
and derives it's name from the
Sanskrit word for fragrant.
We're definitely looking
at a long grain rice here.
Unlike other new crop rices,
the best Basmati rice is actually aged,
which contributes to
that characteristic color
and nutty fragrance, microscope time.
So interesting.
It's definitely kind of in the middle
of the glassy, opaque spectrum
that we've observed today.
It's not as long as jasmine,
but longer than Carolina Gold
and that brownish, tan
coloration is really apparent
at the bottom right there.
Really excited to sample this one cooked.
As you can see, the cooked
Basmati is incredibly light
and kind of fluffy and
there's a lot of air in there.
Each grain is really nicely separated,
they barely stick together at all,
but the exterior of each
grain has a little bit
of roughness in texture.
It's almost hard to keep it on a fork.
It's begging for something saucy
on top to keep the grains together.
Mm, the grains just kind
of melt in your mouth
with the slightest amount of chew.
And under the cloche we have a very,
very special Basmati rice
dish, a Persian tahdig.
What we've done is we've
taken the Basmati rice,
parsteamed it so it's
almost all the way cooked,
and then packed it into a hot skillet
with some saffron-infused
water, spices, and oil.
As it sits in the pan,
it finishes cooking all the way through
and also develops this
incredible, crisp crust.
But wow, this dish really
is all about contrast,
and plays to Basmati's unique strengths.
The crust is so crunchy and beautiful
and that layer underneath is
still really fluffy and light.
Koshihikari rice.
So, Koshihikari rice is Japan's premiere
short grain white rice.
While Koshihikari is native to Japan,
it's also widely cultivated
in the center valley
of Northern California where
Japanese immigrants during
the Gold Rush found that the
soils and growing conditions
were similar to those back
home, let's take a closer look.
I mean, this is kind of dumb to say,
but the short grain white rice grains
are very short, it's really pretty.
A nice amount of that
apparent, powdery starchness,
which is going to help the
grains adhere to one another,
but also that visible hardness
which indicates that the grains
are gonna stay intact when cooked.
Ah, a sight to behold.
Look at how distinct and
separate the grains are,
but also how they cling
to each other just so,
perfect for picking up with chop sticks.
The experience of eating this
is almost entirely textural.
It's delicious, don't get me wrong,
slightly nutty, slightly sweet,
very mild, no mushiness at all.
And surprise, surprise,
we've got some nigiri sushi.
Slices of sparkling, fresh raw fish
draped over still slightly warm nuggets
of gently hand-compacted
and seasoned short grain white rice.
The idea here is that it stays together
just enough that you can pick it up
with your hands or chop sticks.
When it gets into your mouth,
it all sort of falls apart beautifully
and the delicate sweetness
really reinforces
the natural salt in the fish.
Ah, short grain brown rice.
As a former health food store employee,
nothing warms my hippy
heart quite like it.
This particular variety is grown
by Lundberg Family Farms in
California and is basically
just short grain white rice
with none of the bran removed.
It's worth noting that all of the white,
polished varieties that we looked at today
like jasmine and Basmati are
also all sold in brown form.
This is kind of fun to play with.
Squat, plump grains just
like our Koshihikari rice,
but a totally different color.
There's actually a range here
from tan to almost green and the kernels
have a hard exterior with
almost no apparent starchiness,
let's take a closer look.
If I didn't know this was rice,
I would almost think I
was looking at a note.
It's obviously darker in color
than it's more polished counterparts
with none of the
powderiness that we've seen
on our white rices.
Nice.
This cooked short grain brown rice
makes me feel healthier
just looking at it.
The bran and the germ really help keep
the grains nice and separated.
There's still a smidge of stickiness here.
Mm, the texture is so fun.
Really bouncy and chewy.
The grains almost pop in your mouth
and the flavor is super deep and nutty.
And for our finished dish, ta-da!
Oops, sorry, wrong video, ignore that.
There it is.
We've got a good old-fashioned
hippie grain bowl.
We've got our brown rice base along
with some tofu, avocado and other veggies.
If it's nutrition alone you're after,
brown rice is the move.
We've got more fiber and nutrients
and definitely keeps you fully longer.
It's a little less steer,
but the full flavor of
the brown rice grains
really stand up nicely
to all of the diverse
flavors present in this bowl.
I'll always have a special
soft spot for this stuff.
Next up we've got something
a little bit different, wild rice.
It's the seed of a North
American long grain marsh grass
and was and continues to be a staple grain
for many Native American communities
in the Great Lakes regions where
it's still hand-harvested today.
The thing about wild rice is
that it isn't actually rice at all.
It's a member of the genus Zizania,
not the genus Oryza like the
rest of our friends here.
Let's get it under the microscope.
Well, that's different.
The wild rice grain is so much longer
than even the longest Oryza rice
with that really distinct indentation
running through the center
and the color almost looks
more reddish brown under this light.
I cannot wait to see how this cooks up.
Wow, so this presents a pretty
profound raw to cooked transformation.
The grains really kind
of exploded in the water
and almost curled up but each grain
has maintained a certain integrity.
One thing that's really unique
is that the interiors actually look almost
more gelatinous than they do starchy.
Yeah, the texture and flavor
is in a league all it's own.
It has a really vegetal, earthy,
almost smoky quality to it
and the contrast between
the soft, squishy interior
and that poppy, crunchy,
almost fibrous exterior
is really something.
And here we have a very simple
Ojibwa preparation for wild rice
in which it's been boiled and mixed
with some rendered bacon fat
and garnished with crispy bacon bits.
The smell is unbelievable mouth-watering.
Mm, yeah, the smokiness
in the bacon reinforces
those smoky notes we tasted
in the plain cooked wild rice
and the richness of the pork
fat and the natural salt
really makes the flavor
of those grains sing.
I could eat bowls and bowls of this.
And finally, Himalayan red rice.
This unique rustic-colored rice
comes to us from the kingdom of Bhutan.
It's typically semi-milled,
so it lands somewhere between
a whole grain brown rice
and white rice and is a staple crop
of the eastern Himalayas.
So cool!
I love the speckled quality there
and that lustrous shine.
It's kind of delicate-looking actually.
Handsome boy.
The cooked grains are
definitely a little bit tougher
than even the short grain brown rice,
and you can tell that where
the grains have split open,
you can see the starchy interior
and the contrast between that
and what looks like a
very fibrous exterior,
very hearty, very nutty, very grainy.
It almost has an acidity
that I haven't had
with the other rices.
The big reveal.
Ta-da!
Here we have a really simply
Bhutanese-style rice pilaf.
We've got some orange in there,
some chilis, some onions, super simple,
but a really nice way to add
some complementary flavors
to an already flavorful grain.
Mm, this citrus really plays nice
with the inherent tartness and sweetness
of the rice itself.
And the chili really
cuts through the starch.
So simple but really
delicious and complex.
And there you have it,
folks, 12 types of rice.
Just a small taste of a world
of beautiful and unique grains.
Got a favorite kind of rice or rice dish
that you didn't see here?
Let us know in the comments.
[optimistic music]
