Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
BROWN RICE != brown rice
#283663 12/24/09 04:20 PM
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
axiomite
OP Offline
axiomite
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
This was going to be a "WTF is with all the parboiled brown rice ?" thread, which is heavily off topic but since every OT question seems to uncover a new cache of knowledge among the forum members I figured "what the heck ?".

I recently discovered that I actually preferred brown rice to white rice, so had been buying that pretty regularly. Last grocery trip I picked up the wrong bag by mistake (a 5 pound bag of parboiled mixed in with the identically-packaged brown) so still needed to buy brown rice on my next grocery run. This time every brand/size of brown rice on offer seemed to be parboiled, which didn't make a lot of sense, but I didn't have all day so picked up another bag and headed home.

When I got around to cooking some rice, I found that the supposedly brown rice cooked up white. That got me looking into parboiled brown rice a bit deeper, since I thought the whole idea of brown rice was *not* milling off the outer layers and I didn't see how the result could be white. There was surprisingly little information on the internet about parboiled brown rice, just a couple of studies indicating that nutritionally it was "not much worse than regular brown rice", midway between regular brown rice and parboiled white rice.

That still didn't explain why the rice cooked up white, or why parboiled brown rice had suddenly taken over the store shelves.

Last night I was in a different grocery store, and the rice mystery was still bugging me, so I stopped by the rice section and looked at the offerings some more. Revelation.

The brown rice I had purchased earlier (which was from Mr. Goudas but which said "BROWN RICE" in big letters on the front, was actually BROWN *brand* RICE if you looked at the fine print. Guess they made up the "BROWN brand" to reflect the higher nutritional content of parboiled rice, and to fool people like me.

So... nothing has changed. There are still the two brands of parboiled brown (Uncle Bens & Dainty), promoted for their shorter cooking time, one lonely bag of regular brown rice, a million varieties of white rice, and a lot of bags labeled BROWN RICE which are actually parboiled white rice. Buyer beware.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with ten pounds of parboiled white rice. I'm thinking that's gonna make one BIG pot of jambalya...

Last edited by bridgman; 12/24/09 04:27 PM.

M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
bridgman #283664 12/24/09 04:24 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,488
Likes: 9
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,488
Likes: 9
Funny!


See Mojo's signature
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
EFalardeau #283666 12/24/09 04:55 PM
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,877
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,877
I eat the MINUTE brand of whole grain brown rice. It is indeed brown, and it is indeed parboiled.


-David
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
terzaghi #283667 12/24/09 05:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6,015
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6,015
I prefer wild rice myself to both the brown and white. I hate the white. I spent 2 years in Korea back in the 70's and they made EVERYTHING edible out of rice, it seemed. Rice Candy, Rice Ice Cream, Yada yada yada.

Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
CatBrat #283669 12/24/09 05:12 PM
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
axiomite
OP Offline
axiomite
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
It's not just Korea any more. I made the mistake of flipping through a "western vegetarian" cookbook recently and most of the recipes were along the lines of :

CHILI - fry onions with vegetarian ground beef, add beans & tomatos

BRATWURST WITH SAUERKRAUT - grill vegetarian bratwurst, serve with sauerkraut

BANQUET BURGERS - grill vegetarian burgers and vegetarian bacon, serve on buns with cheese

That said, it *is* amazing what they can make out of brown rice, tofu and a deep fryer ;\)


M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
bridgman #283671 12/24/09 05:17 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
Hmm. I like long grain speciality rices, myself--basmati, etc.


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
Ken.C #283681 12/24/09 07:25 PM
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
axiomite
OP Offline
axiomite
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,379
Likes: 7
Yep, basmati is very nice. That was my favorite by far before stumbling over brown rice. There is a hybrid "Texmati brown rice" which seems like it might offer the best of both worlds. Available from Amazon, but not in Canada -- all Amazon sells up here is books and crap like that \:D


M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
bridgman #283685 12/24/09 08:14 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,236
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,236
One of the best things that I have ever bought was my Zojirushi rice maker.


M3 and
M80
Re: BROWN RICE != brown rice
bridgman #283686 12/24/09 08:21 PM
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
 Originally Posted By: bridgman
Yep, basmati is very nice. That was my favorite by far before stumbling over brown rice.

Why not ge the best of both worlds with brown basmati?

Being close to TO you can probably find a better variety of rice than I can.

For something different, try a red or black rice sometime (may also be referred to as emperors rice??). It has a nice nutty flavour.


Fred

-------
Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,940
Posts442,457
Members15,616
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 145 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4