12 Types of Rice, Examined Under a Microscope and Cooked | Bon Appétit

this my friends is rice there are over 40,000 different cultivated varieties out there long grain short grain black rice glutinous 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 represent a 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 a meal 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 hall 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 its 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 appealing Li sticky texture great for picking up with hands or chopsticks alright 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 Ching 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 presence of a pigment known as anthocyanin a powerful antioxidant also found in blueberries and blackberries so in addition to being a 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 got to 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 change when it cooked it went from black to almost purpley 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 mmm oops that was a big bite I'm a messy Prince the flavor is out of control it has a really nutty almost caramely flavor with a really appealing slightly crunchy texture and 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 starchy and it's definitely the kind of filling comforting me lead one after a hard day of being an emperor mmm the meatiness of the broth really plays off the nutty caramel e 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 its own distinct flavor to the table that this really stands out I take this over chicken noodle soup any day okay next up glutinous rice also known as sticky rice which is grown mainly in South East and East Asia it's called glutinous rice not because it contains gluten or anything like that but because of the sticky almost glue like texture it has when it's cooked that characteristic stickiness is due to the fact that glutinous 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 it's completely math 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 glutinous rice is how easy it is to eat with your hands since the grains are so integrated you can kind of form it into an edible utensil that can be used to scoop up all manner of sauces super flavorful things mmm 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 glutinous rice in a tomato a spicy pork based Thai sauce called Nam prik on this sauce really packs a punch so it makes the most sense when it's eaten with this mild too starchy rice it's all about contrast mmm so delicious that contrast is everything tangy pungent sauce mellow chewy rice 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 its bright white color rather than its 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 the raw grain smell fantastic it's kind of like a pond on leaf with an almost buttery popcorn 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 yeah YUM really fragrant kind of herbal and woodsy and toasty all at the same time it's delicate though not so flavorful on its own that it would overpower big flavor Southeast Asian curries and the like and under the cloche we have Khao 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 hmm 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 can 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 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 brand left which is gonna contribute good nutty 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 Porgy 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 mmm 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 bombas 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 its Italian cousin ha 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 tada guys that's ice not rice try again ok 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 that 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 mmm mellow mild with a bit of grassiness from that residual bran the greens feel kind of weirdly huge in my mouth compared with more common short grain white rice --is really cool voila Paia time this dish is an event usisl 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 hmm it's amazing the way the grains puff up and are infused with all 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 Rose Mata 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 going to contribute to the unique flavor of this rice Close 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 those little bits of bran in there the texture is 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 congee PR which is a rice porridge similar to East Asian congee what's interesting here is that most con G's use non parboiled rice that will kind of explode and dissolve but here you can still see that there are 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 mmm 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 had experienced a resurgence in the mid-1980s this is really something this rice comes to us from the southern heirloom grain specialists over at Anson Mills 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 all the broken grains are Midlands were enjoyed by everyday people let's take a closer look now 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 mmm tons of flavor here it has a sweet almost tiny 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 it's a traditional New Year's Day dish the beam civilized coins prosperity for the coming year mmm 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 light quality still shines through basmati time beloved the world over this long grain rice is native to the Indian subcontinent and derives its name from the Sanskrit word for fragrant we're definitely looking at a long grain rice here unlike other new crop prices 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 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 and texture it's almost hard to keep it on a fork it's begging for something saucy on top to keep the grains together hmm 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 tadig what we've done is we've taken the basmati rice Parr steamed 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 Wow this dish really is all about contrast and plays too basmati 'he's unique strengths the crust is so crunchy and beautiful and that layer underneath is still really fluffy and light Kosh akari rice so Co Shikari rice is japan's premier short grain white rice while co Shikari is native to Japan it's also widely cultivated in the Central 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 starchiness which is going to help the grains adhere to one another but so that visible hardness which indicates that the grains are gonna stay intact when cooked 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 chopsticks you know 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 then surprise surprise we've got some nigiri sushi slices of sparkling fresh raw fish draped over still slightly warm nuggets of gently hand compacted in 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 chopsticks when it gets into your mouth that 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 polish 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 coach Akari rice but a totally different color there's actually a range here from tan almost green and the kernels have a hard exterior with almost no apparent starchiness let's take a closer look you know 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 powder enos that we've seen on our white Rice's 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 hmm 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 tada 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 got more fiber and nutrients and definitely keeps you fuller longer it's a little less dear 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 seat of a North American long grain marsh grass and was and continues to be a staple drain for many Native American communities in the Great Lakes region 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 to zhonya not the genus or isael 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 erisa rice without 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 this presents a pretty profound radda cook transformation the grains really kind of exploded in the water and almost curled up but each grain is maintained a certain integrity one thing that's really unique is if the interiors actually look almost more gelatinous than they do starchy mmm yeah the texture and flavor is in a league all its 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 Ojibwe 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 unbelievably mouth-watering mmm yeah the smokiness and 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 russet 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 kind of 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 Rice's the big reveal tada here we have a really simple Bhutanese style rice pilaf we've got some orange in there some chilies some onions super simple but a really nice way to add some complementary flavors to an already flavorful grain mmm the 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

Channel: Bon Appétit

Views: 835,991

Rating: 4.871902 out of 5

Keywords: rice, amiel stanek, 12 things, amiel bon appetit, amiel makes, amiel rice, amiel makes rice, 12 types of rice bon appetit, rice bon appetit, amiel 12 types of rice, rice microscope, black rice, jasmine rice, gluttonous rice, carnaroli rice, 12 types of rice, every type of rice, rice recipes, cooking rice, cook rice, make rice, making rice, different rice, rices, rice recipe, rice under microscope, microscope rice, looking at rice, rice explained, food, bon appetit

Id: ZDYg9SQthas

Length: 20min 18sec (1218 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 18 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/TheNorthComesWithMe]

Him pretending to be eating food when he's just recording a narration is still weird as fuck.

[u/parajelly]

Rice wizards!

[u/Mistorious]

Today I learned a lot about rice! Cool seeing how certain breeds of rice were used in a way that's signature of their flavor and pretty integral to the dishes they're used in.

[u/aequalis]

He’s a pro chef now?

[u/ThisDerpForSale]

This was actually more interesting than I'd expected. Not a rice person, but still enjoyed it.