Brown Rice Basics

The brown rice I find here really is brown, sort of a reddish brown. The brown rice in the states is more of a creamy, brownish tinted rice. Both cook about the same.

When I consider the benefits of using brown rice versus using white rice, brown rice wins hands down every time. I always use brown rice and sometimes put in a small amount of wild rice for a "pilaf" look. In recipes on my blog, when it says rice, it means brown rice.

I thought you all might enjoy seeing the label from my most recent bag of brown rice (see above scanned photo). I love how it lists all the health aspects of using their brown rice (white rice is still more common here than brown). In fact, there are plenty of things they didn't say about it.

In case you can't read the label very well, here's the text, typos (theirs) and all:
(See basic recipes below label text.)

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"Ghana Brown-Rice"

Your best Nutritional & Longevity Food for all ages:- Babies; Children; Adults.

Your best medicine food to fight and prevent: Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes; Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) Heart Diseases; Diarrhoea, Malnutrition, Obesity, Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) etc.

Minerals: Iron; Calcium, Fibre; Oil; Protein; Silicon (Silica); Sodium; Fat; Starch-Free; Cholesterol free; Carbohydrate; Chromium (GTF); Magnesium; Potassium; Selenium;

Vitamins: B1; B2; B3; B6; F; E;

Acids: Nicotinic-Acid; Amino-Acid; Linolenic-Acid (Essential Fatty-Acid) Folic-Acid.

Enjoy whole grain & Porridge

The Vegas best choice

100% Natural & Organic

Immune System Booster

Promotes & Increases Longevity

Health Advice: No sugar; No salt; No Margarine; No Alcohol; No smoking.

The World best Brown-Rice from Africa

5 Kg [corrected weight of 2 Kg (kilograms) has been written over the 5]

Best taken before year 2014

Distributed by: STAR-GATES FARMS; Abeka-Lapaz, Accra-Ghana.

COOKING-INSTRUCTIONS: Wash the rice two times with water and put into a rice-cooker or into a pot with plenty water and add few tablespoons of "Pure and Fresh Palm Oil" or "Olive Oil" or "Soya-Bean oil" or Shea-Butter' as softener and then boil for 35-40 minutes and serve with soup or stew.

You can cook this rice as "Jollof Rice". You can also cook this rice with 'Beans' or 'Nuts' or 'Wheat' or 'Sesame-seeds'

To make a porridge then grind the brown rice once and put into a pot with enough water and boil for 20 minutes and serve.

May Yeshua the Messiah bless you. Amen.

Ezek. 47:12, Prov. 30:8, 1 Cor. 6:13

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Here are two methods to cook brown rice that I've used for years, from the More-with-Less Cookbook, by Doris Janzen Longacre, page 125:

Basic Steamed Rice

Combine in heavy saucepan:

1 1/2 c. rice

1/2 tsp. salt

Just enough water to rise above rice level to a depth of one inch; Asians measure using index finger from tip of middle of first knuckle.

Over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil. Stir through with a fork, loosening grains at the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to simmer, cover with tight-fitting lid, and do not stir or peek for 20 minutes. (If electric burner stays too hot and causes rice to boil over, pull saucepan partially off the burner for first 5 minutes of cooking time.) After 20 minutes, turn off heat and let rice stand covered until ready to serve. Flake gently while transferring to serving dish. Yields a tender but slightly chewy dry rice with no gluey moisture at the bottom.

Options:

Measure 1 2/3 c. water to 1 c. rice. Use cooking method above, but reduce water when cooking large quantities.

Use brown rice but increase cooking time to 45 minutes.

Omit salt if serving rice with salty or spicy side dishes.

My note: I have had good consistent results, when doubling the recipe, with these amounts: 3 c. brown rice with 5 c. water. I use a 3 quart saucepan to cook this amount on the stove. With my current gas stove, I can't get a nice slow simmer, so I end up turning it off and on about 5-10 minutes at a time, until done, noting the original recipe cooking times. I rarely put in the salt called for in the recipe. Sometimes I add a teaspoon or two of oil to avoid boil overs.

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Baked Rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Combine in covered casserole:

2 c. hot water

1 c. rice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. margarine (I use oil)

Cover and bake 45 minutes or longer for large quantities.

My note: I have used 3 c. water and 1 1/2 c. rice in a 2 quart covered casserole fine. This baked recipe is the only way I prepared rice for years, mostly because I was automatically prevented from opening the lid too much. I did eventually switch over to the stove top cooking method to save energy, but this recipe would be good when you have something else baking in your oven, since it uses a standard 350 F (180 C) temperature.

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When reheating any leftover rice, add about a spoon or two of water per cup of rice and warm up in pan, stirring frequently.