Rice. What you still don’t know about him

What you know and what you still don’t know about rice

The garnish par excellence, the star of the paellas or the food that cures us when we are sick to the stomach.

For all these things (and for many more), rice is the cereal that has been with us since we can remember.

As I said in an entry a few months ago, for me it is one of the essentials in the kitchen for its absolute versatility.

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So today I am going to talk about some curiosities of rice that you may not yet know.

Past this cereal

The rice was expensive, very expensive . In fact it was considered a luxury product as for us it could be today the truffle, to give you an example.

Although he was born in Asia, specifically in India, where he began to cultivate was in China. Little by little it came to Europe and America.

The present

In Europe the first rice producer (52%) is Italy followed by Spain in second place with 20% of the total area.

Future of rice

Without going any further in our country, approximately 184.8 million kilos of rice are consumed . Figure that grows annually by more than 1%. There is nothing.

After this brief introduction to the rice world, I am going to tell you tooooodos the benefits of this food.

Start the day, with energy!

In addition to being a powerful source of carbohydrates, rice is made up of carbohydrates that take time to break down, giving us a constant supply of energy.

White and brown rice contain high doses of minerals, calcium, iron and vitamin D. To which it must be added that whole wheat or wild rice, are very healthy for their low calorie content in cholesterol and saturated fats, and their very high content. in fiber.

Goodbye to the pressure

This makes it ideal for controlling blood pressure, since including rice in your daily diet will help you regulate problems such as hypertension.

The rice bran oil releases many antioxidant properties that will favor your heart.

It is also rich in insoluble fiber . These fibers are what protect your body against cancer. 

Good digestion is worth two

Orientals are probably the largest consumers of this cereal in the world. This occurs because their philosophy establishes the belief that taking rice helps to whet the appetite, cures diseases (we don’t know if it is true or not, but helps prevent them) and reduces a lot of digestive problems.

But in case you didn’t know, rice is not only digestive, it is also a diuretic. Its high fiber content makes the intestine work and increases its mobility, releasing toxins from your body. 

Raisins of raisin? Rice!

Brown rice, in addition to its high fiber content already mentioned, contains nutrients that help growth and improve the activity of your neurotransmitters.

It is even said that there are wild rices that could stimulate these enzymes in our brain to prevent Alzheimer’s. Since, by segregating these, the damages that some harmful toxins could cause in our body are inhibited.

In the variety is the spice

In total there are almost 7,000 different varieties of rice, only a tiny part reaches us due to our weather conditions. Below I will talk to you in more detail about some of these types of rice that you already know.

They are classified into  three groups: medium grain , short grain or long grain and round .

White rice is obtained after husking it (removing the husk), then it is polished and bleached.  Despite being the variety that we consume the most, it is the one with the fewest vitamins and proteins.

Within white rice we can find short grain white rice (bomba rice). Its grain opens during cooking, releasing all the starch and it becomes more pasty. It is also ideal for making rice pudding.

The integral is already chipped and clean , but it is not polished, it is darker or it provides more fiber, minerals and vitamins. As you may have already seen if you are a fan of this type of rice, it is that its cooking is much slower and therefore it is also harder.

Also known as jasmine rice, Thai rice is long and fine-grained and comes as its name suggests from Thailand. I love it with vegetable curries or prawns.

You should not confuse it with Basmati (aromatic) rice, which is grown in India and Pakistan and is one of the most exquisite rice in the world.

Now that you are already a connoisseur or connoisseur of rice, tell me, what rice are you going to prepare today? I leave you some recipes in case you need a little inspiration.