Boas Comidas

Glossário Culinário

Rice

Ingrediente

Origem
from Asia

Rice is the most consumed grain in Brazil, the base of the plate alongside beans. With a neutral flavor and a texture ranging from fluffy to creamy, it accompanies meats, vegetables and salads, and also stars in dishes like risottos, arroz carreteiro and arroz-doce. Cheap, high-yielding and pleasing to almost every palate, which explains its daily presence on the table.

Characteristics

Polished white rice, with long, thin grains, is the most common and cooks fast, turning out fluffy. Brown rice keeps the husk, has a firmer texture and longer cooking. Parboiled rice goes through a steam treatment, stays fluffier and does not get mushy. Arborio rice, with short grains, releases starch and gives creaminess to risottos. There are also red rice, black rice and basmati, aromatic with very long grains, used in specific recipes.

Uses in the kitchen

The basic preparation uses a garlic and onion sofrito, hot water and salt, with lid on and low heat until dry. It serves as a side for almost everything: meats, fish, eggs, vegetables and salads. In one-pot dishes, it becomes arroz carreteiro, galinhada, arroz com pequi, arroz de polvo and paella. Arborio is the base of risottos, stirred little by little with hot broth. Cooked in milk with sugar and cinnamon, it turns into arroz-doce. It pairs with beans, lentils, corn, peas, carrots, bell peppers and green herbs.

Substitutions

Among types, parboiled replaces white when firmer grains are wanted, and brown can step in for white in simple preparations, with more water and time. For risottos, only proper grains like arborio give the right creaminess. As a side, rice can be swapped for quinoa, Moroccan couscous, wheat berries or cassava purée. In fritters and leftover uses, like rice balls, leftovers of any type work.

Fun facts

For fluffy rice, the classic measure is two parts water to one of white rice, without stirring during cooking. Rinsing rice before cooking is a common habit, but parboiled needs none of it. Once done, letting the pan sit covered and resting for a few minutes finishes the cooking in the steam. Cooked rice keeps well in the fridge and yields fritters, pies and oven rice the next day, avoiding waste.

Recipes with rice

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