Here's an oxymoron with which to start your Friday: Cultivated wild rice.
via GIPHY
I gather that "wild" rice doesn't actually mean "found growing spontaneously in nature" as one might think, but a group of four species--whether actually wild or cultivated--in different genera than standard rice. See Wikipedia here and here.
This stuff is a bear to cook. I was about to throw it in my rice cooker, unaware that wild rice needs much more cook time than regular rice. Nina stopped me before I found out the hard way. I looked at the directions on the back of the bag, and aborted the plan, instead opting for the regular rice that evening. Before Nina's next weekly dinner here, I did as the package suggests, and put some of the wild rice in a bowl to soak overnight.
Even after that, I kept the rice boiling for nearly 15 minutes longer than the directions suggest, because as I was sampling it, it never seemed done. I ended up keeping it on the stove until all the water had boiled off--and it still wasn't really done, even though it had some burst kernels, which this page says is an indicator that it has cooked enough. Though the process was long and frustrating, it does produce a lovely aroma that makes the kitchen smell great.
So we ate not-quite-cooked-enough rice last night, topped with some of TJ's excellent Chicken-Less Orange Mandarin Morsels. The flavor matches the adjectives that seem to be universal in describing wild rice: nutty and earthy.
Will I buy it again?
Very unlikely, unless at some point I am determined to make a special recipe that absolutely, positively must use wild rice instead of standard rice. I don't really see that happening, but ya never know. Otherwise, it's just too much bother. Plus it's way too expensive; this little bag cost $5.49!
When I feel like something a little different from plain white or brown rice, I would instead choose this or this or this.
I took the other roughly half of the bag back to the store for a refund.
Oh no...! Wild rice by itself is kind of intense. I really like a wild rice medley- i think TJs sells one, it’s usually a mix if several rice varieties and some barley so the final rice is different textures and the flavor isn’t as intense.
ReplyDeleteWild rice just doesn’t get as soft of a texture as other rices do, although it does take about the same time as brown rice to cook.
You could do something like this, use TJs chopped squash if you prefer, and then just add in some chickpeas (roast with the squash) or tempeh (also could roast with squash, won’t take long though) for a one dish dinner
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.thekitchn.com/wild-rice-pilaf-263080
Ttrockwood
I cooked it in my Instant Pot pressure cooker, along with French lentils and frozen chicken drumsticks (plus onions, carrots and seasonings). I cooked for 40 minutes, then let in naturally release pressure, which was at least another 30 plus minutes. I probabably could have added more water, but everything was completely cooked.
ReplyDeleteI made an instant pot wild rice soup with this (found the recipe on Pinch of Yum) and it was great in that. I can't figure out what another use of this rice would be though.
ReplyDeleteUse the interwebbies (thousands of hrs of expert history/knowledge/experience) instead of crappy TJ box directions!
ReplyDeleteThis isn't reg rice, so doesn't cook like rice. Aquatic grass seed cooks more like beans, barley, wheatberry, lentils.. put in a pot (w enough water to fully cover for an hr+) and simmer for roughly an hr-ish depending on dryness. That's it. The seeds expand/split when done; then use in a soup or drain for salad/side. Every batch of bean or seed/grain is dried differently; moisture will always differ radically by batch... the more dried out a "rice" is, the longer it cooks. Package instructions are rough estimates.