Is there a preferred white rice?

[Encephalon]

I don't care for this food product myself - I love it but I don't like to eat it - but my stepdaughter gobbles it down and it seems to agree with my pregnant wife. I was at my local Asian market ready to buy in bulk but I was too bewildered by the selection. Any Taoist rice connoisseurs out there?

[The Way Is Virtue]

I don't care for this food product myself - I love it but I don't like to eat it - but my stepdaughter gobbles it down and it seems to agree with my pregnant wife. I was at my local Asian market ready to buy in bulk but I was too bewildered by the selection. Any Taoist rice connoisseurs out there?

 

I think the Chinese mainly use long grain white rice with their meals, but there are many different brands available. I'm not too fussy so I usually don't worry about the brand, but it might be a good idea to try a few different brands by buying in smaller amounts if possible at first until you find a brand that you really like, and then you can buy in bulk. Someone could say that such and such a brand is the best but as always with food it is ultimately a matter or personal taste.

[Taomeow]

I don't care for this food product myself - I love it but I don't like to eat it - but my stepdaughter gobbles it down and it seems to agree with my pregnant wife. I was at my local Asian market ready to buy in bulk but I was too bewildered by the selection. Any Taoist rice connoisseurs out there?

 

Yes, I do eat rice on a regular basis like a good taoist. Moreover, I maintain a gluten-free household, so my pasta is also made of rice and procured at an Asian supermarket or a HFS.

 

If you're going to buy in bulk, I think jasmine rice is a safe bet. And if you want to do your joints a favor, support your jing, etc., go with glutinous rice (this one, however, has very different texture from other kinds -- it turns into mucilage like oatmeal).

[King Kabalabhati]

White rice with stir-fried vegetables is one of the few foods that I can eat as much as I want and not get a full, bloated feeling or any other digestive problem for that matter.

[Astral Monk]

White rice has basically no nutritional value. Its as good for you was white bread...which is not at all. One is better off looking for a brown rice or wild rice type.

 

8)

[Kris]

Basmati.

 

- Kris

[gendao]

[Taomeow]

White rice has basically no nutritional value. Its as good for you was white bread...which is not at all. One is better off looking for a brown rice or wild rice type.

 

8)

 

The only situation where white rice is problematic is when you are so poor and disenfranchised that you have nothing else to eat. This is not theory -- this was a fact of life of millions of poor industrial workers in Asia who would have nothing but white rice provided for them. Predictably, some of them would develop beri-beri, a vitamin B1 deficiency, a problem which doesn't arise with unpolished (brown) rice that contains some of this vitamin in the outer layer. People who have a chance to eat something else in addition to white rice should not worry about this scenario -- thiamine is available from many, many other sources. In all other respects, "no nutritional value" of white rice is one of many outlandish nutritional myths born of a nutritional paradigm that has severed all connections with tradition, reality, cross-cultural awareness, and common sense.

 

There's more lies about nutrition being fed to the public than about religion, politics, climate change, or the state of the economy combined. I think more effort goes into confusing this issue than any other. After all, food is real, whereas beliefs are imaginary.

[henro]

I agree, white rice gets a bad rap these days from the brown rice crowd. I'm married to a Chinese girl so brown rice isn't allowed in the house. I think she might even refuse to acknowledge it's existence

 

You can check out nutrition facts here:

 

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5707/2

 

 

Basically brown rice has more fiber, protein, and some minerals, but adds on some fat, carbs, and calories. . . I think it's a wash, when it comes to rice, eat what you like.

[Encephalon]

I truly didn't expect there to be anything approaching consensus among TTBs about something so essential as white rice! Do TTBs have consensus about anything?

Still, I figured if I got a "Thumbs Up!" from 75% of you for Basmati, or Jasmine, or Sushi I would've called it a day of fine research.

 

We personal trainers have been begging our clients to get off white rice for years, for many reasons, mostly because people eat too much of it in one sitting but also because, carb for carb, the nutrient value is less than quinoa, or buckwheat.

 

But I trust Taomeow with my life and I know where I can get a 30-pound bag for less than $15, So I'm done. Thanks.

 

Try sprinkling this on white rice. My family's been doing this for 35 years. It's not a Taoist dish but it's awesome.

[Dainin]

I'll cast another vote for basmati 'cause I like the scent it produces when I cook it. Jasmine too.

 

If your wife is pregnant you might want to look for organic varieties and minimize exposure to the pesticides.

[de_paradise]

"Tilda" brand Basmati. Its premium from India. High quality Thai rice is also good!

[bindo]

Try sprinkling this on white rice. My family's been doing this for 35 years. It's not a Taoist dish but it's awesome.

Yes! I've been using Spike/vegit seasoning for years. Just had it on rice today. It's great on avocados too.

[Nanashi]

I prefer short-grain white rice-- Japanese, or "Calrose" rice. Unfortunately Japan doesn't export their delicious rice.

 

Short grain provides a lighter, stickier texture. Long grain feels weird and loose on my tongue, and is easily "mushy" instead of "sticky". Alton Brown did an informative episode of rice on "Good Eats" a few years back.

[Mal]

(Preference based only my subjective experience of taste )

 

Brown long grain with some wild rice, cooked together in a rice cooker, by far my favorite.

 

When the texture/taste of brown clashes with the dish I'm making, Basmati or Jasmin rice

 

I do have a bag of Calrose, but I don't often need sticky rice (my sushi creation skills sux) and I prefer that loose feel of long grains. There is also a medium grain brown rice but I don't like the taste as much as the long grain brown.

 

I do like normal steamed white rice. But since I prefer to cook the above types I tend to only have that at restaurants and I'll usually get a vegetarian dish instead of rice if I going to be eating a bit of food. We have a nice local all you can eat smorgisboard that my parents like to take us to

 

So can I enjoy rice guilt free? Because I often think of that taoist "no grain diet" stuff.

[King Kabalabhati]

In Ayurveda they consider brown rice to be "tamasic" with mind-dulling and excessively "grounding" effects if eaten a lot whereas white rice is considered "sattvic" meaning it's good for clarity and compassion promoting sage-like behavior. Most fresh vegetables and fruits fit in this same cathegory.The light feeling I get from eating white rice and veggies makes me agree with this.

 

When it comes to the nutrients we can't find out everything by examining the product since there's always the question about how well these nutrients are absorbed in the individual digestive system. In general, the smoother the digestive process the more we benefit from the food. Here we have to watch out for improper combinations since they can make a perfectly digestable food seem hard to process.

[torus693]

Non GMO and unpolished. Hulling and sifting is done mechanically with most big manufacturers (china).

Cleaning or polishing to make the rice look good is done with polishers: talc.

The talc used is most often full of asbestos as they are layered together in the mines they

come from. Go to Thai or Laotian market

a very good rice cooker is just as important

[C T]

In Ayurveda they consider brown rice to be "tamasic" with mind-dulling and excessively "grounding" effects if eaten a lot whereas white rice is considered "sattvic" meaning it's good for clarity and compassion promoting sage-like behavior. Most fresh vegetables and fruits fit in this same cathegory.The light feeling I get from eating white rice and veggies makes me agree with this.

 

When it comes to the nutrients we can't find out everything by examining the product since there's always the question about how well these nutrients are absorbed in the individual digestive system. In general, the smoother the digestive process the more we benefit from the food. Here we have to watch out for improper combinations since they can make a perfectly digestable food seem hard to process.

Nicely said KK.

 

Been eating white rice (of different varieties) all my life. No major negative impact so far - weight has been pretty constant, hovering around 62 kg (give or take 2 kg) since i was a teenager. I am now 51. In great health... and i do not even have the luxury of a fixed exercise regime. No major illness or even minor ones... on a side-note though, when the tragic quake/tsunami hit Japan, i suddenly developed a massive toothache, but I am sure its more to do with a bleeding heart than having eaten white rice for so many years.

 

 

The Thai and Vietnamese folks here stick (no pun intended) to the jasmine variety as a staple, whereas traditionally the Chinese are very devoted to the long grain (the trend is shifting somewhat among the younger set), and the Indians basmati of course. As some of you might know, my day job is cheffing (Asian cuisine), and at home, i stock all three varieties. If i am making Indian curried dishes, then i would put on the basmati - for Asian dishes, i would cook a mixture of jasmine and long grain, in a 80:20 ratio. Flavor and texture combine to offer immense satisfaction to any rice connoisseur!

 

In any event, as in all things, moderation is a wonderful habit.

Edited March 16, 2011 by CowTao

[King Kabalabhati]

Nicely said KK.

 

Been eating white rice (of different varieties) all my life. No major negative impact so far - weight has been pretty constant, hovering around 62 kg (give or take 2 kg) since i was a teenager. I am now 51. In great health... and i do not even have the luxury of a fixed exercise regime. No major illness or even minor ones... on a side-note though, when the tragic quake/tsunami hit Japan, i suddenly developed a massive toothache, but I am sure its more to do with a bleeding heart than having eaten white rice for so many years.

 

 

The Thai and Vietnamese folks here stick (no pun intended) to the jasmine variety as a staple, whereas traditionally the Chinese are very devoted to the long grain (the trend is shifting somewhat among the younger set), and the Indians basmati of course. As some of you might know, my day job is cheffing (Asian cuisine), and at home, i stock all three varieties. If i am making Indian curried dishes, then i would put on the basmati - for Asian dishes, i would cook a mixture of jasmine and long grain, in a 80:20 ratio. Flavor and texture combine to offer immense satisfaction to any rice connoisseur!

 

In any event, as in all things, moderation is a wonderful habit.

 

Thanks and nice to hear you're healthy!

 

This is OT but since you mentioned it, when I first heard the Japan news I broke into tears and then had a strange fit.. It felt like a major congestion in my liver. I had to lie down for about ten minutes.