Brown rice (Recipe: vegetable fried rice)

I know what you're thinking.

Good grief, three quarts of brown rice!

What is she doing with so much rice?

Mortaring a brick patio? Filling a sandbox? Making a bean bag chair?

Blind-baking a year's worth of pies???

None of the above. This brown Nishiki rice, perfect for the rice cooker to which I am unrepentantly addicted, isn't all that easy to find in the grocery store, and the smallest package in my favorite Asian market happens to be five pounds. But I'm glad to have it in my pantry.

Though more than half the world's population gets more than half its daily calories from rice, the rice they prefer is, overwhelmingly, white rice, such as arborio, basmati, long-grain and sweet. Yet there is no doubt that brown rice packs the greater nutritional wallop, with more than three times the dietary fiber of white rice, along with beneficial doses of many vitamins and magnesium.

Brown rice is white rice that hasn't been stripped of all of its layers. Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed in processing, leaving behind the bran and germ layers where most of the nutrients reside. Because there are more layers for liquid to penetrate, brown rice takes longer to cook than its white counterpart. Rice cookers make this foolproof, as long as you start with enough liquid in the cooker.

You can find brown versions of many types of rice -- brown basmati, brown long-grain, brown Nishiki, etc. -- in supermarkets and ethnic groceries. Store your rice in an airtight container, where it will stay fresh (and critter-free). Be sure to cut out the cooking directions on the package and stick them in with the rice. That way, you'll remember what type of rice you have, and the proportion of rice to water that you'll need to cook it. For the brown Nishiki rice, the proportions are 1 cup rice to 2-1/2 cups water on the stovetop; 1 cup rice to 3 cups of water in the rice cooker. Either way, you end up with 3 cups of cooked rice.

And if you should find yourself in the grocery store, facing the five-pound bag of rice, don't worry about what you'll do with it; you'll be happily making stuffed tofu and Indian dosa, rice with cashews and rice with  green beans, rice porridge and rice pudding.

Vegetable fried rice

Years ago, Jae Chung, owner of several restaurants in Boston and western Massachusetts, shared this recipe with me. It's a great way to use leftover rice (cook according to package directions, depending on the variety) and vegetables, and it cooks in just two minutes.  Add a Thai bird chile, or a drop of chile oil, if you like it hot. Serves 1; can be doubled.

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly scrambled
1/4 cup diced mixed vegetables -- onion, green and red pepper
1/4 cup broccoli florets, blanched for 1 minute in boiling water or stock
Thai bird chile, left whole (optional -- these are very hot)
1 cup cooked brown rice, any variety, chilled
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Fresh sliced vegetables (red and green peppers), for garnish

Directions

Heat the oil in a wok over highest heat, and add the egg.  Stir quickly!  Immediately add the vegetables, and continue to stir. Add rice, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and salt and pepper, and stir for 1 minute; the sauce should be absorbed and the rice grains should be separate. Add the sesame oil, toss, and serve hot, garnished with fresh vegetables.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Salmon fried rice
Lentils and brown rice

Comments

I didn't realize there were so many varieties of brown rice. I suppose in the same way, we've really evolved our thinking about the different varieties of white rice as more and more types have become available in the supermarket. (Of course, I grew up on Minute Rice, so I needed an education!) I love the nutty flavor of brown rice, and now you've got me thinking about the possibilities of a rice cooker!

This is such a timely post, Lydia, as I am trying hard to increase the brown rice in my diet. Your comments about the rice cookers are making me consider whether I should buy one...
Thanks for all the links! I will be trying these delicious recipes and adding them to my brown rice successes page :)

This is so funny. I just got up and made my coffee; then I put some brown rice in the rice steamer to make stuffed zucchini later today! And I do just what you do, but off the cooking directions, put the rice in a bottle, and tape the directions to the outside! The fried rice sounds great. I love fried rice made with brown rice.

Lydia, I've never been able to get my brown rice to work right in the rice cooker, but I'm going to give it another whirl based on your advice -- I think I've always put the same amount of water in as I would have done on the stovetop. Time to try again!

I always have brown rice in my pantry. I think I'm the only Asian woman with no rice cooker so I always do my rice on the stovetop...and yes brown rice gave me a headache for a while. I've never tried the nishiki type and I've never made fried rice with brown rice! Thanks for this recipe!

Brown rice is pretty much all I ever eat anymore, the basmati is especially nice. And fried rice, in any color it is so good.

The brown rice I get here is brown basmati - my only choice, and cooks in about 20 minutes on the stove top which I love! It's probably not as healthy as the traditional but I eat it lots more often 'cause it's so quick...and tasty!

TW, Nupur and Genie, I am completely in love with rice cookers, perhaps because I was never that good at cooking rice on the stovetop. One thing I've learned is that the water-rice ratio is slightly different when using the cooker. But once you figure out exactly the ratio that works with your brand of rice cooker, you'll never go back to stovetop cooking!

Kalyn, I love fried rice, too. And I'll look forward to reading your recipe for the stuffed zucchini.

Veron, for the longest time I couldn't find the brown nishiki rice in my supermarket, but now I can. And I'd never made fried rice with brown rice until Jae made this recipe for me.

Callipygia, brown basmati is lovely. And all fried rice is comfort food to me!

Katie, brown basmati has a very unusual flavor and aroma. I should cook with it more often.

Hi Lydia, I would have no trouble going through all the brown rice. When I was growing up, I thought that brown rice was only for "old people" because my grandparents started eating brown rice when they got older. These days, one can find brown rice at restaurants too. I love brown rice and wild rice. :-)

I ate white rice almost all my life!
Only taken a liking for brown rice recently.

I love rice, I wish that I could make real, authentic sushi rice. Your fried rice sounds delicious. We used to eat fried rice quite often when I lived abroad -- little did I know it contained dog meat. I was a bit traumatized!

I repeatedly hear people rave about their rice cookers. Since my family is fond of rice I should probably invest in a cooker/steamer. Nice that you includes a link to a model. Would you recommend that one? Or are most pretty similar?

Yum! I love brown rice, but I don't think I've ever tried that variety. I'll certainly look for it--and the recipe is one I'll try too.

Lovely post. I was thinking about eating some brown rice to detox my system after a week of high calories diet. Your info helps me a lot! Thanks!

oh, I don´t know. brown rice is so...good for you, I guess. still, I like it every now and then. I make it in a tabouleh-ish salad. but I´ve never fried it, sounds good, too.

Nora, the notion of "old people rice" really makes me giggle. But it also made me think. Did I ever see my grandparents eat rice? I don't think so.

Tigerfish, same for me. And give a choice, most of the time I'll go for white rice. But in some dishes, like this fried rice, the brown rice really adds lovely flavor and texture.

Kelly, sushi rice really isn't that hard to make:
http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2007/06/nishiki_rice.html.
Give it a try!

Diane, welcome to The Perfect Pantry. I've been very happy with my rice cooker, but I've had two other models that also have made very good rice. I haven't bothered with fuzzy logic machines, because I don't cook rice enough to need one, and I don't keep rice warm for 12 hours, so don't need a machine to do that. I like that it has a hinged lid; my first rice cooker didn't, and when I made a large batch of rice, the steam would lift the lid right off the cooker! I had to tie it on with string. That's really the only thing to watch for when you're buying one.

Sher, the chef who gave me this recipe owns several restaurants in Massachusetts. He also taught me how to make kimchi omelets!

Anh, I never think of brown rice for detox, but what a great idea. Thank you.

Lobster, yes, it's good for you... but it still tastes good! A brown rice and black bean salad with corn and tomatoes is pretty good, too.

I love brown rice, but haven't ever used it for fried rice before. I'll try it -- my pantry is FULL of rice because I can never remember if I have enough when I am at the store and I always buy more....

Ah...I'm addicted to the very same rice cooker! My older daughter came home from Japanese language camp and immediately started asking for one - it is a dream.... thanks for this reminder to get back to brown rice!

Sometimes I eat brown rice instead of regular because I know it's good for me, Lydia - I love rice anyway, actually. :)

Christine, that happens to me with vinegar -- can never remember how much of which kind I have! I've ended up with as many as half a dozen bottles of plain old white vinegar -- and rice vinegar, too.

Patti, I would be lost without my cooker. Really.

Patricia, I have a whole list of foods that fall into that "eat them because they're good for me" category, even though they are good on their own -- like broccoli.

I'm trying to up my brown rice as well, and this is a great suggestion for using it =)

Oh, yes, brown fried rice sounds perfect! I love the chewy texture and slightly nutty flavor of brown rice, and I really like the addition of oyster sauce in this recipe. I'll admit though, I've never used a rice cooker. (Egads!)

I'm one of those that prefers white rice, despite knowing it's less healthy - guilty as charged! Thanks for the recipe.

Kelly-Jane, this recipe is one of the ways I really like brown rice. Much of the time I have to remind myself to cook with it, because I'm really partial to the white rice.

Susan, I'm a huge fan of oyster sauce on just about anything. My rice cooker is one of the things I really can't do without in my kitchen.

Hillary, same here, but I'm trying to cook more with brown rice.

I'm a big brown rice consumer! For the past 5 years now, I've switched to brown rice from white rice at home. I didn't initially for the health benefits, but now it's what I'm used to. I use it in as much the same way I would use white rice, even fried. I prefer it's earthy taste to plain old white. This is definitely a staple in our pantry! :)

Christine, you're my role model! I would love to make the switch to brown rice, but I'm so used to white rice that I just haven't been able to give it up. And of course there are red rices and black rices to explore, too.

I only eat brown rice because I know it is better for you than plain old white rice. I like frying my rice in rice oil which is very healthy and come from brown rice as well.

Steveo, welcome to The Perfect Pantry. I've tried the rice bran oil, too -- very light and neutral flavor, and a high smoke point.

As a retailer of asian foods, brown rice sells well to those who are knowledgeable about the benefits of brown rice. Lots of them say, they wished they have known about brown rice before.