Say no to brown rice
When someone asks what my favorite food is, I invariably say rice. It’s an answer few people understand. Most people see rice as a neutral side dish with, for example, their Thai curry, but for me it’s often the best part of the meal. That is, until I tried brown rice again after a long time.
Like half the world, I try to eat healthily every now and then. Ideally, I’d eat white rice five times a week, preferably in large quantities. I always make ‘too much’ by accident and can easily eat the entire pot. Can’t manage that one time? Then I turn it into a leftover rice dish the next day. I also love snacking on cold rice straight from the pot. But yes, there are healthier choices.
Dry as dust
It was time for brown rice. More fiber, fewer calories, nothing but benefits, right? Full of enthusiasm, I bought a bag. Now I just needed a tasty recipe. All Asian dishes were out of the question anyway, because white rice is a must with those. I sautéed a minced shallot in some olive oil, added the rice and cooked it in homemade chicken stock with finely chopped preserved lemon. An idea I had stolen from Marlow & Sons in New York, though there they made it with white Japanese rice. Something that should always remain the case, because even with this delicious preparation, brown rice turned out to be a nasty, dry mouthful. Yuck. Even the soybean salad and the (slightly failed) poached egg couldn’t distract from the fact that the rice was absolutely disgusting.
Life is too short
What I find strangest is that a huge number of people say brown rice is ‘fine’ or ‘okay’. Who came up with this conspiracy? People describe the flavor as ‘a little nuttier than white rice’ and all happily keep eating it. Am I the only one who thinks it’s like chewing on cardboard? I can certainly handle a bit of whole grains. Give me soba noodles or whole-wheat couscous and I’m happy. Even the ultimate ‘superfood’ quinoa features in my weekly rotation. But as far as I’m concerned, life really is too short to eat brown rice.
Save you from it
By now, my terrible eating experience had been pushed from my mind and the bag of brown rice had been thrown away when my colleague Renée sent me a dejected message. She had bought brown rice, and thought it was so disgusting—the poor girl was completely distraught. Understandably so. I could have saved her from it, and I didn’t, but I can still save you. Whatever you do: eat rice less often, eat smaller portions of rice, but never let yourself be tempted by brown rice.
A reader’s tip
Do you still want to give brown rice a chance? Then try reader Peter’s tip. ‘If you have the right brand (there’s a lot of “junk” on the market), brown rice is really delicious,’ he emailed. He exclusively buys Silvo (2-kilo bags at Sligro; Silvo brown rice isn’t available in many places). Peter: ‘I’ve tried other brands, but I don’t want those anymore.’ Peter’s final tip: ‘You shouldn’t cook brown rice until it’s dry, as you usually do with white rice varieties. Naturally, this rice is less sticky than white rice varieties, so it’s looser.’
Read also:
- Recipe: vegetarian fried rice
- Recipe: Soto ajam from Emma de Thouars’ new cookbook
- Perfect rice every time
