Eating a macrobiotic diet, I consume a good amount of rice. When I say rice, I do NOT mean the processed rice from a box (even if it's an “organic” brand), or even from those plastic bags of rice in the grocery store that look as if they've been imported from a third world country (no offense) and are about 1 million years old.
Nay, the rice to which I am referring is purchased from the bulk section of my local “health foods” or “natural foods” store. I love the Golden Rose medium or short grain brown rice – it's delish.
If you prepare this rice in the way I'm about to describe, you will not only have a wholesome grain prepared for the adults and children in your group – babies at early eating age (6 or 7 months in most cases) can also enjoy rice prepared this way. It's very digestible, smooth, creamy, and delicious! And oh yes, it's very simple!
Step by step, here we go.
First of all, if you are anything like me, you do everything at the last minute. In this case, you'll need to have forethought and plan ahead by 1 day. The rice needs to soak in clean, filtered water for at least 4 hours, and a 24 hour soak is wonderful.
*Ingredient(s) List*
- Organic medium or short grain brown rice
- Organic extra virgin olive oil (or what you have available)
- 1/4 teaspoon natural mineral salt (you may prefer more salt – I prefer to go minimal)
- Eden brand Tamari (kinda like soy sauce, but not toxic like most soy sauce on the market today)
- Red Star brand nutritional yeast flakes
- Organic apple cider vinegar
You'll need a nice pyrex or glass salad sized bowl as well as a medium sauce pan and wire strainer for your cooking gear.
Step 1: Soak the organic brown rice
Pour your measured amount (1 cup is enough for me and my son with leftovers for my lunch the next day) into the glass bowl and cover the rice about 1″ above with filtered water. Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
In case you are wondering, I believe the vinegar has something to do with balancing the pH of the water with the soaking rice, and it also helps dissolve some of the outer layer on the rice we are dissolving for a cleaner, more digestible meal.
Leave the rice soaking anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours (some people are extreme and will soak it for 48 hours- but they are also changing the water every 8 or so hours). Honestly, if you can even soak it 1 hour, that's great. If you do opt for a full 24 hours, I would change the water half way through or thereabouts. By “change the water” I mean pour off the water that's in the bowl, maybe pour the rice through a strainer, and then just ad more water. Don't forget to add a new tablespoon of apple cider vinegar if you change the water.
Step 2: Cook the rice
Ready to cook the rice, you'll need to pour off the water it's been soaking in, I pour mine through my strainer into the sink. I then rinse the rice with more clean water.
Pour the rinsed rice into the pot and add water. The ratio of water to rice is 2.25. So if you cook 1 cup of rice, put in 2 1/4 cups of water.
Turn the burner on at a low setting – for electric stoves that will be around the “2” mark, and for gas stoves, just a light flame.
Ideally, you want the rice to cook for 1.5 to 2.5 hours! I know that seems like a long time…and it is. The rice should come out very soft, but still formed – I'd say about 20% of the rice's form is left.
Step 3: Embellish & Serve!
I pour a tablespoon of olive oil, tablespoon of Tamari and a tablespoon of nutrition yeast per serving of rice (about 2 healthy scoops) for myself. You can experiment to get the taste you like.
Let me know how you like it, did it turn out for you?
Cheers!
P.S. You may wish to put it in a food grinder for the baby but it should already be pretty mushy so if you don't have a baby food grinder, you could also mash it with a fork.
