Rice is the principal food for approximately half of the world's population. In some countries rice accounts for about three-quarters of the daily caloric intake.
It is one of the oldest cultivated crops and originally native to India,
China and Indochina. Now it is grown on every continent except
Antartica. The migration of rice began in Asia traveling to Europe
through ancient Persia. From Europe it spread to the Americas and by the
17th century rice was cultivated in South Carolina. Today, the US
production of rice is concentrated in Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and
California.
World wide there are thought to be about 100,000
varieties of rice. Genetically they are almost all traced back to the
species, Oryza Sativa. Within this species there are two principal
subspecies, indica and japonica. Indica typically produces longer grains
while Japonicas result in the shorter stickier grains.
Most
rice sold in markets is milled to remove the bran and germ, then
polished. This allows the rice to be stored for a very long time. The
types of rice are long grain rice, medium grain rice, short grain rice,
sticky rice, aromatic rice, and pigmented rice. Any of these types can
be sold as brown rice, or milled and sold as white rice.
White rice with gravy is every bit as delicious as mashed potatoes with gravy.
It is so easy to learn how to make white rice, just combine the water, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and set the rice aside in a small bowl. Boil the water, add the rice, stir, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until done. This will give you perfect white rice every time.
Ingredients
Method
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