Cooking black rice. What dishes can be cooked, how to cook properly? TOP 6 recipes for delicious dishes with black rice. Video recipes.
Black rice is an edible grain of a cereal that is believed to be native to Tibet, where it was grown on the slopes of the mountains. The first mentions of this product say that only emperors and members of their families could eat it, and ordinary people who dared to taste this "forbidden" food were waiting for the death penalty. Over time, this cereal began to be cultivated in other countries, but China remains the leader. The results of studies of the composition allow us to consider this type of rice to be incredibly beneficial for health, because it contains a lot of vitamins, minerals, especially iron and vitamin E. It also contains antioxidants, a large amount of vegetable protein. In cooking, it is given a place of honor for its mild nutty aroma and delicate taste.
Features of the use of black rice in cooking
Every day, black rice conquers more and more people. However, it is quite often confused with the seeds of aquatic tsitsania (its other name is wild rice, although it is not rice). What these two products have in common is the color of the grains and the direct relation to the Cereal family. You can distinguish them by looking at the appearance. Wild rice has more refined and longer grains, while black rice has rounded and short grains, like the usual white cereals. Due to this, in order not to be mistaken, it is worth buying the product, the packaging of which allows you to evaluate its appearance.
Black rice is very much appreciated by culinary experts all over the world, because it can be used not only as a side dish, but also to prepare various dishes on its basis. It well complements the nutritional value and taste of meat dishes with pork, rabbit, beef, chicken, and game. Making black rice pilaf is easy using your favorite recipe, which usually uses white cereal.
For fish lovers, there are also a myriad of recipes - soups, casseroles, salads, puddings with various types of fish meat. Recently, Japanese black rice rolls have been gaining popularity. Their appearance is quite exotic due to the color, but the taste exceeds all expectations. This cereal is good in combination with any seafood and various sauces.
On its basis, you can prepare many vegetable dishes with the addition of carrots, various types of onions, cabbage, eggplants, zucchini, peppers, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms.
Fruit salads, sweet casseroles, and puddings are also made with it. Almost any fruit and berry can be added to the recipe. The grains make excellent flour, which is added to various types of baked goods.
Black cereal is very interesting as a dietary product, because is very beneficial for the body and, if properly prepared, does not provoke weight gain. This product has taken pride of place in the vegetarian menu. It is also considered useful during religious fasting.
How to cook black rice?
Black rice differs from its white counterpart not only in the composition of nutrients, but also in the presence of a hard outer shell that does not allow the cereal to turn into a viscous porridge during cooking. Because of this, there are several nuances for the correct preparation of the product.
For simple cooking on the stove, it is better to use Teflon, cast iron cookware, because black rice gives off part of the color and stains the sides of the pan. With great success, you can cook cereal in a frying pan, in an oven in a baking dish, in a slow cooker or steamed, and even in a cauldron over a fire.
Rinse the cereals thoroughly before boiling black rice. This can be done with a fine sieve under running water. The second way is to pour the rice with water, rinse with your hands, drain the water, repeat 2-3 times.
Black cereal must be pre-processed. It is very often poured with water several hours before the start of cooking. Sometimes the duration of soaking is limited to 20-30 minutes. But to make the groats cook faster, you can pour boiling water over it.
The standard ratio of rice to water is 1 to 2. It may vary slightly depending on the length of pre-preparation, which allows the grains to be slightly soaked in water.
It is best to place black rice in already boiling salted water and, after stirring once, cover with a lid. Cooking is done over low heat. You do not need to stir during cooking. The duration of cooking black rice is 30-40 minutes, depending on its quantity. There is no need to rinse the cereal after boiling.
Note! To soften the taste of black rice, you can add a little olive oil to the saucepan.
Black rice is an excellent ingredient for risotto, which is highly prized in Italy. Many culinary masterpieces have been created on its basis. This dish is prepared with meat, seafood, fish, vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, mushrooms - there are many options for every taste.
How to make black rice risotto:
- Cooking black rice for Italian risotto begins with frying chopped onions in olive oil or butter.
- Next, rice is placed in a pan, and it is also fried, stirring.
- The next ingredient that gives a subtle aroma and light taste is wine, which is gradually evaporated.
- The main process is to add broth in portions. It is poured in 50-70 ml each, evaporated, and then a new portion of liquid is added. This allows you to soften the cereal and give it a special consistency.
TOP 6 recipes for dishes with black rice
The easiest culinary use is to use black rice as a side dish. However, it is much more interesting to cook something more exotic - paella, risotto, cheese soup or Sicilian balls. We offer several interesting recipes for black rice dishes in order not only to diversify the menu, but also to enrich the body with useful substances.
Paella with black rice, mussels and Sofrito sauce
This is a traditional Spanish dish. Paella is gaining more and more fans every day. And over time, more and more options for its preparation appear. Among the great variety of recipes for making black rice in the Spanish style, we suggest preparing paella with seafood, exquisite Sofrito sauce and citrus notes. Incredible taste, aroma, excellent serving of food allow you to use this option even for a romantic evening.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 88 kcal.
- Servings - 2
- Cooking time - 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Black rice - 300 g
- Garlic - 5 cloves
- Mussels in flaps - 400 g
- Green peas - 50 g
- Chicken broth - 300 ml
- Dry white wine - 200 ml
- Parsley - 100 g
- Olive oil - 50 ml
- Lemon - 1 pc.
- Lime - 1 pc.
- Saffron, thyme, sea salt, ground pepper assorted - to taste
- Tomato - 4 pcs.
- Shallots - 1 pc.
- Green pepper paprika - 2 pcs.
How to prepare black rice paella with sofrito sauce step by step:
- Before cooking black rice, prepare vegetables. Remove the husk from the onion and garlic, chop.
- Next, we proceed to the preparation of the Sofrito sauce. For him, chopped tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, onions, green paprika, season with 20 ml of olive oil, thyme, sea salt and ground pepper. We simply grind all these ingredients with a blender into a single homogeneous mixture.
- Pour some olive oil into the paella pan. We spread and fry 3 cloves of garlic and remove it.
- Dry the washed rice thoroughly and put it in a pan with garlic oil for quick frying.
- Then add a little prepared sauce, mix and simmer for a few minutes. This will allow the rump to absorb the Sofrito flavor better. Then add a little sauce, saffron, wine and broth again. Stir and simmer again.
- At this time, we prepare the mussels in accordance with the recommendations on the package. Add this ingredient to the rice when about half of the liquid remains. Add salt and continue stewing. It is perfectly normal for paella to form a thin burnt crust on the bottom of the pan.
- If the green peas are fresh and still in the pods, clean them. If it is frozen, then defrost it. We send the top layer to the pan. Do not mix.
- Wash the parsley, dry and chop. At this time, you can take a sample from the paella for salt and, if necessary, add salt. Sprinkle parsley on top. And put the lime and lemon cut into slices in a circle. Serve to the table directly in a frying pan, and then lay out in portions.
- Gourmet Black Rice Paella with Seafood and Spanish Sofrito Tomato Sauce is ready! Before use, juice is squeezed out of citrus fruits over the entire surface of the portion. This dish goes well with chilled white wine.
Black rice vermicelli with cheese
Of course, black rice noodles can be made at home as well. To do this, they take cereal grains, thoroughly grind them into flour, and then cook according to a simple recipe for homemade noodles. However, this process is quite laborious and time-consuming, besides, at the moment in stores there is a fairly wide selection of such a product with high quality. We offer to diversify the daily menu with a very exotic and delicious dish - black rice noodles with cheese.
Ingredients:
- Black rice noodles - 400 g
- Hard cheese Tofu - 300 g
- Unripe Edamame Soybeans - 400 g
- Fresh cucumbers - 3 pcs.
- Chili pepper - 1 pc.
- Cilantro greens - 50 g
- Peanut butter - 20 ml
- Sesame oil - 40 ml
- Soy sauce - 60 ml
- Dried chopped ginger - 3 g
Step-by-step preparation of black rice noodles with cheese:
- First, boil the edamame for 5 minutes. This can be done with steam, so more nutrients will be preserved. After that, we throw them into a container with cold water. This will allow you to easily remove the outer shell of the pods.
- Grind the tofu into equal cubes with a side of 1 cm.
- We wash the cucumbers, peel them. If there are large seeds inside, then remove them. Next, we cut into pieces no more than 5 cm long.
- Peel half of the chili pepper from internal partitions and seeds. Next, grind very thinly into strips.
- Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Usually it is placed in already salted boiling water, stirring, brought to a boil, the heat is reduced to a minimum and slowly brought to readiness. Then they are thrown in a colander and not washed.
- While the noodles are boiling, heat the peanut butter in a pan, fry the tofu on it, and put it on a plate. Next, put the cucumbers in the pan and fry them a little too - no more than 2 minutes.
- Finally, grind the cilantro, season it with sesame oil and soy sauce, add the ginger and stir. Next, combine the prepared pasta with beans, cheese, cucumbers and cilantro dressing. Black rice vermicelli is ready!
Black Rice Arancini Balls with Meat
This dish belongs to Sicilian cuisine. It is made in the form of small balls, it looks very nice even on a festive table. Quite exotic, but made from ingredients familiar in our country. Arancini looks like potato croquettes, but their composition is richer and more nutritious. This dish is an excellent combination of black rice with meat and green peas. Such a dish can be easily prepared with other fillings - seafood, mushrooms, cheese, etc.
Ingredients:
- Black rice - 300 g
- Minced meat - 250 g
- Frozen green peas - 100 g
- Eggs - 4 pcs.
- Tomatoes in their own juice - 200 g
- Mozzarella - 100 g
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Meat broth - 1 l
- White bread rusks - 150 g
- Dry white wine - 1 tbsp.
- Extra virgin olive oil - 80 ml
- Parmesan - 80 g
- Salt, ground black pepper, basil - to taste
- Butter - 40 g
- Odorless vegetable oil - 300 ml
How to prepare black rice arancini balls with meat step by step:
- Peel one onion, chop finely and simmer in a hot pan for 3 minutes. Then add the minced meat and simmer for about 18-20 minutes. Minced meat must be kneaded periodically so that lumps do not form.
- Pour in thawed green peas. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Chop the tomatoes and also send them to the pan.
- Cut the mozzarella into cubes. After 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, let the contents cool slightly and add the cheese there.
- Next, prepare the risotto. We wash and dry the black rice. In a separate frying pan, sauté the second finely chopped onion. Then add cereal to it and brown it for a couple of minutes. We use a wooden spatula for mixing. We pour in the wine, make the maximum heat and evaporate the liquid. After that, add the broth step by step, each time evaporating the next portion. Pour the last two portions at once and boil the rice for 15 minutes. We remove from the fire.
- Add grated parmesan to the finished risotto. Then add 2 eggs, basil, pepper and mix.
- Heat a sufficient amount of vegetable oil in a deep, narrow saucepan or deep fryer.
- We spread part of the risotto on a flat surface in the shape of a circle, put a little meat filling in the middle and wrap it with rice, forming balls.
- Beat the remaining two eggs. We immerse the prepared balls into this mass, then roll them in breadcrumbs and fry in oil until golden brown for about 2-3 minutes. Then blot off excess fat and place on a beautiful serving dish. Sicilian Black Rice Arancini Balls with Meat Ready!
Soup with black rice and shrimps
First courses are loved by many. Borscht, cabbage soup, buckwheat soup, fish soup, hodgepodge, habitual in our country for a long time, have recently been lost against the background of new options. Hot liquid meals with cheese and seafood have become very popular in recent years. We suggest preparing an incredibly delicious first course - black rice cheese soup with shrimps.
Ingredients:
- Shrimps - 400 g
- Black rice - 100 g
- Processed cheese - 200 g
- Water - 500-700 ml
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Parsley - 100 g
- Olive oil - 30 ml
- Salt, pepper mix - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of black rice and shrimp soup:
- Steamed black rice in boiling water for 20-30 minutes, then boil until half cooked, put it in a colander so that the excess liquid is glass.
- Pour water into a saucepan for soup, put on fire and bring to a boil.
- At this time, chop the peeled onions and carrots with a knife into small cubes of the same size and fry in olive oil until golden brown. Then we send it to the already boiling water.
- Next, lay out the processed cheese and dissolve it thoroughly, achieving uniformity. We taste it with salt and add until the taste is complete.
- Pour in the rice, cook for 5-7 minutes and add the peeled shrimp. Cook until tender.
- After the end of cooking, let the soup with black rice and seafood brew a little and serve in portions, decorating with chopped herbs. You can add a mixture of peppers if desired.
Chicken salad with black rice
Very often rice of any sorts is added to salads, because it serves as an excellent base due to its nutritional value and light taste and aroma. Black rice with chicken is one of the simple and at the same time very successful combinations. The taste of both ingredients is well complemented by hazelnuts, balsamic vinegar, hard cheese, mushrooms, various flavors, for example, rosemary, ginger.
Ingredients:
- Black rice - 100 g
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Celery - 1 stalk
- Olive oil - 80 ml
- Salt, pepper, garlic, to taste
- Chicken fillet - 500 g
- Parmesan - 130 g
- Hazelnuts - 50 g
- Balsamic Vinegar - 75 ml
- Rosemary - 1 sprig
- Ginger - 5 g
Step-by-step preparation of chicken salad with black rice:
- Black rice recipes almost always involve pre-soaking it. This option is no exception. Then we boil it, adding a little water, until tender.
- While the black rice is in the cooking process, prepare half of the carrots, onions and celery - cut and fry for 3-4 minutes in olive oil.
- Then add rice here, mix, and after 3 minutes put it in a separate container and cool completely.
- Separately in a frying pan, fry the rest of the onion, garlic and rosemary with olive oil. Next, add finely minced chicken meat here. Fry for 10 minutes.
- Pour in the wine and slowly evaporate it. Salt, add seasonings. Top up with 100 ml of water and simmer until the meat is completely cooked. Let us cool it down.
- Grind the parmesan, the rest of the celery, the nuts, add all these ingredients along with the ginger to the chicken. Season with olive oil, add salt, pepper and stir.
- Heat balsamic vinegar over low heat so that some of the liquid evaporates, and the mass becomes thicker. Put rice and chicken separately on a wide plate using a culinary ring. Next we make a few greasy drops of balsamic vinegar. You can lay a few slices of cheese on top of the rice. The main ingredients can also be mixed. Black rice salad with chicken and balsamic vinegar is ready!
Chinese style black rice with vegetables
Black rice with mushrooms and vegetables is an excellent alternative to meat dishes and can be used in dietary or vegetarian meals. This combination of products is very good in taste and allows you to replenish the reserves of essential nutrients. To prepare a dish in the Chinese style, you can use shiitake mushrooms, which are so popular in Chinese cuisine, as well as soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and other flavors.
Ingredients:
- Black rice - 200 g
- Dried shiitake mushrooms - 12 pcs.
- Peanut butter - 40 ml
- Red onion - 1 pc.
- Broccoli - 200 g
- Sweet red pepper - 1 pc.
- Fresh ginger - 20 g
- Garlic - 4 cloves
- Carrots - 2 pcs.
- Frozen green peas - 130 g
- Soy sauce - 40 ml
- Sesame oil - 40 ml
- Rice vinegar - 40 ml
- Brown sugar - 10 g
- Cilantro and green onions to taste
Step by step cooking Chinese black rice with vegetables and mushrooms:
- Soak shiitake mushrooms and rice in boiling water 30 minutes before cooking.
- Drain the rice and boil until tender.
- Pour the water from the mushrooms into a plate, it will still come in handy. Cut the mushrooms themselves into thin cubes (up to 5 mm wide).
- Peel the fresh ginger and cut it into very thin strips. Add chopped garlic, an onion chopped with long feathers to it.
- We prepare vegetables. Peel the carrots, divide them into 2 parts in length, then cut them into pieces 5 mm wide. We disassemble the broccoli into inflorescences, and remove the hard stem. We clean the pepper, wash and grind it into small cubes.
- To prepare the sauce, mix sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar.
- Pour peanut butter into a preheated pan, add chopped mushrooms, fry for 1 minute and add the onion-garlic mixture with ginger. Fry a little again, stirring all the time.
- Next, add the rest of the vegetables - chopped carrots, broccoli inflorescences, pepper. Green peas can be added unfrozen. Pour in the sauce. Stir and simmer over maximum heat for 3 minutes.
- Pour in boiled rice, mix again until all ingredients are uniformly distributed, pour in 50 ml of mushroom infusion and remove from heat. Black rice with vegetables, shiitake mushrooms is ready!
- After 5 minutes, you can serve it to the table, pre-garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro.
