Quicania aquatic in cooking. Features of the selection and preparation of whole grains. TOP 7 recipes for delicious dishes with wild rice. Video recipes with water rice.
Wild rice is the edible seed of the plant Zizania aquatica, native to North America. In fact, they are not rice, but they belong to the Cereal family. For the first time, wild rice was used as a food product by the Indians. They began to grow it only in the middle of the 20th century in the United States, and gradually the growing area is increasing. The product has a light nutty aroma and a pleasant exquisite taste with a slight sweetness. At the same time, it is rich in proteins, amino acids, B vitamins and minerals, thanks to which it is considered incredibly useful for the body. In addition, its composition is quite low in sodium, there is no saturated fat and cholesterol, which allowed it to win the favor of fans of healthy eating and vegetarians. Nowadays, wild rice is used in many diets of Hollywood stars.
How to choose water rice in the store?
Wild black rice from a variety of manufacturers is now available in large stores. However, not all goods are of high quality. For our country, such products are still considered exotic, so not everyone will be able to distinguish a valuable product from fakes of unscrupulous suppliers.
Be sure to carefully read the information on the packaging. Risks must be indicated in the composition of the product.
The fact is that there are two products - wild rice and black rice. And these are two completely different types in terms of composition and usefulness. Of the common they have only the black color of the grains. However, you can still distinguish them by visual inspection. The grains of wild rice are elongated, thin, and resemble needles. And black rice seeds are shorter and more rounded. And in order to purchase the desired cereal, it is better to choose a product in transparent packaging, which allows you to evaluate the appearance.
The high cost of wild rice is due not only to the unique nutritional value, but also to the fact that the harvest is done by hand, and the yield, due to the complexity of cultivation, is quite low compared to other types of whole grains.
How to cook wild rice properly?
The grains of this whole grain have a rather tough structure, due to this, the water cyzania has one important advantage - during cooking, it does not stick together and does not turn into a homogeneous porridge. But there are some disadvantages, because such a side dish will always be a little dry, so it is recommended to serve it with sauce or a lot of vegetables.
Before wild rice is cooked, it is sorted to remove unwanted elements.
For faster cooking, experienced chefs recommend soaking it in water for several hours in advance. The grains are poured with plenty of water and left for 8-12 hours, after which they are decanted and boiled.
If there is a lack of time, such a procedure can be replaced by another. Pour boiling water over the groats and leave them covered for 1 hour to steam. This will further speed up the cooking process.
How to cook wild rice:
- We take grains and water in a ratio of 1 to 3. Pour water into a saucepan, add salt and bring to a boil.
- Add rice, stir, reduce heat to minimum, cover and cook until tender. As a rule, a bona fide manufacturer indicates on the packaging how much to cook wild rice. Most often, the time varies from 30-40 minutes to 1 hour.
- When the grain increases in size 3-4 times and opens up a little, remove from heat. We remove the remaining liquid and use it as directed.
TOP 7 recipes for delicious dishes with wild rice
This whole grain is most often used as a side dish for meat, fish, vegetable dishes. But it also goes well with fruits, nuts, eggs, seafood, mushrooms. Sometimes it serves as a base for salads, soup or pilaf. The recipes for cooking wild rice collected in this article are adapted to the capabilities of modern housewives. Their diversity is amazing.
Wild rice pilaf
When it comes to rice, many people think of such a popular dish as pilaf. It is usually prepared using white rice, but wild rice can be used just as well. From this, the taste of the dish will become more interesting and unusual, and the usefulness will increase significantly. In addition, you can always combine both types of this cereal, making the finished dish even more refined and nutritious.
- Calorie content per 100 g - 380 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Veal - 500 g
- Wild rice - 150 g
- Water or broth - 300 g
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 1 head
- Fresh rosemary - 1 tsp
- Turmeric - 1 tsp
- Paprika - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
- Raisins - 0.5 cups
- Bay leaf - 1 pc.
- Parsley - 30 g
Step-by-step preparation of wild rice pilaf:
- One hour before the start of cooking, we steam the grains in boiling water.
- We wash the raisins. It can also be soaked briefly in warm water.
- At this time, we process the veal fillet, ridding it of unnecessary particles, and cut into large pieces. We spread the meat on the bottom of a preheated saucepan, if necessary, according to the recipe for pilaf from wild rice, add vegetable oil. Fry over low heat until golden brown.
- Next, we clean the vegetables. Cut the carrots into thin slices, and the onions into half rings. We send it to the meat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Leave the head of garlic intact, do not divide into cloves. We remove only part of the upper dry husk from it, cut off the roots with a knife, if any, and the upper part to slightly open each clove.
- Drain the rice and rinse the cereal thoroughly. Pour it into a stewpan to the meat, add water, sprinkle with flavors and herbs, put the head of garlic and bay leaf on top. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until moisture is completely removed. Remove the garlic and bay leaf and mix gently.
- Wild rice pilaf with veal is ready!
Wild rice with mushrooms
The excellent taste of tsitsania seeds and its pleasant aroma are perfectly complemented by various mushrooms. They can be taken both fresh or frozen, and dried. Various herbs and vegetables are also added to the recipes for cooking wild rice with gifts of the forest. Walnuts and cranberries give a special flavor.
Ingredients:
- Wild rice - 2 cups
- Water - 5 tbsp.
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Mushrooms - 350 g
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Olive oil - 5 tablespoons
- Walnut - 6 pcs.
- Cranberries - 200 g
- Green pepper - 1 pc.
- Carrots -1 pc.
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Celery - 3 stalks
- Parsley - 30 g
- Spices to taste
Cooking wild rice with mushrooms step by step:
- After pre-soaking, rinse the tsitsia under the tap using a colander. Place in a saucepan, fill with water and add a little salt. Leave to simmer under the lid.
- Meanwhile, in a deep frying pan, heat the olive oil, reduce the heat and add the chopped mushrooms and onions. Do not forget to stir.
- Along the way, we begin to prepare other ingredients. If only dried cranberries are available, we will soak them in water, if frozen - defrost, if fresh - just rinse the berries. Cut pepper, carrots, celery and garlic in any convenient way. But it will be better if the pieces are not too small - this will preserve more juiciness. Pour all the specified products into the pan with the mushrooms and simmer together until they become soft.
- After 40 minutes from the beginning of cooking, when the grains have already opened, drain the rest of the water. Next, put the rice in a pan with vegetables and mix thoroughly. Season to taste, crush with chopped parsley and cover.
- Bring it to readiness for another 10 minutes, then turn it off and let the rice soak in vegetable juice.
- The dish is ready! Serve wild rice with mushrooms warm as a side dish or main course.
Wild rice with chicken
Rice dishes combined with chicken are very popular. The flavor of these two products can be complemented with a soy sauce, honey and mustard marinade. Garnish with fresh herbs when serving. In addition, this dish goes well with tomato or plum sauce. Even in the photo, wild rice with chicken looks incredibly attractive and appetizing.
Ingredients:
- Wild rice - 100 g
- Water - 250 g
- Chicken thighs - 4 pcs.
- Soy sauce - 50 g
- Honey - 1 tablespoon
- French mustard beans - 1 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Pepper mix to taste
Step by step cooking of wild rice with chicken:
- Cooking wild rice with chicken also involves pre-soaking the whole grain. If you do this with boiling water, then at the same time you can start preparing the meat component, which requires pickling.
- We wash the chicken thighs thoroughly. If you want to reduce the number of calories and make the dish more dietary, you can remove the skin.
- In a deep bowl, mix the soy sauce, honey, mustard and spices. Dip the meat pieces well in this mixture and leave them to marinate in the same place for 1 hour.
- At the end of the allotted time, set the water boil to boil. To do this, rinse it under the tap in a colander, place it in a saucepan and fill it with salted water. We put on low heat and close the lid.
- Then we take out the meat from the marinade and fry in a pan on both sides until golden brown.
- Drain the remaining water from the pan and add the rice to the meat. Pour marinade on top and simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the dish is dry, you can add a little water or oil. Wild chicken rice is ready!
Wild rice with vegetables
Delicious wild rice dishes with vegetables are great for vegetarian or lean menus. They allow you to replenish the supply of important micro and macro elements, amino acids, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids. They are also easily absorbed by a weakened body, and will be useful for adults, children and the elderly. This dish goes well with tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
- Wild rice - 100 g
- Water - 200 g
- Broccoli - 100 g
- Cauliflower - 100 g
- Eggplant - 1 pc.
- Sweet pepper - 1 pc.
- Tomato - 1 pc.
- Celery - 1 pc.
- Lemon - 1/2 pc.
- Grated ginger - 1 tsp
- Vegetable oil - 50 g
- Salt and spices to taste
Step by step cooking of wild rice with vegetables:
- First of all, we prepare rice. We steam it and boil it until tender.
- We divide both types of cabbage into inflorescences and grind in a blender into small elements, without bringing to the formation of gruel. Fry the resulting mass in a pan until golden brown with the addition of vegetable oil.
- Cut the rest of the vegetables into cubes and add to the cabbage. Simmer until soft.
- Drain the rice and add it to the vegetables. Sprinkle with ginger on top and squeeze out half of the lemon, salt and add your favorite spices. Mix well, simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes. Then turn it off and let it brew for 30 minutes.
- The dish is ready! For a more effective serving of wild rice with vegetables, lettuce leaves are placed on the bottom of a wide flat plate. The rice itself is laid out in a beautiful slide using a spoon or a culinary ring for puff salads, and decorated with sauce on top.
Duck with wild rice
Duck with rice is a festive dish with excellent aroma and excellent taste. Such a dish is a decoration of any table. The cooking process is not the easiest and shortest, but the result is striking in its appetizing appearance. Recipes for wild rice with duck are numerous, but the most spectacular is the cooking of stuffed poultry in the oven.
Ingredients:
- Duck - 1 pc.
- Wild rice - 2 tablespoons
- Green apple - 1 pc.
- Orange - 1 pc.
- Butter - 50 g
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Cognac - 100 g
- Mustard - 1 tablespoon
- Soy sauce - 4 tablespoons
- Bay leaf - 1 pc.
- Carnation - 3 pcs.
- Allspice - 4 pcs.
- Black peppercorns - 4 pcs.
- Water - 1 tbsp.
- Saffron - 1/4 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tbsp l.
How to cook duck with wild rice step by step:
- Duck with wild rice is most delicious if you marinate it in advance, for example, the day before the intended preparation. To do this, we wash the carcass well, cut off the neck and remove the offal (do not throw them away, but fold them separately). Mix brandy, mustard and soy sauce in a separate container. Thoroughly water the bird with the resulting mixture. Separately, you should make sure that the marinade is sure to get inside the carcass. Next, we place our workpiece in the refrigerator overnight. If you cannot prepare the dish in advance, it will be enough to marinate it for several hours.
- After the duck has reached the desired condition, we start cooking. First, boil the rice according to the instructions on the package.
- Peel the apple and orange and cut into cubes. Grind the garlic in any way - it can be passed through a press or grated on the finest grater.
- Mix boiled rice, prepared fruits and garlic in one container. Add butter to this. If the rice is cold, melt the butter in the microwave or steam bath to make it runny. We also pour the marinade in which the duck was, add flavorings.
- Put the neck and offal in a separate ladle or small saucepan, fill it with water, add cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns, add salt and bring to a boil. This will be the broth for the duck to be poured in the oven.
- We place the rice filling inside the carcass so that the rice does not spill out, seal the edge with a large skewer or sew it with a thread. The limbs of the bird are thinner and bake faster - so that they do not burn, experienced chefs advise to wrap them in foil or tie them more tightly to the carcass itself.
- Place a wire rack in a deep baking sheet and put our duck on it. We bake for 1, 5 hours at a temperature of 170 degrees, turning over every 30 minutes and pouring with the prepared broth.
- Duck stuffed with wild rice is ready! For a beautiful presentation, take a large oval dish.
Wild rice salad with pineapple
Tsitsania is increasingly used not as a side dish, but as a base for salads. Its taste is pleasant, but at the same time not pronounced, therefore, it allows other ingredients to open up well, adding nutritional value and satiety to the whole dish.
Ingredients:
- Wild rice - 100 g
- Polished rice - 100 g
- Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
- Dried apricots - 0.5 tbsp.
- Canned pineapple - 1 can
- Red onion - 1 pc.
- Bulgarian pepper - 1 pc.
- Cherry tomatoes - 4 pcs.
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Turmeric - 1 tsp
- Lettuce greens or arugula - 100 g
- Water - for cooking rice
Step by step preparation of wild rice salad with pineapple:
- We prepare both varieties of rice and boil until tender.
- Cut the onion into thin half rings. Grind the pepper, pineapple and dried apricots into small pieces of arbitrary shape. Chop the garlic with a knife or pass through a press.
- Preheat a frying pan with olive oil. Add the onion and sauté it. Then add pepper, garlic and dried apricots. Fry for 5-10 minutes, until the dried apricots are soft.
- Finally, combine all the ingredients of the wild rice salad in a convenient container. Sprinkle with turmeric, stir. We spread it on a common beautiful dish or in portions. Decorate with herbs and cherry tomatoes cut in half. The wild rice salad is ready!
Wild rice with shrimps
Seafood goes well with cereals. A magnificent cocktail of taste and aroma will embellish both the everyday menu and the festive one. For many, shrimp are one of their favorite foods not only for their taste, but also for their high content of nutrients. And in combination with wild rice and creamy saffron sauce, they will become even more desirable.
Ingredients:
- Wild rice - 50 g
- Tiger shrimps - 5 pcs.
- Cream - 100 g
- Red onion - 1 pc.
- Olive oil - 20 ml
- Lemon juice - 20 ml
- Saffron - to taste
Step by step preparation of wild rice salad with shrimp:
- We prepare the zitsania grains in advance so that the cooking process does not drag on. Boil until tender and remove excess liquid from the pan. For such a dish, you can cook wild rice in the oven, observing the usual proportions with water and the time frames set by the manufacturer.
- Defrost the shrimps, and then boil until tender for 3-4 minutes. Cool it down. We remove the shell, leaving only the tails.
- Place the saffron in a deep plate, fill it with warmed cream for a few minutes.
- Saute peeled and chopped onions in olive oil until transparent.
- Put saffron with cream and lemon juice to the onion. Simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. We add. In order for the mass to become homogeneous, we punch it with an immersion blender.
- Place a pile of rice on a plate, pour enough saffron sauce on top and finish serving the dish with king prawns. Sprinkle with herbs if desired. Wild shrimp rice is ready!
