Wild Rice Help

[rabidscottsman]

Im going to be cooking with wild rice for the first time and i was wondering if there is anything i need to know or if anybody has any tips on it.

The menu for Sunday is going to be.

Grilled Cornish Game Hens with a Two Mustard Sauce

Wild Rice and Mushroom pancakes

Sauteed parsley carrots

[sparrowgrass]

Wash it. Put it in a big bowl and swoosh it around, and pour the water off. Do it again, and maybe once more.

Hand parched rice is supposed to be the best, but I like paddy grown just fine. Broken rice is cheaper and good for casseroles and pancakes.

Amazon's new gourmet food line has several varieties of wild rice, at reasonable prices.

[jayt90]

The above advice is adequate (let's say good!) but you should be aware that the rice will not cook quickly, and will respond slowly, like brown rice.

While the flavour is somewhat bland, the crunchy texture is worth waiting for.

[lala]

Some people find the taste to be rather strong, and mix cooked wild rice with equal parts of cooked white rice.

[andiesenji]

My advice is to cook the wild rice in chicken stock and water, half and half. If there are directions on the package, add about 1/4 more liquid than it says.

It will take much longer to cook that white rice, about a third longer than whole brown rice.

You can tell it is done when the ends split. It almost looks as if it is trying to turn itself inside out like popcorn.

Underdone wild rice is hard and has an unplesant feel in the mouth.

[jayt90]

Some people find the taste to be rather strong, and mix cooked wild rice with equal parts of cooked white rice.

The mixdown of wild rice with white rice, or brown rice is generally done to provide a more cost effective starch, with a similar flavour and texture. I see this frequently in commercial products, like Uncle Ben's, with mixed results. It's probably better to use the real thing, cost be damned.

[kjente2]

I agree with rinse a few times, if it isn't cultivated wild rice, DO check for small stones. The native harvest in a two man canoe with a tool to beat the rice into the canoe for later packaging. Small stones do get into the bogs where the rice grows. If you can let it sit in the fridge overnight, it helps in reducing the cooking time. I know others that will pour boiling water over it, , let it sit for an hour or so, repeat three times and then cook in chicken stock and water. My personal preference is to not mix it with other rice, but thats me.

If there is extra for some reason, it freezes well for soup or whatever another day.

[Betts]

I'm from Minnesota where wild rice is cheap (relatively speaking) and plentiful - both the canoe harvested and paddy grown.

Given your menu, I'm assuming you already have the rice, so a discussion of the merits of hand harvested vs paddy grown is moot. A mix of wild and conventional rice is a culinary disaster if you try to cook them together - the timing is too dissimilar.

I cook it in chicken stock and water - about 4 parts liquid to 1 part rice. Hand harvested wild rice needs thorough washing and sorting but the paddy grown is very clean. It will take 35-45 minutes to cook on the stove top, 23-24 in a pressure cooker. The rice is done when the grains start to split or "bloom". Overly bloomed is too mushy and under cooked intact grain is unpleasantly tough, chewy and lacks flavor.

BTW - wild rice, mushrooms, onions, and carrots fit together like a hand in a glove.

[rabidscottsman]

I would like to thank everybody for the advice and help with the wild rice question.

I just got done making a marinade for the game hens. I split each bird in half and laid flat in a baking dish. The marinade consists of 1 and 1/2 cups of olive oil, 3/4 cup of dry red wine, 3 cloves minced garlic and 1 tsp of ground black pepper. I used Walnut Crest Merlot for the wine. So now the little birdies are marinating for the next 24 hours before their date with destiny on the weber grill

its going to be a early dinner about 4 pm so i figure i will make the 2 mustard sauce about noon so it gives it a few hours for the flavors to blend together a little better.

The two mustard sauce consists of 1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream, 2 garlic cloves minced, 3T Dijon Mustard, 2T coarse grain mustard and salt and pepper to taste.

I figure on starting the wild rice about 1:30 and our friends will be over by 2. Us 2 guys usually end up doing all the cooking while the wives go into the living room and watch tv and gossip. I figure if we get the pancakes going by 3 and we start the hens on the grill by 3:30-3:45 we should be doing ok timewise

I will let everybody know how it turned out...have a good weekend

Scott

[lala]

Some people find the taste to be rather strong, and mix cooked wild rice with equal parts of cooked white rice.

The mixdown of wild rice with white rice, or brown rice is generally done to provide a more cost effective starch, with a similar flavour and texture. I see this frequently in commercial products, like Uncle Ben's, with mixed results. It's probably better to use the real thing, cost be damned.

Um, no, I meant what I said, speaking from personal experience. I've been eating ww since I was a child, and get regular shipments from relatives in Northern Minnesota. Some people find the taste too strong, and mixing it yourself is a solution (no commercial products, please!)

Edited June 27, 2004 by lala (log)

[FaustianBargain]

i have cooked wild rice twice(its not really a type of rice..its the seed of a kind of wild marsh grass)...you can get wild rice(in the states, atleast) as pre cooked(supermktish places) or as 'raw' wild rice(i got mine from an organic store). just follow instructions with the former..with the later..soak it in water OVERNIGHT..yes, you heard me right..soak it for *at least* 8-12 hours before you cook it like you would any other kind of rice...it wasnt very pleasant..i prefered the packaged pre cooked type...but then again...for a rice girl like me, wild rice holds little appeal other than novelty and colour..

[Ore]

I hope the meal was great - just wanted to add that as above mentioned - it is really a type of seed rather than a type of rice.

Ciao!

[Jaymes]

I got some wild rice from our own RanchoGordo.com.

First, let me just compliment Sr. Gordo on the quality of his merchandise. This was the best wild rice I've ever experienced. I don't know where it grows, or where he gets it, but it was wonderful.

It didn't look like it needed washing but I did anyway (old habits die hard) and put it in a saucepan with 2 cups chicken stock and a bay leaf. Brought the whole thing to a boil and then turned to low, sealed tightly and let it cook until it 'bloomed.' When it was ready, I tossed it with several tablespoons of butter and a handful of chopped flat parsley.

I served it with broiled, butterflied leg of lamb for our Easter dinner.

This method for cooking the wild rice came from Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." Bittman suggests chopping up some pecans or other nuts, sauteing them in 2 T butter along with 1T curry powder until the nuts are browning. Then stirring them into the cooked wild rice just before serving.

I actually planned to do that, but by the time the rice and lamb and creamed peas and mushrooms and deviled eggs and everything else was ready, forgot about it.

But still, that wild rice turned out just wonderfully.

Thanks, Ranchismo.

[Beebs]

So my fall/winter project this year is to cook with more grains - barley, spelt, and the like. First on the list is wild rice, which I've never cooked before. What's the best way to do this?

What's the ideal rice to water ratio? I've dug up a bunch of differing ratios - 1:2, 1:3....

Can I do this in a rice cooker or is it better to stick with stove top?

If I use a rice cooker, would I need to change the amount of water needed?

I like it slightly chewy - mushy wild rice is nasty. What's the best cooking time for this?

The stuff I bought is from a bulk food bin at a supermarket, with fairly quick turnover; I don't think it's been sitting around in there for too long. I'm not sure whether it is paddy grown or canoe harvested (but probably paddy grown).

Thanks!

[ilikefood]

Beebs, welcome to the world of wild rice! I really enjoy harvesting, cooking and eating wild rice. While wild rice is not a true rice, actually an aquatic cereal grain (McGee p. 476), it is frequently cooked as a rice. In a pot,I usually saute onion and garlic with butter until onion is soft. Then I add the rinsed wild rice, stir and coat the wild rice with the hot butter. Then add the cooking liquid to the wild rice/onion/garlic. I usually use chicken stock. Cover and simmer over low-low/medium until the liquid is gone. My usual ratio is three parts liquid to one part wild rice. The Minnesota Cultivated Wild Rice Council (http://www.mnwildrice.org/) suggests a ratio of 1:3 to 1:4. I think four cups liquid to one cup wild rice makes the rice too soft. I would start at 1:3 and go from there. The rice can also be cooked in a low oven. I have never tried cooking it in a rice cooker.

As for the type of rice, what color is it? Is the rice shiny black? If so, it is probably a cultivated paddy rice (unless the package/information says otherwise). If the rice is more grayish, then it might be hand harvested with a canoe, either in a paddy/lake or a river. I usually harvest wild rice (true wild, not cultivated) in Northern Wisconsin where I live and is usually grayish in color. The end color is very dependent on who processes the wild rice to remove the outer hull. From my understanding, the processing removes the black seed coat (similar to the wheat bran or the brown in brown rice) so my wild rice could be more black in color if processed differently. However, the gray color doesn't bother me or anyone who eats it. It seems all the hand harvested and locally processed wild rice is grayish. I was told that historically Native American's would process their wild rice to where it is almost white. However, I don't know the truth to that statement.

Hope this helps!

David

Edited September 25, 2009 by ilikefood (log)

[Joe Gerard]

I found an extraordinary canoe-harvested, wood-parched wild rice sold by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa that puts cultivated "wild rice" to shame. You really must try this stuff - it has an unmistakeably robust, smoky and nutty flavor and it cooks in only 15-20 minutes. Its in the Zingerman's catalog, but you can order it directly at www.nettlakewildrice.com and save some money.

[tim]

Hi,

I have always had problems with wild rice being tough and chewy.

Friends who bring me rice from Canada have recently suggested that I soak the rice for 12 hours in cold water, before rinsing and cooking. It is worth a try.

Tim