The popular belief that wild rice is a type of traditional rice is a misconception. In fact, black rice is the seed of aquatic plants of the genus Tsitsania. Due to its unusual taste and high nutritional value, wild rice is very popular all over the world. For Russia, black rice is in many ways an exotic product, in the preparation of which some subtleties must be taken into account.
Boiled wild rice
You will need the following foods: 1 cup black rice, 3 cups water, salt to taste, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter.
Rinse the rice thoroughly under running water. Soak the washed rice in a little cold water for 12 hours. If there is no time for prolonged soaking, fill a glass of washed black rice with 3 cups of boiling water, cover and let it stand for an hour. Drain the water before cooking wild rice.
Place the rice in a saucepan and cover it with 1 to 3 cold water. Bring the contents of the saucepan to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook the rice until it has absorbed all the water. It usually takes 35-40 minutes to cook wild rice. Finished grains of black rice are 3-4 times larger. You can use chicken or vegetable broth instead of regular water for boiling wild rice.
When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat, but do not lift the lid. Let the black rice sit for 10-15 minutes, then add salt and stir the rice gently to separate the grains from each other. Optionally add a piece of butter to the wild rice.
If you do not want to calculate the proportions, wild rice can simply be boiled in a large amount of water until the rice has increased several times in size, then drain the excess water.
Boiled wild rice can be used as a side dish, but is most often mixed with traditional rice. In addition, boiled black rice can be added to salads, soups and casseroles, stewed with vegetables.
Wild rice with vegetables
You will need the following foods: 1 cup cooked black rice, 1 small eggplant, 1 small squash, 1 medium bell pepper, 2 medium tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, a few sprigs of any fresh herbs, salt and black pepper to taste.
Wash the eggplant and zucchini and cut them into small cubes. To remove the bitterness from the eggplant, sprinkle the diced cubes with salt, stir and let stand for 15 minutes, then rinse them with cold water.
Peel the bell pepper from the seeds, cut it into thin strips. Peel the onion and cut it into half rings. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small cubes.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry vegetables in it for 10-15 minutes. Add boiled wild rice, finely chopped herbs, minced garlic, salt and black pepper to taste to the vegetables. Mix everything and simmer rice with vegetables for another 3-5 minutes.
