Not only does black rice have great health benefits, it has an enjoyable texture and taste: chewy, nutty, and slightly sweet.In this post, we’ll talk about how to cook black rice, also known as purple rice or forbidden rice.In fact, I’ve been eating much more black rice than white rice these days, so I wanted to share how I prepare it.

An Once Forbidden Food I don’t know too much about the history of black rice, but I do know that it is often referred to as “forbidden rice” in English.Sources say that it was designated as “forbidden rice” or “imperial rice” due to the fact that it was believed to promote health and longevity, and therefore reserved for imperial use.I don’t know how true this is, but I do know that the color yellow/gold was only allowed to be worn by the imperial family, so this doesn’t seem all that far-fetched.

And the color purple has been associated with royalty since ancient times.Luckily, today we “commoners” are allowed to eat it and enjoy it.It’s a good thing, because more and more, I find myself preferring healthier types of rice rather than white rice—especially black rice!   Just know that black rice has a different texture from white rice.

It has more body, since the outer hull of the rice is still on it.The texture is similar to brown rice.    Get the right rice When buying black rice, make sure you’re buying hēi mǐ (黑米) – black rice — and not hēi nuòmǐ (黑糯米), which is black glutino

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