What on Earth is Parboiled Rice?

White rice and whole grain rice are the two kinds of rice that Americans are familiar with. If the average American on the street is asked about parboiled rice, he or she would not know how to explain it. Even though parboiled rice is uncommon in the United States, it has been quite common in the rest of the world for a very long time, primary throughout Asia.

Curious about parboiled rice I visited the local Asian grocery store to ask about it. I learned that parboiling is a processing step that begins before milling. Parboiling sterilizes rice and allows it to last longer. It was explained to me that freshly harvested rice has insect eggs in the rice germ. The heat in the parboiling process kills the insect eggs in the rice and sterilizes it. Freshly picked rice is left in its husk. It is soaked in water, pressured steamed, and the dried. Then the husk of the rice is removed. Parboiling mends the broken kernels in the husks which increases the yield of whole kernels when the rice is milled.

Upon the encouragement of the grocery clerk I purchased a box of parboiled rice to try it for myself. I found that parboiled rice is firm and less sticky. It can be cooked a long time without getting gummy and gooey. It does not loose its shape, and it can be kept over a week after cooking. The taste was delicious, even better than non-parboiled rice.

Parboiling rice originated in India over a millennium ago. It was done to make rice easy to mill. Back then freshly picked rice was soaked in warm water over night. The next day the rice was dried in the sun. as a result the rice husks would split open which made the husks easy to remove from the rice.(www.freepatentsonline.com; search parboiled rice)

Parboiling rice is commonly done as apart of the milling process of rice in India, China, Japan, and most other Asian countries. It is imported for mass consumption in South Africa, Europe, and the Arabic countries. However, in the United States parboiling is not apart of the milling process. Yet gourmet chefs prefer to use parboiled rice in their rice dishes because it is less starchy and sticky than non-parboiled rice. So parboiled rice can only be found in food specialty stores, such as the Asian store I visited, and it can be ordered online from rice companies. The cost of parboiled rice is higher than regular rice in grocery stores.

Parboiled rice has been found to be more nutritious than non-parboiled rice. The parboiling process permits the retention of vitamins and minerals in the rice kernels. Whole grain brown rice and white rice that has been parboiled is very rich in nutrients. However, whole grain brown rice has more nutrients than white rice because it maintains its germ and bran. Yet parboiled white rice is more nutritious than non-parboiled white rice.

Parboiled rice is simply a precessing step in milling. It was originally intended to make the milling process easier and faster. Later it was found to increase the nutritional value of rice. After cooking and eating it, I would recommend it to anyone who likes to eat rice.