Broken Rice

Broken rice is fragments of rice grains, broken in the field, during drying, during transport, or by milling. Separate the broken grains from the whole grains and sort them by size. There is nothing wrong to consume, but it has been considered as lower grade rice. Broken rice is consumed as part of local cuisine in West Africa, Thailand, Bangladesh and elsewhere in South East Asia.

On milling, Oryza sativa, commonly known as Asian rice or paddy rice, produces around 50% whole rice then approximately 16% broken rice, 20% husk, 14% bran and meal. African rice, Oryza glaberrima, has more brittle grains, and breakage is higher.

Rice flour vs Sweet Rice flour

Rice flour is ground from long- or medium-grain rice, the rice that we usually eat. It has some thickening properties and it is a good gluten free substitute for wheat flour in baking. (100g / 359 kcal)

Sweet rice flour is ground from a high-starch, short-grain rice, or "sticky rice (mochiko),” to use as an effective thickener for sauces or binder for mochi. Sweet rice flour is also used for confections, noodles and sauces in many Asian countries.  (100g / 360 kcal)

Rice is transparent whereas glutinous, or sweet rice is opaque. Rice starch is mainly composed of amylose and amylopectin. Sweet rice is composed of nearly pure amylopectin. This characteristic makes it very viscous and useful as a superior thickening agent by inhibiting liquid separation.

Long, Medium and Short

There are 3 basic sizes of rice, long-grain, medium and short-grain. The size of the rice determines the cooking texture and flavor. Each rice can be used for specific dishes and recipes. 

Long-grain rice is fluffy when cooked, so it tends to separate. The grains have a firm, dry texture, and are best for side dishes, pilafs, stir-fry and salads.  Long-grain rice is also slim and lengthy, nearly four to five times longer than it is wide. This type of rice includes American long-grain white and brown rice, Basmati rice, and Jasmine rice.

Medium-grain rice is tender, moist, and stickier than long-grain rice when cooked. Shorter and wider than its long-grain counterpart, medium-grain rice is about two to three times longer than it is wide. Arborio and Valencia are medium-grain varieties used in Italian risotto. The Spanish varieties of  Arroz Negroni and Bomba rice are used in paella.

Short-grain rice is the most sticky and soft when cooked. This fat, and round  grain has an extra starch which gives it its sticky and clumpy texture. American short-grain brown rice and sushi rice are common varieties of short-grain rice.  Short-grain rice is perfect for sushi and pudding.

The Rice Festival in Italy

Fiera del riso (Rice Fair) is the second biggest festival in Europe after the October Fest. This is the 50th anniversary which has been growing the tremendous numbers of visitors each year. It brought a half million visitors during the festival 2015. Two indoors spaces featuring different local restaurateurs hold over 12,000 visitors who choose between many different risottos, rice deserts, rice pizzas and drinks. The outdoor area was full of vendors from all across Italy. Culinary competitions encourage farms, restaurants and public in daily programs. 
A new additional venue in this year is Rice exhibition "Oryza" which curated by Davide Mantovani. It was an incredible display educating people about rice in its cultivation, culture and history.  This is great a showcase to share rice knowledge which should be continued and treasured. Great job Davide and his friends!

Exhibition Curator Davide Mantovani

Fun Fact:
Melotti Farm/restaurant usually serves 65,000 risotto bowls during the festival. Melotti Risotteria restaurant won the competition making the traditional local risotto.

Good Friends

Rice-fish farm is the environmentally friendly best practices. Releasing fish in the created extensive artificial wetlands (rice paddies) helps insect control and creates the ecosystem. Rice plants also provided shade, thus keeping the water cool and allowing fish to remain active even during the hottest months. Did you know fish poop is the primary source of Nitrogen in any aquaponic system? 

Companion Plant

Duckweeds could be a rice companion plant!
What the duckweeds do. They clean the water, provide bio-fertilizer, allege control, and limit mosquitoes. These are things that humans are not able to control without adding chemicals. Also, duckweeds contain high amounts of protein, more so than soy bean. Duckweeds are a good food resource in some parts of Asia for both animals and humans. Duckweeds spread quick, colonies of them could cause a problem of oxygen. But, don’t worry, other good friends working together in the water.

In Korea, we call Keguri Bap (duckweeds), means 'Bullfrog’s rice'. A lot of time bullfrogs live in the rice paddies. The duckweeds are extremely dense on the surface of the water that when they swim out of the water, their face is covered with duckweeds. So, it looks like bullfrogs are eating the duckweeds. That’s how we named it? In Korea, while the little children are eating rice and if they leave some rice on their face, the parents say ” You have bullfrog’s rice on your face”. I love the sound of word 'Keguri Bap'.

55% refined rice

These brilliant educational tools were provided from Melotti Farm in Italy. Davide Mantovani is the one of educators from Melotti Farm and created these tools. He has given wonderful classes for school groups using these tools. The two clear containers demonstrate each milling process. The photo on the right is 100% paddy rice and will separate to hull, green, bran, broken rice and rice. Each of the contents will be used differently, letting nothing to go to waste!  It is amazing to see the amount of work that goes into the 55% white rice, which mainly consumed by humans. The others are consumed by animals and used in other byproducts, Wow, I deeply appreciate rice farmers for their hard working.