Blooming Wild Rice

Wild Rice is a not a raw ingredient.  But it comes with many health benefits.  Wild rice is high in potassium and phosphorus, it compares favorably to the nutritional content of wheat, corn and oats.  It is gluten-free, high in fiber, high in protein, folate, B vitamins (niacin, riboflavin and thiamin), calcium, iron and vitamin E.

What do I mean by blooming?  What I mean is that the rice kernels open up like a beautiful flower. They open up, and then they are palatable.  Otherwise, they’re just too crunchy.  Wild rice is actually the seed of aquatic grass and considered a pseudograin, similar to quinoa.

Bloomed rice is fluffy and chewy – very similar in texture to the cooked “grain”.   It may be used in a salad or for a pilaf.  Mix or match it with your choice of fruits and nuts, or take it in a savory direction by adding grated or chopped vegetables, seeds and your choice of dressing.

 

The left picture is before and the right picture is after blooming.

 

Yield Measurements:  1 cup = 3 1/2 cups bloomed

Blooming the wild rice: Dehydrator Method (24 hrs)

1. Place 1 cup of wild rice in a container with  is at least 3 cups of water.
2. Fill the remainder of the container with fresh, purified water and cover.  If necessary, remove all of the trays in the dehydrator to make enough space, and dehydrate the wild rice at 105 degrees for 24 hours or until bloomed.  The rice kernels will have opened and softened to a fluffy texture.
3. After dehydration use a colander to drain and rinse the wild rice thoroughly.  Gently squeeze any excess water from the wild rice, using a towel to absorb as much moisture as possible. The wild rice should display a nice dry, fluffy texture.   If you are unsure whether the rice is ready, open up the jar and look for unbloomed kernels.  Taste one to see if it is still hard.  If it is, you need to continue the soaking process in the dehydrator a little longer.
4. If you are not ready to use your rice in a recipe, return the bloomed rice to a glass jar and add enough water to cover.  Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Blooming the wild rice: Without a Dehydrator (3 days)

1. Place 1 cup wild rice in a container with at least 3 cups of purified water.
2. Soak for 2-3 days, changing the water twice daily.
3. Once it’s bloomed, rinse it, change the water again and store it in the refrigerator in water.  You can change the water every two or three days once it’s in the refrigerator and you can leave it in there for a couple of weeks.  So you can always have wild rice if you want it at a moments notice.

Source:

Living Tree

 

From the research that I have done,  wild rice is not considered a “raw” product due to the processing stage that takes place.  Below I have pulled together from various companies,  the heating procedure that takes place after they harvest it.  For more details,  I included their web links so you can delve deeper into it.

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Living Tree Community Foods says,

“…Real Wild Rice is parched by Ojibwa native Americans. They take the wet,green rice and put it into a stainless steel drum that they turn over an open fire.  It is heated to 280 degrees Fahrenheit for one to two hours.”

http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/product.asp?id=56&catid=27

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 Wild rice is first dried in the sun, then parched by either smoke drying or scorching in large metal kettles.

If the wild rice is not fire dried it must be parched (slow roasted) to preserve the kernels for storage and make them edible.

http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/wildrice.html

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Northern Wilds Rice Company says,

“…Most commercial rice processors parch rice in big tumblers heated by gas or LPG. Cathy Chaver hand-parches the rice over an open fire.”

“…Parching destroys the rice germ, which prevents the seed from sprouting, allowing the rice to be stored for long periods. Parching also hardens the kernel and loosens the hull (to be broken off and discarded in the hulling part of the process).”

“….Parching over a wood fire imparts a unique, slightly smoky taste to the already nutty flavor of wild rice.”

http://www.northernwilds.com/pages/Explore/faces/parching-wild-rice-by-hand-and-fire.shtml

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Wilderness Family Naturals Rice says,

“…Once the rice is harvested it looks just like large green grass seed. These seeds are then parched to remove the husk. We currently offer 2 types of wild rice. There are several different types of parching and there is some natural variation in the size of the grains:

1. The first type of wild rice uses a method that gives you a nice even dark grained “rice”. It has been parched with modern equipment giving a high quality grain. The largest of the wild rice kernels we call, “Canadian Jumbo,” because it only grows in Canada and we consider it the “cream of the crop.” It is the largest and the plumpest of all wild rice in North America. It takes approximately 70-80 minutes to cook.

2. The second type of wild rice we offer is a “Hand Parched” wild rice which has been parched by Ojibwe Indians in a wood fired parcher using their traditional methods. This wild rice results in a lighter colored wild rice than the Canadian Jumbo above. This rice also cooks much faster (15-20 minutes).”

http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=WRHP5

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Indian Country says,

“…After the rice was cleaned of extraneous material-twigs, pieces of stalks, small stones, and worms-it was spread out on sheets of birchbark, blankets, or canvas to dry in the sun. When it was dry enough, the women put several pounds of rice in a big iron kettle or galvanized iron washtub and parched it over an open fire. To keep it from scorching, they stirred it constantly with a wooden paddle. This parching process cured the rice and also helped loosen the outer husks.”

http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/icw-36.a

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Pinewood Forge says,

“…This is second key to getting high quality rice. There are very few people left who do the wood-fire hand processing. We take it to a older White Earth Ojibway fellow called Sunfish. His skill and care is beautiful to watch – constantly monitoring the wood fire, sniffing and feeling the rice as it parches. (Parching is the slow heating of the green rice until it is separated from the husk and thoroughly dried.)”

http://www.pinewoodforge.com/wildrice.html

 

 

 

Posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 at 2:12 pm. Filed under: Raw Techniques RSS 2.0 feed.