Brown is Beautiful

I had known for a long time that brown rice was healthier than white rice but for some reasons, I had stored this fact at the back of my mind.
Colonial conditioning had made me believe that anything white was superior. And as a post-WWII baby, I grew up in an industrial world and therefore thought that everything should go through machines to be improved.
However, the New Age has made me realize that natural is best. And the nationalist movement has made me aware of the politics of colour and this applies to food as well.

Now that I am more health conscious and prouder of my heritage, I have resorted to eating brown rice.

What is called brown rice is any variety that has been processed only up to the point of removing the outer hull. The bran layer is intact and, with it, the impressive variety of vitamins and minerals, including niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and vitamin E. Pre-cooking may have allowed some packagers to enrich white rice but the other advantage of the bran –-fiber -– is still missing so it is not a good replacement.

It is the bran coating that gives brown rice its beautiful light tan color, delicious nutlike flavor, and chewy texture.

Brown rice is said to contain four times the amount of insoluble fiber found in white rice. Medical research has shown that eating fibrous foods help prevent certain cancer and coronary heart disease. One cup of brown rice is claimed to add nearly 3.5 grams of fiber to the system, while an equal amount of white rice cannot give even one gram. Also, components of the oils present in rice bran have been shown in numerous studies to decrease cholesterol, a major risk factor in heart disease.
What is left when the rice is milled further is starch. Now that carbs, like fat, has developed such a bad reputation, you wouldn’t want to fill yourself with white rice.
The Asia Rice Foundation (ARF), an organization that supports rice educational activities and cultural preservation, reported that Filipinos ate brown rice on a daily basis up to the early 1950s. Before that time (probably in the pre-war years), rice was produced by hand pounding (binayo) using mortar and pestle or stone grinder . Then milling machines were introduced to deliver more rice at a shorter period (larger scale production) to feed the growing population. The result was polished rice which was white because of the absence of the bran.

Soon after, consumer's tastes and preferences shifted in favor of white rice. White rice represented modern society and a classy lifestyle. Brown rice became associated with backwardness, the brown “dirty” colour evoking a muddy paddy.

In 2000, the ARF launched the promotion of brown rice as health food in the Los Banos science community. Called the Los Banos Pinawa (the Tagalog word for “brown rice”), the undertaking sought to revive an earlier effort to promote brown rice as a healthy substitute for white rice nationwide.
Rice continues to be the staple food of Asians but it has become an acceptable grain in other parts of the world. Rice is now part of the diet of people in many cultures but mostly it is the precooked long grained variety that is consumed globally.

Brown rice is available as short, medium, and long grain. Short-grain brown rice has more starch content and is therefore sticky. I like the Japanese organic brown rice with rounder grain, similar to calrose or arborio.
You can shorten the cooking time of brown rice by pre-soaking it in water for at least 30 minutes. I sometimes soak the rice overnight and cook it while getting ready for work --- cooking time is faster. Use double the amount of water needed. In my case, I use two cups water for every cup of brown rice.

Brown rice can replace white rice in any recipe. Try using it for champorado, sushi, risotto and paella. You will be creating dishes that are not only delicious but healthy too.

Vegetarian Meal in a Bowl
1 cup marinated then fried tofu. diced
4 cups cooked brown rice (or 2 cups rice, 2 cups quinoa)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup golden raisins, plumped in hot water and then drained
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
fresh ground black pepper
lettuce leaves
parsley or cilantro
Directions:
*Put quinoa in strainer and rinse in running water before cooking. Soak brown rice in water 30 minutes up to overnite before cooking. The proportion is one cup grain to two cups water when boiling. Start with high heat then lower to medium after water has boiled.
Toss ingredients, chill one hour. Arrange on lettuce leaves and garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.