From Basic Bland to Berkeley: Brown Rice Salad

I had a limited palate as a child. As a white middle class kid in a family of five growing up in San Diego, our pickings did not stretch culturally outside of what was offered at fast food chains or Mexican. Of the times we would eat at Pick up Stix, a Panda Express parallel, I would not eat the rice. I would not eat the rice at our local Mexican restaurant Fidel’s.  My palette would not accept the texture of rice.  It probably didn’t help that my parents' version of rice was only from Uncle Ben’s converted white rice and when cooked and stirred with a small pat of margarine, it had a unique smell and each grain was smooth as polished pebbles without any sticky starch to hold them together. It reminded me of how ant eggs looked as they would carry them out of their nest when they sensed danger of water flooding their tunnels when watering the garden.  

I did not grow up with a wide range of experiences that showcased rice. I didn’t even grow up with the most used way of cooking and eating rice. We did not have a rice cooker. We did not buy and use from a big bag of white rice. I only started eating rice in college.  because it  was paired  with my meals and I did not want to feel like I was wasting my money by not eating it. And with that my diet started to acclimate back into the known and acceptance that rice is okay and around me the vast majority of humanity lived off of rice.

Rice became a question of why, how and what as I started cooking as a career.  Especially what makes some rice better than others and why is white rice the primary focus of what stores sell.  

I have seen white rice advertised that it is polished. When it comes to sushi and saki making the polishing has been very particular because the middle of the grain that just contains the starch is sought for its stickiness when cooked and for fermenting. Rice is polished too for the textural sensation of when cooked it is softer.  But I believe the primary reason why rice is polished too is that it becomes better to be stored and transported. 

Rice germ is where most of the grain's nutrients are stored and the bran has oils that will sometimes go rancid. These are the areas that are beneficial to our health and give the grain additional flavor when cooked. And when cooked the textural difference is not that strong of contrast. I find the firmness gives more excitement and rice does not become some bland vehicle to deliver flavor of whatever it is paired with, but instead becomes a compliment to the sauces and mains a meal may bring forth.

Brown rice too assures that the rice has not been dormant in storage or perhaps not taken a long journey. We in California have access to a lot of local rice farmers.  It turns out that rice millers prefer to polish rice more than to allow a rice grower to keep some of their grain whole. It is just how their machinery was built to operate. I find that a backwards way of considering the grain after I found out how unique the flavors of rice can be.  

When it comes to leftover rice, I was trained to only use it to make fried rice. Especially steamed white rice.  Leftover rice eaten cold right out of the fridge is dry, rock hard, and quite stale feeling.  It had little flavor to begin with and now undesirable texture, but is made good again by heating in a pan with oil and reconstituting the texture with soy sauce and other liquids.  

A technique I love to showcase in our seasonal buffets is to create a composed salad with the grain. This is where organic brown rice is preferred.  The bran keeps some of the moisture in, and adding a dressing while hot allows for its flavor to penetrate each grain. Our top pick is locally grown brown rice from Massa Organic Farms. I have the luxury too to include local market oils, vinegars, and vegetables to showcase what is in season. 

Local is best for your health, the farmer and our environment.

The beauty of brown rice too is that it is gluten free, and the salad can be made to be nut free and vegan but still bring a creaminess with extra virgin olive oil, use of green olives, and a crunchiness by adding pumpkin seeds or a small amount of raw carrots.  With the freshness of what is in season and focusing on the contrasts, brown rice can showcase just what is possible for a rice that is to be served as a cold composed salad to start off a meal. 

Our featured rice dish this inter season is what we are calling our Local Berkeley Brown Rice Salad, featuring Berkeley Market ingredients.