Tips for cooking, using wild rice
Wild rice math
Wild rice is more expansive than white or brown rice, but luckily it expands when cooking. A good rule of thumb when preparing wild rice is the 1-to-4 ratio. Onepart wild rice will expand approximately 4 times when cooked. That one cup of uncooked wild rice turns into a hearty batch of 4 cups of cooked rice.
Types of wild rice
True wild rice is harvested from wild rice plants that thrive in the marshy shores of lakes and rivers, mostly found in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada. The rice is hand-harvested by a two-person team navigating the waters in a canoe.
Cultivated wild rice is grown in paddies created for this purpose and is mechanically harvested. This wild rice tends to be almost black in color and, though flavorful, lacks some of the earthy flavor that true wild rice has. The cost of cultivated wild rice is less than hand-harvested wild rice, making it a more economical choice.
The United States Department of Agriculture does not have a standard grading system for wild rice, although some wild rice producers do label the various sizes of the rice. Giant or long-grain wild rice is usually 1 inch in length. Fancy or medium-grain rice has a shorter length of inch to inch. Select or short-grain wild rice is smaller in both width and length and may include a mixture of broken and unbroken pieces. Select wild rice is a good choice for soups where the rice size is less noticeable.
Freeze for later
Cooking and freezing ahead of time turns wild rice into a convenience food. It’s also a time saver when putting together a quick meal. Place 2- to 3-cup portions of cooked and cooled rice in resealable freezer plastic bags. Lay the filled bags in a flat layer in the freezer; a thinner layer of rice makes the thawing process easier.
Use the rice straight from the freezer. Thawing wild rice overnight in the refrigerator can cause it to become sticky.
Reheat the frozen wild rice in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water, or place in a microwave and defrost in 30-second intervals until the rice is warm. Frozen wild rice can be added directly to a soup or skillet meal; just allow a few more minutes of simmering to reheat the rice.
A nutritional powerhouse
Low in fat and high in fiber, wild rice is rich in iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Wild rice is also glutenfree.
Mix and embellish
Wild rice is often mixed with various grains. Brown and wild rice are frequently blended together because the cooking time is similar. When adding wild rice to grains like quinoa, wheat berry, barley and farro, it’s best to cook the wild rice and grains separately as the cooking times vary.
For added flavor, blend in dried fruit such as cherries, cranberries and slivered apricots with the rice. Toss a handful of your favorite nuts into the wild rice for a crunchy bite.
Buying and storing
Uncooked wild rice keeps for a year in a dry, airtight container in the pantry. Cultivated wild rice is available in most grocery stores. The more expensive Native American harvested wild rice is often sold in bulk to lower the cost.
If you happen to be traveling in the northern part of Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or any part of Minnesota, you most likely will find wild rice available for purchase in grocery stores, souvenir shops and even gas stations.
Mail order makes bulk wild rice buying a breeze. Moose Lake Wild Rice in Deer River, Minn., and C and G Wild Rice (mnwildrice.com) in Superior have websites that make online wild rice shopping easy.