When I was in Korea in April, I had pink rice for the first time. And I thought I didn’t like it.
I actually had pink rice on several occasions in Korean, and each time there were red beans mixed in with the rice… which are what I thought made it red. However, I did like the idea of mixing other grains (sans beans) in with my rice, and decided to try it when I got home. I bought a bag of mixed grains at my local Korean grocery store, which was a blend of sweet rice, wild sweet rice, barley, brown rice, and sweet brown rice (I know, it looks like birdseed):
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Then, I combined this blend (the bag on the right) with my regular white rice (the bag on the left) in a ratio of about 3:1 (3 cups of regular white rice, 1 cup of the mixed grains). I measured each kind into the pot of my rice cooker, and washed it as I normally do:
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Because there were no red beans, and nothing in the pre-cooked state of the rice to suggest that it would still turn pink, I was surprised to see a rice cooker full of this:
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I love it — it’s healthier, has more interesting textures and flavors, and boasts an intriguing color with no beans required. We still love plain white rice as well, but this has become a new favorite here in the Household of the Not-So-Calm. If you’ve ever thought about mixing things into your rice, definitely give this a try!
6 responses so far ↓
Ji In // November 20, 2008 at 1:35 am |
I first had this kind of rice a few years ago. I think the ajumma who made it called it five-grain rice. Then last summer my umma made it every day and insisted I eat at least two bowls at a time. But for some reason it never occurred to me that I could make it in my rice cooker, since they had both made it the Korean-Korean way — in a pressure cooker. Cool! I’ll have to give it a try.
Mama Nabi // November 20, 2008 at 8:16 pm |
I love this kind of rice. I love how barley is a little crunchy/chewy.
I used to hate the red bean rice… but now that I’m older, I like it… wonder if it’s an old people food.
Ansley // November 20, 2008 at 10:05 pm |
Awesome- I’ll have to try it. I bought ‘black’ rice a few months ago and it turn our food purple. Mr. Ansley was not amused!
Jeester // November 21, 2008 at 5:06 pm |
Yes it is very healthy. It is called “jap gok bab”. Means mixed rice in Korean.
Asianmommy // November 22, 2008 at 5:54 pm |
Interesting–I think my kids might just love pink rice!
blur ting // July 8, 2009 at 8:58 pm |
I just bought a bag of mixed grains fromthe Korean store in Singapore. I love making porridge out of this. I even added more barley, green beans and oat into the bag.