On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 900

than 100,000 distinct varieties of rice
throughouttheworld.Theyallfallintooneof
two traditionally recognized subspecies of
Oryzasativa.Indicaricesaregenerallygrown
inlowlandtropicsandsubtropics,accumulate
alargeamountofamylosestarch,andproduce
along,firmgrain.Japonicarices,withupland
varieties that do well both in the tropics
(Indonesian and Filipino types sometimes
known asjavanicas) and in temperate
climates(Japan,Korea,Italy,andCalifornia),
accumulate substantially less amylose starch
than theindicas, and produce a shorter,
stickiergrain.Therearealsovarietiesthatare
intermediate betweenindica andjaponica.
Generally,thehighertheamylosecontentina
ricevariety,themoreorganizedandstablethe
starch granules, and so the more water, heat,
andtimeittakestocookthegrains.
Mostriceismilledtoremovethebranand
mostofthegerm,andthen“polished”with
finewirebrushestogrindawaythealeurone


layeranditsoilandenzymes.Theresultisa
verystablerefinedgrainthatkeepswellfor
months.
Commoncategoriesofriceincludethe
following:
Long-grainricehasanelongatedshape,
itslengthfourtofivetimesitswidth.

Thankstoitsrelativelyhighproportion
ofamylose(22%),ittendstorequirethe
largestproportionofwatertorice(1.7to
1byweight,1.4to1byvolume),andto
produceseparatespringygrainsthat
becomefirmastheycool,anddistinctly
hardifchilled.MostChineseandIndian
ricesarelong-grainindicas,asismostof
thericesoldintheUnitedStates.
Medium-grainriceistwotothreetimes
longerthanitiswide,containsless
amylose(15–17%)thanlong-grainrice
andrequireslesswater,anddevelops
tendergrainsthatclingtoeachother.
ItalianrisottoricesandSpanishpaella