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Washing or Soaking Rice – Does That Make Sense?

Before preparing it, you should wash and soak rice. We explain why and what you should pay attention to.

At first glance, it is actually quite easy to cook rice. If we take a closer look at the topic, it becomes apparent that there are quite a few things to consider when preparing rice. It’s not just about the consistency and taste of the cooked rice, but also about the health aspects. Find out here why you should definitely wash and soak rice.

Washing and soaking rice: That’s why it’s so important

Some people cook rice directly without washing it first. Others swear by washing the grains thoroughly beforehand. Very few, however, remember to soak the rice beforehand. These are important steps, because with the right preparation you can reduce the arsenic contained in rice.

Background: In recent years, various studies and investigations have repeatedly found arsenic residues in rice. Arsenic is a semi-metal that occurs naturally. This element is classified as “carcinogenic to humans” according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This is why there have been maximum levels for arsenic residues in rice and rice products in the EU since 2016.
Arsenic can also be found in other foods such as bread or cow’s milk, but rice is particularly contaminated. This is because the rice fields are flooded during cultivation and the arsenic is released from the soil. Arsenic was found in all six products examined in a WDR random sample study. More information on this topic: Arsenic in food.
Due to the arsenic residues found, the Federal Office for Risk Assessment (BfR) advises against consuming rice too frequently and in too large quantities. Instead, you should replace rice and rice products with other grains and foods – especially for babies and children. Incidentally, brown rice and parboiled rice are particularly affected, since the arsenic is mainly deposited in the outer layers of the grain. However, these types of rice also contain more valuable nutrients than white, polished rice.
But you don’t have to do without rice completely, because the method of preparation plays a major role and can significantly reduce the arsenic content in rice. It is important to wash the rice before preparation – and preferably even soak it.

Soaking, washing and cooking rice: arsenic content

There are two popular methods of cooking rice: the swelling method and the water method. (More info on the two methods: Cook rice)

Culinary connoisseurs argue about which method gives the rice the best consistency and tastes best. Scientists, on the other hand, want to find the preparation method that can remove the most arsenic from the rice.

A study from 2015 took on this task and tested various methods. The results for this:

Thorough washing can leach some arsenic from the rice.
The arsenic contained can be reduced even more by soaking the rice for several hours beforehand.
The rice-water ratio when cooking is also crucial. With the swelling method (water 2:1 rice) almost all of the arsenic remains. For the test, the researchers cooked the rice in the ratios 3:1, 6:1 and 12:1. The more water you use, the more arsenic you can end up rinsing out with the cooking water.
The researchers achieved the best result by soaking the rice overnight, then washing it and then boiling it in water at a ratio of 12:1. With this method, over 80 percent of the arsenic could be reduced.
These findings apply to all rice varieties examined. The exact percentage of arsenic content varies depending on the type of rice. You can find this in the linked study.

Step-by-step instructions: wash and prepare rice

According to research, you should soak and wash rice beforehand. Also, a relatively high water to rice ratio is important for cooking. However, so that you don’t have to use too much energy to heat the water, we do not recommend the 12:1 ratio, but a ratio of 5:1. This represents a good compromise and is also recommended by the BBC, based on the findings of Prof Meharg, one of the authors of the study mentioned above.

Prepare rice correctly – instructions:

Soak the rice in enough water overnight. To do this, cover the rice with water by about an inch.
Drain the water the next day.
Then wash the rice with water until the waste water is clear and no longer cloudy. This not only flushes out arsenic, but also excess starch and any impurities.
Place the rice in a saucepan with water in a 1:5 ratio.
Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to low. Then let the rice simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. The exact cooking time varies depending on the type of rice.
Drain the cooking water and drain the rice in a colander.

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Food

How Rice Cultivation Works

Rice cultivation is increasingly being criticized due to its eco-balance. The high water consumption and the released methane are problematic for the climate. Here you can find out how rice cultivation works and what you should pay attention to when buying.

Southeast Asia: The most important rice-growing region in the world

Rice is a staple food for over 3.5 billion people and, according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), it is one of the three most important cereals in the world along with corn and wheat. Rice cultivation thus has far-reaching effects on our climate.

According to the FAO, around 90 percent of the world’s rice harvest comes from South Asia and Southeast Asia, with China and India as the largest rice producers. According to statistics from the OCE (Observatory of Economic Complexity), India and Thailand are the main rice exporters, providing a large part of the world’s traded rice volumes.

Rice is also grown in the USA, Latin America, Africa and Europe. The main European rice producers are Spain, Italy and France. The following types of rice can be found there:

Spain: Bomba rice (for paella)
Italy: Arborio rice, jasmine rice and Venus rice (Piedmont as the main growing region of Italy)
France: Red rice from the Camargue

How does rice cultivation work?

There are various methods of rice cultivation, but the most common is wet rice cultivation. Irrigation is done differently depending on the location. Sometimes the farmers rely on natural flooding, sometimes fields are artificially supplied with water via sophisticated irrigation systems. Around 75 percent of the world’s rice harvest is based on artificial irrigation, as Ferrero and Tinarelli state in the introduction to their book “Pesticide Risk Assessment in Rice Paddies”. The water serves as a natural protection against weeds and pests for the plants.

There is also dry rice cultivation, which is much more laborious and less productive. Weeds and pests are not kept out naturally, which is why more fertilizers and pesticides are needed. An advantage of this cultivation method, however, is that less water is required and less methane is emitted. Due to the meager yields, this cultivation method is still less used.

Wet rice cultivation: How does it work exactly?

Growing rice is very time-consuming and is often still done by hand in Asia.

The rice seeds are sown in the dry field, which is then ploughed.
Later, the seedlings are transplanted into the paddy field by hand or with the help of jigs.
Now the fields have to be constantly under water before they are drained around three weeks before harvest. Depending on site conditions, this occurs through natural flooding or artificial irrigation systems.
In total, the rice plant grows for five to six months before it is harvested.
harvest and processing

Rice can be harvested one to three times a year, depending on the rice variety, site conditions and cultivation method. After harvesting, the rice is threshed and dried. The husks are then removed in a rice mill, leaving the actual grain of rice and the husk – the so-called silver skin. This product is sold as brown rice, whole grain or brown rice. Usually, however, there is a further step in which the silver skin and seedling are removed. What remains is the classic white rice, which has a longer shelf life but is less nutritious.

What are the consequences of rice cultivation for the environment?

Water consumption

According to Öko-fair, 2,000 to 5,000 liters of water are required for one kilogram of rice in wet rice cultivation. If the fields are artificially irrigated, this can lead to a falling groundwater level. This often poses major water supply problems for the cultivation regions, which are often water-scarce anyway. The energy required for the artificial irrigation systems is also high.

Methane emissions

According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), wet rice cultivation is responsible for around ten percent of man-made methane emissions worldwide. Methane is the second most important man-made greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and is 21 times more potent than CO2, according to the Max Planck Society.

The reason for the high emission values ​​are the flooded fields: microorganisms decompose organic substances here in the absence of oxygen, resulting in the formation of methane. How much methane is produced depends on how long the fields are under water. If they are drained regularly, less methane is produced – a simple step that would already make rice production significantly more sustainable. However, for many small farmers in Asia, this additional effort can hardly be implemented. In addition, leftover husks are often burned in the fields after harvesting, which releases CO2.

An overview by the WWF makes the extent of methane emissions in rice cultivation clear. It shows the respective amounts of greenhouse gases that occur during the production of different foods. With 6.2 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per kilogram, rice is significantly higher than potatoes (0.62 kilograms), fresh milk products (1.76 kilograms) or even poultry meat (4.22 kilograms).

More problems in rice cultivation

Rice often has high levels of arsenic compared to other grains. The reason for this is the cultivation method. The standing water on the fields makes the arsenic contained in the soil more available. Rice plants absorb a particularly large amount of arsenic through their roots. In addition, groundwater, some of which is contaminated with arsenic, is used for irrigation, which means that more arsenic gets into the rice. You can find more information about rice and arsenic in our guide.

Many fertilizers and pesticides are also used in conventional rice cultivation, especially in the high-yield varieties cultivated on a large scale. This puts a strain on both the environment and the health of consumers. The use of pesticides also means that small fish and crustaceans, which are an important source of protein for many small farmers in Asia, can no longer survive in the rice basin.

Sustainable rice: You should pay attention to this when buying

Fair trade rice: Rice is mainly grown in less developed regions of the world. A Fairtrade certification shows you that the producers receive fair wages and work under good conditions. Many Fairtrade-certified rice suppliers enter into their own small cooperations with individual rice farmers in order to be able to offer ecologically and socially sustainable rice. In this way, cultivation conditions can be clearly traced and made transparent for consumers. You can usually find information about such cooperations on the provider’s website or directly on the product. In general, the more specific the information about origin and growing conditions, the better. It is worth taking a closer look at the products before you buy them.
Organic Rice: When you buy certified organic rice, you not only protect yourself and the environment from synthetic pesticides: Organic farming also protects rice farmers from constant exposure to harmful pesticides at work.

Rice from Europe: In the meantime, you can also find rice from European cultivation in the supermarket or health food store. So you can avoid long transport routes. In addition, the environmental guidelines in Europe are generally higher than in Asia and many European rice farmers value more sustainable rice cultivation.
Rice from dry cultivation: Although not the global solution, dry rice – especially from European cultivation – is often the more environmentally friendly alternative, as the Austrian daily newspaper Kurier shows using the example of the domestic rice producer “ÖsterReis”. Dry rice cultivation releases significantly less methane and uses less water. For example, the Swiss risotto rice branded “Terreni alla Maggia” or the Austrian rice from “SO-Fröhlich” come from the dry cultivation method. In dry cultivation, however, farmers increasingly have to contend with weeds and pests, which is why this method is much more labor-intensive – especially in organic cultivation. In order for rice from dry cultivation to actually be a sustainable alternative, you should only obtain it from organic cultivation. This is because more pesticides are often used in dry cultivation. While organic dry rice is a sustainable option, it is not a real solution on a global scale. Because the harvests in dry cultivation are too small and it can by no means cover the worldwide rice demand.
It doesn’t always have to be rice: there are many regional alternatives to rice that have a much better ecological footprint. For example, German potatoes or local cereals are the more sustainable side dishes. Spelled rice, for example, is a good alternative to rice. According to the WWF, the cultivation of lentils and legumes also emits fewer harmful GHG emissions, although they cannot compete with potatoes or cereals in this respect.

First steps towards sustainable rice cultivation

A step in the right direction is the International Platform for Sustainable Rice (SRP), which has developed a standard for sustainable rice. The project supports Thai rice farmers in making rice cultivation more ecological and campaigns for better local working conditions. Research institutes, large companies such as OLAM and international organizations such as GIZ or the United Nations Environment Program are involved.

According to GIZ, up to 50 percent fewer greenhouse gases are released as a result of the project measures, water consumption falls by a fifth and the farmers get by with fewer pesticides. At the same time, small farmers can increase their profits. The rice is certified accordingly and commercially available. For example, the Uncle Ben’s brand says it sources its rice exclusively from farmers supported by the SRP.

The Thai-German project Thai Rice NAMA also aims to make rice cultivation more sustainable and there is worldwide research on “anti-methane strategies”.

Little climate awareness when it comes to rice

Converting rice cultivation to uniform ecological standards is not that easy. Because there are too many individual small farmers from different countries where different environmental regulations apply. There is also often a lack of ecological awareness in the less developed countries of Asia, and for many small farmers, rice cultivation primarily means securing their survival. So they have no capacity to think about climate issues.

Projects for sustainable rice cultivation, such as those implemented by the SRP, are therefore all the more important. But the topic of sustainability is not only little present on the part of the producers. As consumers, we are also little aware of the poor ecological balance of rice – in contrast to products such as palm oil, avocados or meat, to which we are much more sensitive. It shouldn’t be any different with rice.

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Cooking Tips

Freeze Rice: This is How It Stays Delicious After Thawing

If you freeze leftover cooked rice, you don’t have to throw anything away. So that it still tastes delicious after surfacing, we explain how to freeze rice properly.

With rice, it can quickly happen that you misjudge the amount and there is a lot left over. You can keep cooked rice in the fridge for a few days for the next meal. Or you can freeze it and thaw it later when needed.

Rice freezes easily. We’ll show you what you should pay attention to so that the grains still taste good after surfacing and don’t become soft and mushy.

Freezing rice: These varieties are suitable

Perfectly cooked rice grains still have a slight bite. When you thaw frozen rice, the texture changes and the grains become a little too soft. Some types of rice are better for freezing than others because they retain their texture better. These varieties include:

jasmine rice
basmati rice
Patnareis
If you want to cook rice ahead of time, you can intentionally undercook it a little. When reheated, it reaches its perfect consistency.

How to properly freeze and thaw rice

Freeze rice properly

Do not cook the rice too soft, but so that it is still al dente.
Let the rice cool down.
When portioning the rice you have two options:
You freeze everything together. If your rice was still grainy enough after cooking, it will create a frozen clump that you can always break off pieces and thaw.
You’re already freezing it in portions equal to one meal. This is useful if your rice is not quite as grainy and would not be as easy to portion when frozen.
Freezer containers made of glass or stainless steel are suitable for freezing.

Properly defrost rice

It is best to let the rice thaw at room temperature.
Then heat it up with steam. If you boiled it again, possibly with additional water, it would quickly become too soft and gooey.
Instead, place it in a fine-mesh strainer that you hang over a saucepan of boiling water. The rice is heated by the rising steam. Stir the rice once during this time so that it warms up evenly.
You can also just add it directly to the sauce you made for your dish to thaw and let it simmer over low heat.

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Rice Syrup: What Good is It as a Sugar Alternative?

Rice syrup is considered a healthier sugar alternative alongside honey, agave syrup and other sweeteners. You can find out here whether the chewy, sweet juice is actually better for your health and what special features it has.

It is well known that sugar is not very good for our health. Therefore, if you want to try to do without it partially or completely, there are various alternative options. Some swear by stevia or birch sugar, others by honey or maple syrup. And then finally there is rice syrup.

Rice syrup: use, production, and origin

Rice syrup is a light golden syrup that tastes mild and sweet. Since it doesn’t have a particularly strong taste or aftertaste, you can use it in a variety of ways. For example, it is suitable for sweetening yoghurt or porridge, as a sweetener in the dough of cakes, muffins or biscuits or for caramelizing.

To make rice syrup, machines heat the ground rice and then break it down into sugars. This is how the sweet juice is extracted from the rice grain. The syrup then runs through filters and is finally thickened. Since rice syrup is therefore completely vegetable, it is a vegan honey alternative. In Japan, the sweet juice has long been an integral part of traditional cuisine.

Since rice is grown in Asian countries such as China, Thailand or India in particular, rice syrup often has a poor eco-balance. After all, there are long transport routes during production, which release large amounts of greenhouse gases. To a small extent, some farmers also grow rice in southern Europe, for example in Italy or Spain.

We recommend that you pay attention to information about the origin of the rice grains when buying and that you prefer rice syrup from European cultivation. For example, according to the company, Reishunger’s organic rice syrup comes from Italy. You should also buy organic rice syrup if possible. In this way you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides that are harmful to your health and, in particular, drive insect mortality.

By the way, to extend the shelf life, it is best to store rice syrup in the refrigerator after opening. It stays there for weeks or months.

Is Rice Syrup Healthier Than Sugar?

When looking at the nutritional values, rice syrup performs only slightly better than conventional table sugar. According to Reishunger, the syrup has around 319 kilocalories per 100 grams. Alnatura’s organic beet sugar, on the other hand, has 400 kilocalories. Both sweeteners contain only small traces of fat and protein.

Sugar is almost 100 percent carbohydrates, while in rice syrup they are only 80 percent. Of that 80 percent, sugar molecules make up 62 percent. This is also the reason that rice syrup does not taste as sweet as sugar. So you need more syrup to achieve the same sweetness. This also makes up for the calorie difference.

According to a Northwestern University nutritionist, our bodies treat rice syrup the same way it treats sugar. Our organism therefore does not recognize any difference between the sugar molecules. In addition, rice syrup has a higher glycemic index than sugar. This means that your body breaks down the syrup into glucose extra quickly. This process causes your blood sugar levels to rise and fall rapidly. As a result, you will only feel full for a short time and will soon feel hungry again.

There is also no evidence that rice syrup would contain a particularly large number of micronutrients (such as vitamins or minerals). Even if these are available in moderation, they hardly make an important contribution to covering our daily needs.

Conclusion: Rice syrup is not a miracle cure either

There is not enough substantiated evidence to support the thesis that rice syrup is healthier than sugar. But with both sweeteners, the dose makes the poison. As part of a balanced diet, it is not a problem to eat sweets from time to time.

From an ecological perspective, rice syrup from Europe is definitely more climate-friendly than maple or agave syrup. These often come from even more distant growing areas. Even better sweeteners would be, for example, apple or pear syrup, sugar beet syrup or beet sugar from German cultivation.

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Thieboudienne: How to Make Senegalese Rice Without Fish

Thieboudienne is a Senegalese rice dish with lots of colorful vegetables. Here you will find a vegan recipe for the West African main course.

Thieboudienne means something like “rice with fish” and is a popular national dish of the African coastal state of Senegal. In this article you will find a vegan version of the colorful rice pan.

When it comes to the ingredients for the Thieboudienne, make sure that they are organic if possible. You support ecologically sustainable agriculture that treats the earth’s natural resources with care. You can also easily get most of the ingredients from regional cultivation during the season. This saves you unnecessarily long and CO2-intensive transport routes. Our seasonal calendar shows you when which types of fruit and vegetables are in season in Germany.

Thieboudienne: A vegan recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
5 cloves garlic
1 red chili pepper
3tomatoes
2peppers
2 sweet potatoes
2eggplants
1carrot
2 medium zucchini
200 gwhite cabbage
1 small butternut squash
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
100 ml lemon juice
Salt
pepper
1 l water
500 g basmati rice

Directions:

Cut the onion into fine rings. Chop the garlic and chilli into small pieces. Clean the remaining vegetables and cut them into bite-sized cubes.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil in a large saucepan or large, deep skillet. Sauté the onion, about a third of the chopped garlic, the chilli and a handful of diced tomatoes over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add all the vegetables except the remaining tomatoes and simmer for another 25 to 30 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Tip: If the vegetables are about to burn, you can simply add some water to the pot.
Meanwhile, using an immersion blender or blender, blend the remaining garlic, remaining tomatoes, tomato paste, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper, and 8 ounces of water into a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining coconut oil in a second, medium-sized saucepan. Add the tomato paste and sauté over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the basmati rice and 750 milliliters of water to the paste in the saucepan. Let the rice simmer over low heat for about fifteen minutes until cooked through. If necessary, add some more water.
Once both the rice and the vegetables are cooked, stir everything together in the large saucepan. Season the thieboudienne with salt. Complete!

Thieboudienne: possible variations

The Thieboudienne is ideal for using up leftover vegetables and thus avoiding food waste. The basic ingredients should be the basmati rice, the ingredients for the tomato paste as well as sweet potatoes, eggplant, carrots and cabbage. You can adjust the other vegetables depending on the season and what you have at home.

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Recipes with Rice Paper: It’s so Versatile

Recipes with rice paper are usually easy, quick and healthy. Due to the neutral taste of rice paper, it can be used in many ways – we’ll show you how.

Rice paper is used in Asian cuisine to wrap a wide variety of ingredients. It consists of rice flour, tapioca starch, water and a little salt – so the rice paper is also gluten-free. The leaves become slightly transparent due to the tapioca starch. In dried form, they break very quickly.

Rice paper scores with its many uses. You can use rice paper in a classic way, for example for summer rolls. If you’re craving more unusual rice paper recipes, try vegan bacon with rice paper.

It’s supposed to be healthy, vegan and light – but you’ve had enough of summer rolls? Below we show you a recipe for Coucous Rice Paper Rolls.

You can get rice paper either in Asian shops or in selected supermarkets. You can also find rice paper in an organic version. For the remaining ingredients, you should also pay attention to certified organic seals. In this way you avoid residues of chemical-synthetic pesticides ending up in your rice paper dishes.

Recipe: Couscous Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons red lentils
7 ELCouscous
1 tsp paprika powder
1 pinch(s) curry powder
200 ml water
1 tablespoon linseed oil
1 small onion
1 small carrot
1 small red pointed pepper
1tomato
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) chilli flakes
8 pieces of rice paper
5 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Cook the red lentils according to package directions.
Put the couscous with the paprika and curry powder in a suitable saucepan. Add the water. Stir everything and let it simmer on low heat until the couscous is done. Add a little more water if needed.
Mix the couscous mixture with the cooked red lentils and add the linseed oil. Mix everything together.
Cut the onions and put them in a pan. Cut the remaining vegetables and add them along with the salt and chilli flakes. If the mixture is too dry and burns, add another tomato.
When the vegetables are cooked, remove them from the stove and stir in the couscous and lentil mixture. Set the mixture aside and let it cool down.
Prepare a bowl of lukewarm water. As soon as the mass has cooled down, you can soak the individual rice paper sheets in the water. When the paper is soft, take it out of the water.
Place the soaked rice paper sheets directly on a baking sheet. It is best to place parchment paper or a parchment paper substitute on the tray before placing the rice paper on top.
Place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each soaked rice paper sheet. Then roll up the rice paper like a wrap.
Spread some olive oil on the rolls so that they are covered on all sides.
Bake the couscous rice paper rolls at 200 degrees top and bottom heat for about 30 to 40 minutes. Important: Turn the rolls occasionally so that they are crispy on all sides.

Couscous Rice Paper Rolls: Additional Tips

If you want to make the rice paper recipe above completely gluten-free, you can alternatively use rice or quinoa instead of couscous.
Of course you can also enjoy the couscous filling without rice paper – it tastes just as good.
A fresh green salad goes wonderfully with your couscous rice paper rolls.
Soy sauce is great for dipping your rolls.

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Vegan Biryani: Recipe for the Rice Dish with Zucchini and Carrots

Preparing biryani vegan is not difficult: You simply add some vegetables to the Asian rice stir-fry. We will introduce you to a biryani recipe and explain what you should pay attention to.

Biryani is a rice dish that comes from Asia. The dish is particularly popular in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The word “biryani” comes from Persian and means something like “fried”. The rice stir-fry is often prepared with meat, but you can make biryani vegan by adding your choice of vegetables, nuts or tofu to the rice.

We recommend looking for organic quality when buying the ingredients. This is how you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides. Rice often comes from Southeast Asia and uses a lot of water to grow. Then there are the long transport routes to Europe. Rice that was grown in Europe (e.g. in Italy) is therefore ecologically more advisable. If you do use rice from countries further away, we recommend looking out for the fair trade seal. In this way you guarantee that manufacturers have observed human and labor rights during the production process and the long delivery routes.

Vegan Biryani: Recipe for the rice dish

Ingredients:

300 ml water
200 g basmati rice
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp curry spice
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika spice (sweet)
1carrot
1Zucchini
1 piece ginger (thumb size)
1 clove(s) garlic
1red onion
2 tablespoons oil
50 g cashew nuts

Directions:

Start cooking the rice. Put it in a pot with the water. Add salt and the spices. Let it gently simmer for five to ten minutes. It shouldn’t be raw anymore, but it shouldn’t be fully cooked either.
While the rice is cooking, you can grate the carrot and cut the zucchini into pieces.

Place the vegetables in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let it steep for five minutes. This will lightly pre-cook the carrot and zucchini so that the vegetables are not fried raw. Then drain the water again.

Now cut the ginger and garlic into small pieces as well. Then place the pieces in a mortar and grind them into a paste. This unfolds even more flavors. Tip: If you don’t have a mortar at home, you can also chop the ginger and garlic very small with a knife and press into a paste with the bottom of a spoon.

Gradually add the vegetables and finally the half-cooked rice.

Biryani with peanut sauce

As a dip for biryani, you can stir together a quick peanut sauce. The nutty taste goes very well with the dish. You need the following for this:

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
65 g peanut butter without additives
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup (alternatively rice syrup or date syrup)
Juice of half a lime
1 pinch cayenne pepper or chilli powder
2 teaspoons water, as needed
First chop the ginger and garlic. Then mix all the ingredients together and stir them into a smooth sauce. You can garnish the sauce with peanuts or fresh herbs.

Soy sauce also goes well with the rice dish. You can simply pour it over the rice on the plate.

Possible variations for the Biryani

You can not only prepare the rice pan with zucchini and carrots, but also with other types of vegetables. Well suited are, for example, broccoli, peppers or mushrooms. It is best to buy seasonal vegetables that do not come from overseas but grow regionally or within Germany. This protects the climate and reduces CO2 emissions. Our seasonal calendar can help you with that.

In Asia, biryani is often prepared with meat. As a vegan alternative, you can use smoked tofu, for example. Cut the tofu into cubes and fry it in a pan or bake it in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius with top and bottom heat until crispy. Later you can sprinkle it on top of your biryani as a topping.

You can also replace the cashew nuts with other nuts. Peanuts, almonds or walnuts go just as well in biryani. Many nut varieties cannot be grown in Europe and are therefore imported from Africa, among other places. There they are sometimes grown under poor, inhumane working conditions. In order not to support this, you should look for a Fairtrade seal when buying the nuts.

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Congee: Super Diverse Rice Porridge Recipe

Congee is a warming rice porridge from Asian cuisine that can be easily adapted to your taste. You can find out how to prepare the nourishing dish here.

Congee is a simple rice porridge. In many Asian countries, especially China, it is one of the most popular staple foods. It is particularly common as a warming breakfast dish.

For congee, rice is boiled in plenty of water (rule of thumb: ten cups of water per cup of rice) until it has almost completely dissolved. It then takes on a porridge-like consistency. Prepared in this way, congee has a very faint taste of its own. This makes the rice porridge an ideal basis for various toppings and fillings.

The basic recipe requires only rice and is therefore very inexpensive. Which kind you take is up to your personal taste. However, we recommend using organic rice. Rice is a food that is often contaminated with pollutants such as cadmium, mineral oil, and arsenic, as Oko-Test found out. Although some organic rice varieties are also affected, no chemical-synthetic pesticides are used in organic farming. This is not only better for you, but also for the environment.

Congee: The basic recipe

Since congee takes a little more time to prepare, it’s worth preparing a large portion in advance. Covered, Congee keeps in the fridge for four days and can be warmed up in portions.

Ingredients:

100 grice
1000 ml water

Directions:

Wash the rice in a colander under running water.
Boil the rice in a large pot with a liter of water.
Then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let the rice simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
You can now refine the congee or enjoy it pure.

Pure congee is like a blank slate. Only with the right toppings or ingredients does it become a dish full of flavors.

For example, you can emulate people in some areas of China who cook rice in broth instead of water. Or you can add chopped ginger, garlic or mushrooms during the cooking process.

If you want to prepare congee as a sweet meal, you can add the following toppings to the finished porridge:

  • plum compote
  • raspberry jam
  • Roasted almonds or other nuts
  • soy yoghurt
  • chia pudding
  • fresh fruit

The following are suitable as toppings for a savory version:

  • sprouts
  • regular tofu or chickpea tofu
  • Sushi Ginger
  • Sesame and other seeds and kernels
  • roasted chickpeas
  • roasted onions
  • Vegetables like spring onions, carrots, cucumbers, or broccoli
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Jollof Rice: Easy and Flavorful Rice Recipe

Jollof Rice is a spicy rice dish from Senegal. Traditionally it is prepared with meat. This vegan Jollof Rice recipe shows you that it works just as well without animal ingredients.

The national dish of Senegal is Jollof Rice, a traditional rice dish that usually includes meat along with tomatoes, peppers and onions. However, since less meat consumption can have a positive effect on health and the climate, we are showing you a vegan Jollof Rice variant here.

Jollof Rice is very flavorful thanks to many spices such as curry powder, paprika powder and thyme. When buying spices, make sure they are of good quality. We recommend organically grown spices, which you can recognize by the Demeter, Bioland or Naturland logo, for example, because conventional spices are often contaminated with pesticides. If possible, you should also use organic products for the other ingredients. In this way you support agriculture that does not use chemical-synthetic pesticides, which is not only good for you, but also for the environment.

Jollof Rice: Aromatic rice dish from Senegal in vegan

Ingredients:

400 g canned tomatoes
2peppers
1red onion
2 clove(s) garlic
1chili pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp dried thyme
260 g parboiled rice
4bay leaves
480 g canned black-eyed peas
90 g okra pods
salt and pepper

Directions:

Chop the tomatoes, one of the peppers, the onion, the garlic and the deseeded chilli in a food processor. Alternatively, you can finely chop the ingredients with a knife. Then puree everything to a smooth mass.
Heat the oil in a pan and stir in the tomato paste. Add curry powder, (smoked) paprika powder, dried thyme and grated ginger root.
Stir everything well and let it simmer for five minutes over medium heat.
Wash the parboiled rice in a colander until the water runs clear. Add the rice to the sauce along with the bay leaves. Add enough water to completely cover the rice.
Cover and simmer the Jollof Rice over medium heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. If the water boils off too quickly and the rice sticks to the bottom of the pot, add more water.
Drain the black bean eyes, give them a quick wash and add them to the rice. Cut the remaining peppers and okra into small pieces and add them to the pan as well.
Let the Jollof Rice simmer for another ten minutes until the vegetables and rice are tender and the sauce has reduced. Finally, season with salt and pepper and optionally garnish the Jollof Rice with some fresh thyme before serving.

Here’s how you can modify Jollof Rice

You can easily adapt Jollof Rice to your taste. You can also substitute individual ingredients if you don’t have them at home:

  • Instead of black-eyed peas, you could use chickpeas.
  • An alternative to the okra would be green beans.

For example, you can serve the following with Jollof Rice:

  • Grilled tofu
  • Fried plantains
  • Fresh salad
  • Vegan meatballs
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Food

Resistant Starch: Pasta, Potatoes and Rice are Good for the Intestines

Resistant starch can benefit your gut health. In this article, we explain what’s behind it and how you can incorporate resistant starch into your diet.

Resistant starch is a type of dietary fiber. Resistant starch has a special structure that prevents the small intestine from absorbing it. It ends up undigested in our large intestine, where it is broken down by lactic acid bacteria. Resistant starch serves as food for the intestinal bacteria, which improves intestinal health and bowel movements.

In the following we will show you how resistant starch is created and works. We also introduce you to foods and recipe ideas that you can use to integrate resistant starch into your diet.

This is how resistant starch is created

Starch is particularly found in foods such as potatoes, rice, cereals and cereal products such as pasta or bread. Resistant starch is formed when these starchy foods are boiled or cooked and then allowed to cool. The chemical structure of the starch changes as a result of the cooling process, making it no longer digestible for us humans. Strength has become resistant strength. Even reheating the cooled food does not destroy the resistant starch.

Legumes, unripe bananas and oatmeal are particularly rich in resistant starch. In unripe bananas, the resistant starch is based on a specific arrangement of the starch molecules and is therefore not the result of a heating and cooling process.

How does resistant starch affect your body?

In the colon, beneficial gut bacteria ferment resistant starch. This not only promotes intestinal health, but also has other positive effects:

  • The breakdown products of the resistant starch by the intestinal bacteria can counteract inflammatory diseases such as arthritis.
  • They can have cancer-preventive properties within a balanced diet.
  • They are associated with blood sugar regulating properties.
  • They may also have a positive effect on blood lipid levels.

Recipes that contain resistant starch

With these recipes, you can incorporate resistant starch into your diet. It is important that the starchy ingredients can be completely cooled and converted. This takes between twelve and 24 hours.

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Bake spelled bread yourself: ingredients and recipe
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