Parboiled rice

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Parboiled rice

Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. Parboiling makes rice easier to process by hand, improves its nutritional profile, and changes its texture.

Polishing rice by hand, that is, removing the bran layer, is easier if the rice has been parboiled. It is, however, somewhat more difficult to process mechanically. The bran of parboiled rice is somewhat oily, and tends to clog machinery. Most parboiled rice is milled in the same way as white rice.^{[citation needed]}

Parboiling rice drives nutrients, especially thiamine, from the bran into the grain, so that parboiled white rice is 80% nutritionally similar to brown rice. Because of this, parboiling was adopted by North American rice growers in the early 20th century.^{[citation needed]}

The starches in parboiled rice become gelatinized, making it harder and glassier than other rice. Parboiled rice takes more time to cook, and the cooked rice is firmer and less sticky. In North America, parboiled rice is generally partially or fully precooked by the processor.

Parboiling is a hydrothermal treatment of paddy. Parboiled rice is "par"-tially "boiled" (i.e. partially cooked rice). In other words parboiling means precooking of rice within the husk. Paddy is first hydrated, then heated to cook the rice and finally dried.

Parboiling Method

Raw rice (paddy)

The vitamins and minerals in the outside husk.

In a vacuum the rice loses all the air contained in it. In the following warm water bath the nutrients start to become soluble and move out of the bran.

To move the nutrients out of the bran, but inside of the rice, the hot steam and air pressure is used (otherwise the nutrients would just get washed out into the water).

In the end of the process the parboiled rice contains 80% of the nutrients of brown rice.

See also

• Minute Rice
• Rice congee
• Uncle Ben's

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