My local grocery store was closing out
on little boxes of wild rice, cheap. So I bought a few of them. Can someone tell me if wild rice is supposed to be crunchy, because I cooked that stuff for two hours and it was still quite al dente, and unpleasantly so!
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Difference between what is known to many shoppers as 'organic wild rice' and 'cultivated wild rice'…
Most of the wild rice that is available in grocery stores across the country is referred to as paddy rice. This type of rice is grown similar to brown rice in rice paddies. It cooks uniformly, and is consistently the same year after year because it is cultivated rice. This type of rice is actually a hybrid developed by the University of Minnesota. It is for this reason that many people do not like true wild rice.
"Real" wild rice grows wild in the clear lakes where we live. It is not genetically modified and has not been altered like most of the other grains available in the US. This wild rice requires just the right conditions to grow and only grows naturally in northern Minnesota and in Canada just north of us. The water has to be at a certain level, and it needs to flow slightly, but not too much, so that it would uproot the plants. The bottom of the lake needs to have rich humus, and the temperatures need to be like those you see in this area of the country. When given those conditions you are able to grow delightfully nutritious, healthy and natural rice that is actually a grass with large seed heads. The water fowl are quite attracted to it as well.
Most of the grains we currently purchase in America such as wheat, brown rice, barley, soybeans and corn, have undergone years and years of hybridizing. Not one of these grains is natural anymore. Kamut is ancient wheat that was found in an Egyptian tomb. This was wheat, but much larger and much more nutritious than the wheat we currently have in America. All the other grains we use today other than quinoa, millet, amaranth and buckwheat have been tampered with. The real wild rice will not grow in rice paddies nor can it be cultivated. This is a natural grain, native to Minnesota, which is not a "farm crop" and can not be cultivated. While the hybrids grains have fewer nutrients than their ancestors, real wild rice is like those ancient grains. It grows on non depleted soils at the bottom of pristine lakes; it is planted naturally, and has the same nutritional value as it did years ago.
Once the rice is harvested it looks just like large green grass seed. These seeds are then parched to remove the husk.
There are many people who do not realize the marked difference between paddy-grown wild rice, and the real, wild, hand-harvested product that is often referred to as organic wild rice. Many people find that cultivated wild rice has a noticeably different flavor. But, among unknowledgeable consumers, the most obvious difference is the price between the two. Many who buy the cheaper cultivated rice never really discover this distinctive difference. The wild rice we sell is 100% naturally grown unless it is labled 'Cultivated'. Neither is certified organic wild rice in accordance with the USDA regulations since it is grown in the wild lakes and rivers of Northern Minnesota and Canada not on a certified organic farm.
http://www.mooselakewildrice.com/aboutwildrice.html
Hope that helps. I cook the real wild rice in chicken broth - bring to a boil and reduce to simmer, cover and simmer about 45 minutes. Can't be beat! I am lucky as it grows right in my northern MN area. 