Black Rice
There are many interesting lengends about
Rice in the history. One of the most interesting legends surrounding rice is
that of “The Forbidden Rice”. In Ancient China, there was a special, heirloom
variety of rice grown exclusively for the emperor. This variety of rice was the
rice we know today as black rice or emperor’s rice. Black rice was cultivated
in small amounts, in specially designated fields, by highly trusted servants
and its seeds were guarded day and night. It was strictly forbidden for anyone,
but the emperor, to consume this variety of rice.
The reason black rice was so highly valued,
and closely guarded, by the Chinese emperors was because in ancient Chinese
medicine, which relies heavy on the philosophy “food is medicine and medicine
is food” black rice is seen as a main source of good health and longevity. In
ancient days, black rice was viewed as the mystical source of the emperors’
good health and longevity and was consumed as a tonic. Therefore, anyone caught
cultivating or consuming this rice was believed to be sabotaging or “stealing”
the source of good health and longevity reserved especially for the emperor and
thus was punished, severely.
As a nutritional food, Black rice (also
known as purple rice or forbidden rice) is a range of rice types and some of
which are glutinous rice. Varieties include but are not limited to Indonesian
black rice and Thai jasmine black rice. Black rice is high in nutritional value
and contains 18 amino acids, iron, zinc, copper, carotene, and several
important vitamins.
Balck rice is a deep black color and
usually turns deep purple when cooked. Its dark purple color is primarily due
to its anthocyanin content, which comes from its pigment. This is the same type
of pigment found in other types of antioxidant rich foods such as the many
varieties of berries. Antioxidants are quickly becoming a staple for scientific
food research; anthocyanins are in the flavonoid pigments of Black Rice
and are the source of antioxidants. They have been linked to prevention and
even treatment of a wide range of medical conditions.
In addition to its almost legendary
antioxidant properties, Black Rice is also a well known anti-inflammatory food;
which helps cut down on general infections and illnesses. In recent studies
antioxidants have been found to seriously slow down the aging process, so Black
Rice is really worth eating if just for those benefits alone; but it also
offers an entire host of other great benefits in addition to that as well.
Black rice also is suitable for making
porridge and it can also be used for making dessert, traditional Chinese black
rice cake or bread. In China California
