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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. The practice of parboiling rice is more than two thousand years old, and may have started in the Persian Gulf. Today, it is the preferred rice of many in the southern parts of the Indian Subcontinent.
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 as it is done per the white rice.
Parboiling rice drives nutrients, especially thiamine, from the bran into the grain, so that parboiled white rice is nutritionally similar to brown rice. Because of this, parboiling was adopted by North American rice growers in the early 20th century.
The starches in parboiled rice become gelatinized, making it harder and glassier than other rice. Parboiled rice takes less 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. |
