Forbidden Rice

While wondering the aisles of Whole Foods, Kyle stumbled upon this:

Forbidden rice. It's a black rice and, knowing how much Evan loves rice, she bought some and left it with us before they headed back to Illinois. I was very excited to learn about this rice and see what we could use it for.

Obviously, it's a black rice, but once you cook it, it turns into a very deep purple. I found out (from my Googling) that forbidden rice was once only eaten by the emperor in China, which is where it got it's name. It is a very rich rice, with a nutty flavor once cooked. It also takes longer to cook and more water is needed when you cook it.

We decided to eat it as a side to the steak that Evan was planning to grill. We wanted to try it without any seasonings.

First, I measured it out. We had two cups worth and we decided to cook it all.

For every cup of rice, you need to double the water. So, I measured out four cups of water.

I let the rice boil and then set it to simmer for 30 minutes. Look how purple-y the water is!

After the 30 minutes, I let the rice sit, covered, for 15 more minutes.

Here's the end result.

It was delicious! But, so much more filling then white rice. In fact, there was no way on earth we could have eaten all of the rice I made that day. But, the rice was noticeably more nutty. I felt it complimented the steak and even mixed it with my corn. We, of course, added soy sauce as well, which made the rice taste even better.

Mostly, I adored how it looked on the plate next to the other food. I love when a plate is colorful with food, and this rice was absolutely beautiful.

Thanks, Kyle! I'm going to definitely go back and get some more soon. There's a Forbidden Rice Pudding recipe I found that I'm dying to try!