Minted Red Rice Salad with Shallot Dressing

I love running my hands through a large pile of raw rice. As each individual grain caresses, massages and rolls off my skin, my mind becomes calmer, more clear. When I was child, our 50 pound bag of rice was my secret hiding place, my own confidential corner of the kitchen that only the imagination of a small child could conjure up. I would hide toys, candy, and my coveted 25 cent coins way down at the bottom of the rice bags. My small hands would hold my treasures, then I would slide my hands all the way to the bottom of the grains of rice, till they reached passed my elbows. Then I would let go of my stash and feel safe that it would stay there for the next week, or until I needed them again.

When I pulled out my arms, the grains tickled at first, but the feeling became somewhat of a relaxing massage. I would repeat my play with the rice by just running my hands, elbows and eventually my face with the grains. Watching and listening to the grains rolls off my hands was mesmerizing and musical. It was my sandbox, my own private playground.

Today, my play time is shared with “T” and our love of red rice, a chewy and nutty grain variety. It’s hailed in Chinese medicine as having medicinal qualities to help cure diabetes and high cholesterol. We love eat-ting it often because of it’s flavor, texture, beauty and versatility. Red rice, along with various varieties of black rice, are available in most Southeast Asian grocers, specialty food markets and even online. The most inexpensive prices are at the Asian grocers, ranging from $4-$7 for a three pound bag. We’ve seen at specialty Non-Asian markets for $7 on a 10 oz. package, ouch! Once you get your hands on some of these red beauties, try this delicious and easy red rice and mint dish. It can be eaten either warm or as a cold salad and the addition of cucumbers and mint is refreshing.

We’re fortunate enough to always have a garden full of mint, year round. But many of you do not, so there are other herbal options to the salad. Parsley and cilantro are wonderful alternatives to mint, as well as adding extra cucumbers to the red rice if you want to omit the herbs altogether. This salad is wonderful cold and warm, so there are many options for serving. Normally we’ve eaten it cold at picnics and parties, but for the times that we have had it warm, the rice is a wonderful comfort food on a cold day.

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Red Rice & Mint w/ Soy Dressing
Because of the tougher, but healthy, outer mesocarp of red rice, you need to use more water than most white rice grains. The rice can be cooked in a heavy sauce pan, but if you can a rice cooker, even better. The rice cooker will cook the red rice a little more evenly, but you can achieve the same result by stirring the grains more often for the stove top method.

 

Ingredients:
1 cup raw red rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup diced cucumbers
1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves, or even more to your specific taste

Soy Dressing:
4 Tablespoons minced shallots
3 medium garlic cloves , crushed, then minced finely
2 Tablespoons olive or grape seed oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1. In colander, rinse rice grains under water to clean grains of any residue. In heavy sauce pan, add water and rice. Bring to boil, then stir rice once and reduce heat to low. Cover pan but leave a slight opening for air to escape. Cook for about 45 minutes, fluffing rice about 3 times during this period. If rice is not cooked fully once water evaporates, add a little more water and cook till rice becomes soft. Once water is cooked away, turn off heat, fluff rice one last time and place lid tightly over pan for another 30 minutes. This will steam the rice even further for the final cooking time.

2. In sauce pan over medium-low heat add oil and cook shallots and garlic until a light golden brown. Turn off heat and add sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and cracked black pepper. Stir till sugar dissolves and all ingredients are mixed together. Put aside to marinade further while you prepare vegetables and herbs.

3. Dice cucumbers and mince parsley (or cilantro) and mint.

4. For a cold red rice salad, let rice cook completely and refrigerate dressing. Toss cucumbers and herbs with rice and chill. Before eating, toss again with dressing to enhance flavor of rice.

5. For a warm red rice dish, toss cucumbers and herbs with warm rice. Heat up dressing in sauce pan till warm and toss with rice. Serve immediately.

6. Makes about 4 cups of cooked rice. Serves 5-8.